Birkenhead is Mysterious Island Part One

[John Lamb]

Dear all,

The whole of Verne's novel Mysterious Island is basically a cipher set in Birkenhead and Wirral re the American Civil War, Semmes and slavery. 

Here is my analysis of The Mysterious Island up to the finding of Cyrus Smith (page 1-63 out of 636 pages in the Kravitz translation. 

There is too much on Mysterious Island to post all the evidence here or anywhere else in one 'academic article' and do it justice. So I shall post it in about five parts.

I am saving the 'academic article' for the comparisons between Semmes and Nemo and the CSS Alabama and the Nautilus,  which I hope to submit to Verniana. 

You can tell Verne was an ex-theatre director as he recycles the same  Birkenhead and Wirral Peninsula scenery across three novels. 

Please find attached the first article re Mysterious Island, I have included an interlude example regarding A Journey to the Centre of the Earth to show a Wirral landmark (Red Rocks reef) in The Mysterious Island (1873)  had already been used by as the inspiration  for Axel Island by Verne in Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1864). 

 My article in the International Review of Science Fiction showed how Verne used Birkenhead and Wirral across three novels (Mysterious Island, The Floating Island and Journey to the Centre of the Earth). 

The inspiration for the character of Top the dog is also included and is an example of how Verne uses a monosyllabic clue in a name. The fact that even the dog in the novel is based on a real dog made me realise that all the characters in Mysterious Island had their real life counterparts.

As always comments appreciated on absolutely any part of the novel as it all fits.

Please grill me!

Best John