Detail of 19th cent. map of Iceland (see below)

Journey to the Center of the Earth

[A Journey into the Interior of the Earth]

by Jules Verne

tr. by Frederick Amadeus Malleson

[1877]

About the map: Detail of map of western Iceland from Gisli the Outlaw. Snaefalls Volcano is on the peninsula in the upper left, and Reykjavik is in the lower right.

This is Jules Verne's entry in the subterranean adventure genre, a classic of 19th century science fiction. Originally published in 1864 as Voyage au centre de la Terre, there are two principal English translations. The most commonly reprinted translation, published by Griffith and Farran in 1871, changed the names of some of the characters, and added and deleted passages ad lib. This translation, however, is considered more accurate.

Verne looms large in the literature of the hollow earth, not only because of his fame, but because the book is so well written, and, despite some creaky science, is not a complete departure from reality, compared with Etidorpha, or even the Pellucidar books of Egdar Rice Burroughs.

Title Page and Redactor's Note
Preface
Contents
Chapter I. The Professor and His Family
Chapter II. A Mystery to be Solved at Any Price
Chapter III. The Runic Writing Exercises the Professor
Chapter IV. The Enemy to be Starved Into Submission
Chapter V. Famine, then Victory, Followed by Dismay
Chapter VI. Exciting Discussions About an Unparalleled Enterprise
Chapter VII. A Woman's Courage
Chapter VIII. Serious Preparations For Vertical Descent
Chapter IX. Iceland! But What Next?
Chapter X. Interesting Conversations With Icelandic Savants
Chapter XI. A Guide Found to the Centre of the Earth
Chapter XII. A Barren Land
Chapter XIII. Hospitality Under the Arctic Circle
Chapter XIV. But Arctics Can Be Inhospitable, Too
Chapter XV. Snæfell at Last
Chapter XVI. Boldly Down the Crater
Chapter XVII. Vertical Descent
Chapter XVIII. The Wonders of Terrestrial Depths
Chapter XIX. Geological Studies in Situ
Chapter XX. The First Signs of Distress
Chapter XXI. Compassion Fuses the Professor's Heart
Chapter XXII. Total Failure of Water
Chapter XXIII. Water Discovered
Chapter XXIV. Well Said, Old Mole! Canst Thou Work I’ the Ground So Fast?
Chapter XXV. De Profundis
Chapter XXVI. The Worst Peril of All
Chapter XXVII. Lost in the Bowels of the Earth
Chapter XXVIII. The Rescue in the Whispering Gallery
Chapter XXIX. Thalatta! Thalatta!
Chapter XXX. A New Mare Internum
Chapter XXXI. Preparations for a Voyage of Discovery
Chapter XXXII. Wonders of the Deep
Chapter XXXIII. A Battle of Monsters
Chapter XXXIV. The Great Geyser
Chapter XXXV. An Electric Storm
Chapter XXXVI. Calm Philosophic Discussions
Chapter XXXVII. The Liedenbrock Museum of Geology
Chapter XXXVIII. The Professor in His Chair Again
Chapter XXXIX. Forest Scenery Illuminated by Eletricity
Chapter XL. Preparations for Blasting a Passage to the Centre of the Earth
Chapter XLI. The Great Explosion and the Rush Down Below
Chapter XLII. Headlong Speed Upward Through the Horrors of Darkness
Chapter XLIII. Shot Out of a Volcano at Last!
Chapter XLIV. Sunny Lands in the Blue Mediterranean
Chapter XLV. All's Well That Ends Well