



Produced by Judy Boss









WORKS of JULES VERNE

EDITED BY

CHARLES F. HORNE




INTRODUCTION

THE SURVIVORS OF THE CHANCELLOR was issued in 1875. Shipwrecks occur in
other of Verne's tales; but this is his only story devoted wholly to
such a disaster. In it the author has gathered all the tragedy, the
mystery, and the suffering possible to the sea. All the various forms
of disaster, all the possibilities of horror, the depths of shame and
agony, are heaped upon these unhappy voyagers. The accumulation is
mathematically complete and emotionally unforgettable. The tale has
well been called the "imperishable epic of shipwreck."

The idea of the book is said to have originated in the celebrated
French painting by Gericault, "the Wreck of the Medusa," now in the
Louvre gallery. The Medusa was a French frigate wrecked off the coast
of Africa in 1816. Some of the survivors, escaping on a raft, were
rescued by a passing ship after many days of torture. Verne, however,
seems also to ha