Written in 1863, *Paris in the Twentieth Century* projected the logical extremes of nineteenth-century society's devotion to machinery and science into the year 1960. Publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel dismissed the story as an implausible and bleak prophecy, convincing Jules Verne to put the work away. While Verne correctly foretold the technological advancements of the 1960s, he incorrectly doubted that the city would preserve its poets. The forgotten text finally reached readers when it was officially published in France in 1994.
Key points
The work correctly anticipated the machines of 1960 but failed to foresee that Paris woul…: The work correctly anticipated the machines of 1960 but failed to foresee that Paris would still retain its poets.
Nineteenth-century society's deep faith in efficiency, commerce, and science formed the c…: Nineteenth-century society's deep faith in efficiency, commerce, and science formed the core thematic focus of the book.
Readers finally gained access to the long-hidden story when it was officially released in…: Readers finally gained access to the long-hidden story when it was officially released in France in 1994.
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Jules Verne’s
Paris in the Twentieth Century
Jules Verne’s lost novel got the machines of 1960 right. He never imagined that Paris would keep its poets
Paris at sunset. Adobe Stock.
In 1863, Jules Verne did something he would almost never do again. He looked not toward an undiscovered island, the bottom of the sea, the interior of the Earth or the far side of the Moon, but directly into the future. He imagined Paris almost a century ahead, in the year 1960, and asked what sort of civilization the nineteenth century might become if its faith in science, machinery, commerce and efficiency were allowed to run to its logical conclusion. The result was Paris in the Twentieth Century, a book so unlike the Verne we came to know that his publisher, Pierre-Jules Hetzel, refused to publish it. Hetzel thought the prophecy implausible and the tone too bleak. Verne put the manuscript away. It remained unpublished for 131 years, until it was recovered from a family safe and finally appeared in France in 1994. We commonly describe Verne as a…
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