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Sub-heading reads, ‘the traitor Ivan Ogareff’
Sub-heading reads ‘God gives ineffable consolations for the afflicted’
But the appeal of Verne’s books still translates well to the theatre: if you are in Paris this October, you might like to go and check out the brand new musical, Le voyage extraordinaire de Jules Verne, featuring a 13 year old author voyaging in the world of his own books in an amazing and lively adventure!
A very exciting update to unveil today–the completed, full colour illustration by David Allan for the cover of the limited edition of Jules Verne’s Mikhail Strogoff! Isn’t it just gorgeous! Imagine it inset into the deep red background of the hard cover–it’s going to look just stunning.
When you’re translating a work such as Jules Verne’s Mikhail Strogoff, which is such an epic journey across so much country, it’s as well as to keep a good grasp of geography, and that’s exactly what Stephanie Smee has been doing. But it’s not just maps per see she has to look at and pore over; it’s actually old maps, for while geography itself might not have changed, political geography has, and the map of the Russian Empire in 1876 looks very different to the map of the Russian Federation today. Here she is with one of those lovely old maps she’s been consulting–and next to that, a copy of the original edition of the book, which she’s been using as her base text.
And a big thank you is due to all our wonderful contributors! Though we didn’t meet our target, we are very pleased to have raised such a substantial amount, which will greatly help in funding the production of the beautiful limited edition of Jules Verne’s Mikhail Strogoff. We really appreciate all the support, both financial and moral, that we have received. In the next few weeks, we’ll also be putting a pre-order form on the website, for all those of you who missed out on the crowdfunding campaign. In the meantime, on the Pre-order page, you’ll find the contact email to which you can send an email registering your interest. Meanwhile, work continues apace on the book. Stephanie has just finished the translation of Part One of the book and Sophie has been editing it, while David has been working hard on the final colouring of the cover illustration. More updates and news soon!
Exciting news! Our illustrator, David Allan has finished the line work for the cover illustration of the book. Isn’t it gorgeously evocative! Look out for the completed colour illustration to appear over the next few days.
There’s an interesting interview with one of the Eagle Books directors, Sophie Masson, on the Crowdfundit site, which looks specifically at issues and elements of crowdfunding production of a book.
You can read the full interview here.
The epic journey of our hero Mikhail Strogoff has inspired some real-life travellers to follow in his footsteps across the vastness of Russia, recording their journeys in words and pictures. We’re collecting such books at the moment as part of the background and inspiration for our art director’s creative work, and thought you might like a glimpse of two particularly beautiful books about such journeys: photographer Olivier Sprung’s magnificent illustrated book, Michel Strogoff de Moscou a Irkoutsk(Romain Pages Editions, France) which features extracts from Jules Verne’s novel alongside gorgeous photographs of the various places; and Geo Magazine’s fabulous coffee-table book, Voyage en Russie sur les traces de Michel Strogoff, with text by journalist Remy Michel and beautiful photographs by Olivier Martel. Even if you don’t read French, the books are worth looking at for the sake of the magnificent photographs which illustrate the extraordinary natural, architectural and human diversity and colour of Russia even today.
Today we thought you might enjoy some titbits of intriguing Mikhail Strogoff trivia!
The influence of Jules Verne’s greatest novel isn’t just felt in literature and film, it is also referenced in several unexpected ways.
In France, the novel has left its mark on the landscape, with several streets, especially in Amiens and the Somme region, where Verne came from, named after our hero, such as Boulevard Michel Strogoff in Longueau and Rue Michel Strogoff in Cergy.
Charmingly, there’s also a beautiful red rose variety named after him, with this poetic tribute attached: ‘Who better than Jules Verne’s famous adventurer, broad-shouldered and barrel-chested, stoically enduring heat and cold and thirst, to incarnate the spirit of this rosebush with its exceptional qualities?’
But perhaps the most surprising tribute comes not from France, but from the US, where the small desert city of Marfa in Texas owes its unusual name to one of the great characters in the novel: Mikhail Strogoff’s tough, indomitable mother, Marfa.
Jules Verne’s Mikhail Strogoff isn’t just a fantastic adventure, full of vivid characters and non-stop action: it’s also an extraordinary journey by road and rail and river through a vast stretch of Russia, from Moscow to Irkutsk. And to give you a glimpse of some the places along that journey, here’s a little clip we’ve made for your enjoyment.
As we reach the end of the first month of our crowdfunding campaign, here’s an interesting short clip with illustrator and designer for Jules Verne’s Mikhail Strogoff, David Allan, talking a little about some of his artistic influences as he works on the illustrations for the book.
Remember to check out our campaign site, and like our many wonderful contributors, consider joining us in this exciting publishing adventure!
