Samuel Fergusson, accompanied by his manservant Joe and his friend professional hunter Richard 'Dick' Kennedy, sets out to travel across the African continent - still not fully explored - with the help of a balloon filled with hydrogen. The translator's real name is yet to be identified.Ī scholar and explorer, Dr. This foreword was written by one William Lackland who, it must be believed, is a British nommé de plumé. VERNE as much at home in voyaging through the air as in journeying 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas.

The latter are abundantly amusing, and, in view of the wonderful 'travelers' tales' with which we have been entertained by African explorers, they can scarcely be considered extravagant while the ingenuity and invention of the author will be sure to excite the surprise and the admiration of the reader, who will find M. The mode of locomotion is, of course, purely imaginary, and the incidents and adventures fictitious. It gives, in some particulars, a survey of nearly the whole field of African discovery, and in this way will often serve to refresh the memory of the reader. So far as the geography, the inhabitants, the animals, and the features of the countries the travelers pass over are described, it is entirely accurate. 'Five Weeks in a Balloon' is, in a measure, a satire on modern books of African travel. The foreword of an early translation reads as follows: Public interest in fanciful tales of African exploration was at its height, and the book was an instant hit it made Verne financially independent and got him a contract with Jules Hetzel's publishing house, which put out several dozen more works of his for over forty years afterward. Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, Journeys and Discoveries in Africa by Three Englishmen (French: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel published by Jules Verne in his native French during 1863, it was translated into English during 1869.

Jules verne 5 weeks in a balloon