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Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Seas

 

William Butcher

Oxford World's Classics

 

 Second edition, fully revised and updated, April 2019

9780198818649

 

First edition, 1998

  0192828398

 

Folio Society, 2013

(no ISBN)

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 'I am going to sink it.'
'You will not!'
'I will,’ he coldly replied. ‘Do not take it on yourself to judge me, monsieur.’

French naturalist Dr Aronnax embarks on an expedition to hunt down a sea monster, but discovers instead the Nautilus, a self-contained world built by its enigmatic captain. Together Nemo and Aronnax explore the underwater marvels of the globe, undergo a transcendent experience in the ruins of Atlantis, and plant a black flag at the South Pole. But Nemo’s mission is finally revealed to be one of self-defence—and his methods coldly efficient.

Verne’s classic novel has left a profound mark on subsequent centuries. Its themes are universal, its style alternately humorous and grandiose, its construction masterly.

This new and unabridged translation brilliantly conveys the range of this seminal work. The volume also contains extensive critical material, including hundreds of notes, appendices, and unpublished information about the novel’s genesis.

Dr William Butcher, previously Head of Languages at Hong Kong Technical Colleges, has been called the father of Verne studies in English. He has also published Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1992) and Around the World in Eighty Days (1995) for OUP.

 

Reviews

'This truly is the edition that serious SF readers will want... its rigour is at the academic level (such is the quantity and detail of ancillary information provided)', Concatenation.org

'Très belle édition définitive ... notes, toujours impeccables et éclairantes... traduction : c'est du grand art, et la tonalité du texte d'origine est toujours superbement respectée ... Bravo', Jean-Pierre Picot

"William Butcher  [is] ‘the father of Verne Studies'", Kieran O'Driscoll

'William Butcher’s acutely rendered, scientifically precise, translation', Tim Lucas

"very good", M.A. Orthofer

'L'appareil critique me semble magnifique', Alexandre Tarrieu

'Both the translation and the critical materials have been minutely reworked from top to bottom . . scores of new endnotes. . . This improved and updated version . . . belongs in the library of every Anglophone Vernian', Frederick Paul Walter

'excellent . . . translation . . . some of the most cutting-edge scholarly commentary', Professor Arthur Evans

'really splendid introduction', David Bellos

'By far the best translations/critical editions available', Science Fiction Studies

‘expertly translated . . . illuminating scholarly apparatus’, Vector 200

‘I enjoyed the novel very much’, Daily Telegraph

‘brilliantly conveys the novel’s varying tones and ranges’, Tandem

‘the only version of Twenty Thousand Leagues in English worthy of serious attention . . . a mine of information’, Professor T Unwin, Australian Modern Languages Association Journal

'a leading authority', South China Morning Post

‘truly ambitious ... high-standard scholarship . . .masterpiece . . .  unprecedented standard’, Foundation

'les premières éditions critiques, dignes de ce nom . . . aucune édition française n'existe qui soit comparable . . .  travail exemplaire', BSJV

'The introduction and notes . . . are especially helpful', Tad Davis

'Nemo ... emerges as one of the great heroes, or anti-heroes, of fiction', Margaret Drabble