Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Seas by French writer Jules Verne was published in 1870, but was originally serialized in a magazine called Magasin d’Éducation et de Récréation from March 1869 through June 1870. The original French title of Verne’s epic novel is Vingt mille lieues sous les mers, which when translated correctly into English is Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SEAS, not Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea as it has been published in many English editions. Another common misconception about the novel is that the 20,000 leagues were a measure of how deep the characters went, but, in actual fact, it was a measure of the distance travelled across the globe. A league in the book uses a metric measurement, which means there are four kilometres in one league, making the title 80,000 Kilometres Under The Seas in modern terms.

A deluxe illustrated edition was published in 1871 which contained over 100 wonderful engraved illustrations by Alphonse de Neuville and Edouard Riou. The famous story follows the undersea adventures of the submarine Nautilus as it explores the depths of the world’s oceans, a voyage that began in 1867, exactly one hundred and fifty years ago.

Celebrating the sesquicentennial of this classic adventure, it incorporates illustrations by Andrew King who wanted to depict the details in the novel as accurately as possible according to Verne’s precise descriptions. The illustrations were carefully researched according to the technology of the time, and of course aligned with the measurements, descriptions and material in the book to make it a most accurate illustrated rendition of this historic one hundred and fifty year old journey.

Join the adventure through the artwork based on this classic tale.