Barbicane Grips His Companions — Around the Moon, Jules Verne Italian Edition — art by Émile-Antoine Bayard — Intorno alla Luna (Around the Moon) — 1870s
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Barbicane Grips His Companions — Around the Moon, Jules Verne Italian Edition

Inside the cramped projectile-capsule hurtling around the Moon, President Barbicane seizes his two companions as all three strain to observe a white-hot asteroid blazing past their porthole. The engraving captures a moment of wild-eyed alarm: the top-hatted Barbicane braces himself dramatically, one hand raised, as his comrades shield their eyes against searing light. Cracks spider across the walls behind them, telegraphing the violence of deep space rendered in precise Victorian cross-hatching.

Source: Wikimedia Commons
Publisher: Unknown Italian publisher
Decade: 1870s
Country: Italy
Coolness: 4/10

Three men, one Moon, and a white-hot asteroid screaming past the porthole — Verne's gentlemen explorers never looked so close to oblivion. Classic Victorian restraint with just enough cosmic dread to keep the pages turning.

Text in image:

138 INTORNO ALLA LUNA. Barbicane aveva preso la mano de' suoi due compagni e tutti tre guardavano attraverso le palpebre socchiuse quell'asteroide riscaldato al calor bianco. Se il loro cervello fun-

Public domain. This vintage illustration is free of known copyright restrictions — free to download, share, and reuse for any purpose.

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