The Purchase of the North Pole

The Purchase of the North Pole. (French: Sans dessus dessous) is an 1889 adventure novel by French author Jules Verne. It is the third and final installment in a loose trilogy featuring the Baltimore Gun Club, following From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon. The plot revolves around the club's audacious plan to purchase and alter the Earth's axial tilt for commercial gain, a scheme that prompts international panic and diplomatic intervention. Illustrated by George Roux and published by Pierre-Jules Hetzel, the novel is a hallmark of Verne's later Extraordinary Voyages series, blending speculative engineering with sharp political satire.

Plot summary

Following their previous lunar endeavors, the members of the Baltimore Gun Club, led by president Impey Barbicane and secretary J. T. Maston, seek a new profitable venture. They orchestrate the purchase of the North Pole from the United States Government under the Homestead Act of 1862, with secret financial backing from a global syndicate. Their true objective, calculated by Maston using a formidable steam-powered calculator, is to fire a massive cannon built in the Kilimanjaro mountains to correct the Earth's axial tilt and melt the polar ice caps. This would unlock vast mineral deposits and create new shipping routes like the Northwest Passage. The scheme is opposed by European governments, particularly Great Britain and Russia, leading to a crisis at the International Polar Commission. The climax involves a failed attempt to sabotage the cannon, but the club's calculations prove flawed, and the shot merely creates a minor, harmless climate fluctuation, leaving the world unchanged.

Publication history

The novel was first serialized in the magazine Magasin d’Éducation et de Récréation from January to December 1889. It was subsequently published in a single illustrated volume by Pierre-Jules Hetzel in Paris later that same year. The first English translation, titled The Purchase of the North Pole, was published in 1890 by J. G. Ogilvie in New York. As with most of Verne's works for Hetzel, the original edition featured illustrations by George Roux. The book is the fifty-second installment in Verne's famed Extraordinary Voyages series and concludes the narrative arc of the Baltimore Gun Club that began over two decades prior with From the Earth to the Moon.

Analysis and themes

The novel is a prime example of Verne's engagement with the technological and imperial ambitions of the late 19th century, critiquing the era's unchecked capitalism and colonialism. The plot satirizes the period's land speculation frenzies and the legal loopholes exploited by powerful syndicates, reflecting contemporary events like the Scramble for Africa. Scientifically, it explores themes of celestial mechanics and climate engineering, presaging modern debates about geoengineering. The reaction of the European powers, forming a coalition against a private American organization, serves as a commentary on international law and the fragility of geopolitics. Character-wise, the obsessive, calculator-dependent J. T. Maston embodies a critique of blind faith in mathematics and technology devoid of ethical consideration.

Adaptations

Direct adaptations of The Purchase of the North Pole are scarce compared to other Verne novels. Elements of the Baltimore Gun Club trilogy influenced the 1958 film From the Earth to the Moon, directed by Byron Haskin, though it primarily adapts the first novel. The 1967 French-Italian film *Rocket to the Moon* similarly draws from the earlier works. A more faithful, though modest, adaptation was produced as a radio drama by the BBC in the 1950s. The novel's core premise of altering the Earth's axis has been echoed in later science fiction, including episodes of television series like The Adventures of Superman and Doctor Who.

Reception and legacy

Upon release, the novel received mixed reviews; some critics found its premise outlandish even for Verne, while others praised its inventive satire and scientific extrapolation. Modern scholarship often views it as a significant, if underrated, work that highlights Verne's cynical view of Gilded Age commercialism and his shift towards more politically charged narratives. Its legacy lies in its early fictional exploration of climate change (albeit intentional) and the ethical perils of large-scale environmental manipulation. The book remains a key text within the Baltimore Gun Club cycle and is studied for its portrayal of the tensions between private enterprise and global governance, themes that have only grown more relevant.

Category:1889 novels Category:Novels by Jules Verne Category:French adventure novels