Off on a Comet — Underground Cavern Scene, Victorian Engraving, c.1877

This steel engraving illustrates a scene from Jules Verne's 'Off on a Comet' (Hector Servadac), in which characters stranded on the fragment of Earth carried off by the comet Gallia explore subterranean galleries and provisioned shelters. Three figures converse within a cavernous rock formation, wooden barrels hinting at a makeshift camp. Rendered in fine crosshatched detail typical of the period, the piece reflects Verne's fascination with survival amid extraordinary cosmic displacement, capturing the wonder and peril of his interplanetary adventure narrative.