Michel Ardan Paces the Deck — Jules Verne Polish Edition c.1925
The flamboyant Michel Ardan — Jules Verne's irrepressible French adventurer — strides restlessly across a ship's deck, top hat cocked and coat flapping, unable to stand still for a moment before his moon voyage. Behind him, a watchful companion observes as rigging and clouds fill the background. This pen-and-ink interior plate, from a Polish translation of 'From the Earth to the Moon,' captures Verne's eccentric hero with wiry Victorian energy befitting the era of early scientific romance.
Restrained Victorian book illustration energy — no rockets or moon monsters here, just a dapper eccentric unable to stand still. Charming in its understatement, this is proto-sci-fi at its most gentlemanly.
“Ardan ani chwili nie stał spokojnie, chodził z miejsca na miejsce. str. 170”
