The Mysterious Island is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1875. The first edition, published by Hetzel, contains illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (1867–68), though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, indicating the influence of the novels Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson. Verne developed a similar theme in his novel, Godfrey Morgan.
Cover page of The Mysterious Island
Lobby Card for the 1929 film version of The Mysterious Island, filmed in Technicolor
Cyrus Smith blessing Captain Nemo on his death bed in The Mysterious Island
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages extraordinaires, a series of bestselling adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1872). His novels, always well documented, are generally set in the second half of the 19th century, taking into account the technological advances of the time.
Portrait by Étienne Carjat, c. 1884
Painting of Nantes from Île Feydeau, around the time of Verne's birth
The Lycée Royal in Nantes (now the Georges-Clemenceau), where Verne studied
Aristide Hignard