Jules Verne 'Autour de la Lune' — Sailors Discover the Capsule, 1870

Created during the foundational years of proto-science fiction, this engraving illustrates Jules Verne's 1870 novel 'Autour de la Lune' (Around the Moon), depicting the climactic ocean recovery scene where sailors in a rowboat encounter the bullet-shaped spacecraft capsule bobbing at sea, an American flag planted triumphantly on its ribbed surface. A steam-and-sail hybrid vessel looms in the background, anchoring the image in the technological transition of the late Victorian era.