[AUX DEUX ELEPHANTS] VERNE, Une Ville Flottante , [1884-1889]

A Floating City refers to the immense ship "Great Eastern" crossing the Atlantic between Liverpool and New York. In this novel, Jules Verne draws inspiration from his own experience, having himself made this crossing on the real British "SS Great Eastern", then the largest and largest transatlantic liner of the time. This ship, where thousands of people and the crew live together, forms a micro society and therefore a real “floating city”. An adventure novel follows. Three Russian scientists (Mathieu Strux, Nicolas Palander, Michel Zorn) and three English scientists (Colonel Everest, Sir John Murray, William Emery), are responsible for working together, and have the mission of measuring a meridian arc. Against this scientific background, a friendship and an infriendship are created. The whole thing was complicated by the start of the Crimean War (1853-1856), which pitted Russia against an Ottoman, French, English and Sardinian coalition.