Off on a Comet: Scene in a Subterranean Chamber, c.1877

This engraving illustrates a scene from Jules Verne's Hector Servadac (Off on a Comet), depicting a group of travelers—swept onto a fragment of Earth captured by a passing comet—gathered in a rocky, cavern-like interior. An elderly seated figure gestures toward visitors in period military and civilian dress, with a massive stalactite formation looming behind them. Rendered in the dense cross-hatched style typical of Hetzel's Voyages Extraordinaires editions, the plate is the work of Paul Philippoteaux, who illustrated the novel's original French edition.