Jules Verne's Gun Club Members Debate Moon Mission, 1865 Engraving

The Gun Club has erupted in thunderous debate — a speaker gestures triumphantly toward a projected lunar map as the crowd surges with frenzied enthusiasm. A great circular diagram bearing the number 1135 dominates the wall, depicting the Moon's cratered surface. Men climb chairs, wave arms, and shout in collective scientific fervor, while a dog wanders unperturbed at the feet of seated members. This is the moment the impossible becomes inevitable: a cannon-launched voyage to the Moon.