The Purchase of the North Pole
Encyclopedia
The Purchase of the North Pole ' onMouseout='HidePop("39264")' href="/topics/1889_in_literature">1889
) is an adventure novel
written by Jules Verne
. In it, the Baltimore Gun Club from From the Earth to the Moon
attempt to purchase the North Pole to access large deposits of coal
beneath it. Several countries attempt to buy it, but the United States proves to be the victor. The money was raised by the members of the Gun Club. Barbicane, Nicholl, and J.T. Maston plan on tilting the Earth's axis, making it similar to Jupiter's. There would be no more seasons (warm all year round), the North Pole would be brought farther south (about 67 degrees north), and many countries (mostly in Asia) would be overcome by floods. The United States would also gain much more land. They plan on creating a huge explosion in the Kilimanjaros using Nicholl's new invention, the powerful explosive, micro-meteorite. The world is in panic. The explosion causes huge damage in the area, but the axis does not tilt. A French engineer later concludes that this was because the explosion was too small. Barbicane, Nicholl, and Maston do not attempt this again.
1889 in literature
The year 1889 in literature involved some significant new books.-Events:*Theodore Roosevelt publishes the first of four volumes of The Winning of the West, with three more by 1896.-New books:*Gabriele D'Annunzio - Il piacere...
) is an adventure novel
Adventure novel
The adventure novel is a genre of novels that has adventure, an exciting undertaking involving risk and physical danger, as its main theme.-History:...
written by Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...
. In it, the Baltimore Gun Club from From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon is a humorous science fantasy novel by Jules Verne and is one of the earliest entries in that genre. It tells the story of the president of a post-American Civil War gun club in Baltimore, his rival, a Philadelphia maker of armor, and a Frenchman, who build an enormous...
attempt to purchase the North Pole to access large deposits of coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
beneath it. Several countries attempt to buy it, but the United States proves to be the victor. The money was raised by the members of the Gun Club. Barbicane, Nicholl, and J.T. Maston plan on tilting the Earth's axis, making it similar to Jupiter's. There would be no more seasons (warm all year round), the North Pole would be brought farther south (about 67 degrees north), and many countries (mostly in Asia) would be overcome by floods. The United States would also gain much more land. They plan on creating a huge explosion in the Kilimanjaros using Nicholl's new invention, the powerful explosive, micro-meteorite. The world is in panic. The explosion causes huge damage in the area, but the axis does not tilt. A French engineer later concludes that this was because the explosion was too small. Barbicane, Nicholl, and Maston do not attempt this again.
Publication history
- 1890 USA: New York: J. G. Ogilvie and Company, published as Topsy-Turvy
- 1891, UK, London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. First UK edition.
External links
- Sans dessus dessous available at Jules Verne Collection