Portrait of Jules Verne
Oil on canvas, circa 1875
MJV C530
Jules Verne, around 45 years of age, is shown at the peak of his powers, at the time when Around the World in 80 days was a triumph on stage, after its huge success as a book, and when The Mysterious Island was published. It’s an opportunity to admire the reddish-blond tints in his hair and beard, since posterity safeguarded them as white.
Chair belonging to Jules Verne
From the furnishings in the dining room at no. 2 rue Charles-Dubois in Amiens.
MJV G167
Meal time was an important moment for Jules Verne.
Since his younger days in Paris, he had suffered from food-related problems and acute and chronic stomach pains. As he matured and achieved a comfortable life, he developed a need to eat to excess, suffering from a form of bulimia. No doubt a symptom of the diabetes that took his life on March 24, 1905.
Food was such an important concern in the writer’s life that it his work is rife with allusions to food, from hunger pangs to the convivial pleasures of mealtimes.
Due to his deteriorating health, as he got older, Jules Verne followed a strict diet. According to his grandson, Jean Jules Verne (1892-1980), it was at this time that he adopted this short chair on legs. « To complete the formality of mealtimes as quickly as possible, he used a low chair that placed his plate almost at the level of his mouth! »
Busts of Jules Verne
Fabio Stecchi
Terracotta, 1882
MJV G317
Albert Roze, according to Fabio Stecchi
Marble, 1906
MJV G244
The marble bust of Jules Verne by Albert Roze was not created during the author’s lifetime. It dates from 1906 and carried the inscription « Albert Roze d’après Stecchi » (Albert Roze according to Stecchi). Albert Roze was inspired by a work by sculptor Fabio Stecchi: this terracotta bust of Jules Verne made from life in 1883 and presented the same year at the Salon des Artistes Français in Paris. The sculptures by Fabio Stecchi and Albert Roze represent a portrait of Jules Verne cut off at the shoulders, the head at a three-quarter turn, the chin slightly raised; dignified and elegant. In 1883, Fabio Stecchi captured the likeness of a man then aged 55, at the peak of his glory. It is the same solemnity that Albery Roze conveys in this marble bust, as in the one he sculpted soon after for a monument to commemorate the glory of Jules Verne in Amiens.
Champagne glasses
Plates monogrammed with « JV »
Fruit plates monogrammed with « JV »
Coffee cups and saucers
Liqueur service
Silverware
At no. 2 rue Charles-Dubois, in Amiens, the table is laid. Jules Verne left his work quarters on the upper floor of the house to go to the dining room on the ground floor only at mealtimes, to satisfy his voracious appetite. « Did he not eat six enormous artichokes from the floating gardens of Amiens every evening for years? » reported his grandson. Jean Jules-Verne (1892-1980). Jules Verne ate more out of necessity than love of food.
The dishes prepared by his wife Honorine Verne, known to be an excellent cook, wowed the guests, particularly from Amiens, that she liked to invite. When Jules Verne’s gluttony didn’t ruin all her efforts… « I’ve heard extraordinary stories about a leg of lamb devoured while waiting for late guests, and a roast which he gobbled up in its entirety! »
Jules Verne no doubt preferred the company of the journalists he met in his home to these worldly guests. They included Adolphe Brisson, Marie Belloc, Edmondo de Amicis, Robert Sherard,… They came from France, England, Germany and America to talk with the now-famous author of Voyages Extraordinaires, then aged around sixty.
Experience moments of Jules Verne’s private life, of which perhaps the plates, champagne glasses and coffee cups capture memories engraved into the glass and the china.
In the drawers
The Man behind the writer
Throughout his life Jules Verne maintained a very affectionate relationship with his parents, his brother and his sisters. The letters that he wrote to them convey a spontaneous style, sometimes joking, relating his predilection for writing, his early career opportunities, the state of progress of his literary projects that he shared with his family, and the most personal aspects of his life.
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The Masquerade Ball Held by Mr Jules Verne
Drawings by Mr Vierge according to the sketch by Mr Materre
Le Monde Illustré, April 14, 1877
MJV C116
In Amiens, on April 2, 1877, Jules Verne and his wife Honorine held a masquerade ball: « On Easter Monday, we are throwing a masquerade ball, with 700 invitations sent, 350 accepted at least. The whole town is talking about it ». The reception took place in the salons Saint-Denis, magnificently decorated for the occasion. Many guests took their inspiration for their costumes from the characters from Voyages Extraordinaires.
Gédéon Basil
Grrrrreat Around-The-World Inn
Poster, Amiens, 1885
Exhibition print (Amiens city library)
On March 8, 1885, Jules Verne appeared in cook’s livery to welcome his guests to the masked ball held at his Amiens home. The theme chosen: travel! For the occasion, the house at no. 2 rue Charles Dubois was transformed into a « grande auberge du tour du monde » (a great « around the world » inn) Jules and Honorine dressed as innkeepers while their guests wore traditional costumes from different countries around the world.
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Tribute to Jules Verne 2005
Acrylic on canvas
MJV C349
Triptych painted for the World Science Fiction Convention Utopiales (Nantes, November 2005) on the initiative of Gilles Francescano, President of Art & Fact, by Thierry Cardinet, Sandrine Geslin, Didier Graffet, Hubert de Lartigue, Manchu and Pascal Yung, to be gifted to the Jules Verne Museum. Drawing on their own imagination concerning Verne’s world, its authors demonstrate the unimpaired strength of inspiration of the Nantes novelist.
