Help with Begum's Fortune
quentin skrabec
Colleagues
Looking for comments, suggested reading, etc, on my article coming to completion. It is a confluence of my favorite Verne’s ( and/or Paschal Grousset) novel, Begum’s Millions, and my love of steelmaking. I include literary/historical comparisons ( please help me here) as well as my area of expertise, Victorian and Vernian engineering.
Most would agree that Herr Schultze in Jules Verne’s 1879 novel Begum’s Millions (Begum’s Fortune)[i] was modeled after Alfred Krupp (1812-1887), and his steel city, Stahlstadt, was demonstrative of Essen, Germany. Krupp’s Essen certainly fits the bill perfectly, although as a Pittsburgher, metallurgical engineer, and former steelmaker, I can relate to the dark environment of Stahlstadt. That’s probably why I love Begum’s Fortune.
First area of my research to consider
Few, however, realize how deeply Verne intertwined Krupp’s personal and company history into the story and plot. For example, Verne’s characters, Herr Schultze and a thirteen-year-old boy, die of carbon dioxide asphyxiation. While Alfred Krupp did not die of asphyxiation, it was one of his greatest fears, even modifying his sleeping, personal habits, and the design of his castle to address this fear. Krupp’s first residence inside the Krupp Works did have a coal-heated greenhouse with exotic plants and animals very similar to Verne’s Schultze residence. There are many other comparative notes of interest – I can supply. But to get a quick look at this fear and life adaptation by Krupp, see the book The Arms of Krupp: 1587-1968 by William Manchester. Do you know of any notes/letters of Jules Verne discussing A. Krupp or Krupp Steel? Are there any things in the original French version I should be aware of? I have several translations, but I use Luce’s as a base for consistency. Are there any issues with that translation that you're aware of?
Second
The fear of Krupp’s steel cannon and its dominance in the Franco-Prussian War created a worldwide search for Krupp’s methods. Nations competed with each other to uncover the Krupp cast steel process. A major subplot/theme involved an industrial spy's search of Herr Schultze’s steelworks, which compares to international espionage to uncover the 19th century's greatest industrial secret: the Krupp cast crucible steel cannon process. Krupp forced employees to take oaths, closed sections to them (as in Begum’s Millions), so no one knew the whole process, and even spied on former employees. Verne details this secretive Krupp cast steel process and layout with remarkable accuracy, knowledge, and understanding through his industrial spy character, Marcel Bruckmann. Bruckmann's fictional process and factory layout details seem to be based on a “secret” ( limited access) military French publication (K.W. Michaelis and E, Monthaye, Visit to Krupp Works” -this work is available today from several archival sources) and British military espionage reports. These reports originated in 1876/77 but were not published until 1888. This real-life story of international engineering espionage is better than fiction. I have written the story of this espionage, and it will appear in December in the American Journal of Materials/Metals Engineering. Again, did Verne ever note directly about his knowledge of Krupp steel manufacturing? Seems unlikely that Grousset was the source, but does anybody know of Grousset’s background in steelmaking? I do have access to Grousset and some of his books and notes in English, archived at the University of Houston and University of Michigan- any French sources to check on??
Third
Verne’s
unique circular labyrinth of his steelmaking city is representative or wholly
derived from Krupp’s factory's circular
integration and design. For the last 150 years, steelmaking was modeled on
Andrew Carnegie’s linear integration until recently, when the possible savings,
resources, and waste management have been realized from Krupp’s circular
integration. Today, Krupp’s circular integration is being proposed for new mill
constructions (see
“Circular Design with Steel: A Blueprint for Sustainable Products” George Cooper | Mar 6, 2024)
Suggestions?
I have a rough, completed “short” article, possibly for the Newsletter or a magazine ( not a full research journal article yet)— I know many of you have expertise on Begum's Fortune and hope you can comment on these outlined points. I would appreciate any and all comments or ideas on references that may be available.
I could send a short article ( 3000 words) this if anyone has further interest or might want to add to it as a co-author, or even generate another article
quent
.
[i] The most common title used is Begum’s Fortune, however it was first published as 500 Millions of the Begum. I have chosen the title Begum’s Millions to use because the Luce’s translation is what I used as a base for comparison.
Jean-Louis Trudel
Quentin Skrabec writes:
"Few, however, realize how deeply Verne intertwined Krupp’s personal
and company history into the story and plot. For example, Verne’s
characters, Herr Schultze and a thirteen-year-old boy, die of carbon
dioxide asphyxiation. While Alfred Krupp did not die of asphyxiation,
it was one of his greatest fears, even modifying his sleeping,
personal habits, and the design of his castle to address this fear.
Krupp’s first residence inside the Krupp Works did have a coal-heated
greenhouse with exotic plants and animals very similar to Verne’s
Schultze residence. There are many other comparative notes of
interest – I can supply. But to get a quick look at this fear and life
adaptation by Krupp, see the book The Arms of Krupp: 1587-1968 by
William Manchester. Do you know of any notes/letters of Jules Verne
discussing A. Krupp or Krupp Steel? Are there any things in the
original French version I should be aware of? I have several
translations, but I use Luce’s as a base for consistency. Are there
any issues with that translation that you're aware of?"
been translated into French until 1968-1970. So, how would Verne have
known about Krupp's fear of asphyxiation?
On the other hand, the force of this coincidence between Krupp's
phobia and the fate of Schultze and the boy is weakened by the fact
that carbon dioxide asphyxiation figures in several other Verne books.
In _Les Indes noires_, we find this passage:
« La lampe de sûreté seule est combinée de manière à empêcher des
explosions d’autant plus terribles, que les mineurs qui n’ont pas été
directement atteints par le coup de grisou, courent risque d’être
instantanément asphyxiés dans les galeries remplies du gaz délétère,
formé après l’inflammation, c’est-à-dire d’acide carbonique.»
In _Autour de la Lune_, Verne references the famous Grotta del Cane in
Italy, a cavern (tunnel) where dogs were brought to suffocate or lose
consciousness as a result of exposure to excessive amounts of carbon
dioxide (allegedly feature in many 19th-c. schoolbooks):
« Mais il ne suffisait pas de renouveler l'oxygène dépensé, il fallait
encore absorber l'acide carbonique produit par l'expiration. Or,
depuis une douzaine d'heures, l'atmosphère du boulet s'était chargée
de ce gaz absolument délétère, produit définitif de la combustion des
éléments du sang par l'oxygène inspiré. Nicholl reconnut cet état de
l'air en voyant Diane haleter péniblement. En effet, l'acide
carbonique--par un phénomène identique à celui qui se produit dans la
fameuse Grotte du Chien--se massait vers le fond du projectile, en
raison de sa pesanteur. La pauvre Diane, la tête basse, devait donc
souffrir avant ses maîtres de la présence de ce gaz.»
And some of the most dramatic pages of _Vingt mille lieues sous les
mers_ involve the Nautilus trapped under the ice, with the entire crew
struggling to cope with the increasing amounts of carbon dioxide until
all of them come close to asphyxiation.
Now, I'm not trying to reject the idea Verne was inspired by Krupp in
_Les 500 Millions de la Bégum_ (an amount explicitly connected by
Verne to the war reparations levied by the Germans after the
Franco-Prussian war that involved Krupp cannons). After the
Franco-Prussian War, the French press often discussed Krupp's use of
carbon dioxide to forge his cannons. So, even an inattentive Verne
would have been aware of Krupp's use of carbon dioxide. Given the
general awareness during this time that carbon dioxide could
asphyxiate living beings, including dogs and humans, Verne did not
need to know Krupp's detailed biography to connect Krupp's use of
carbon dioxide (to make the cannons used to blast through the French
army) with asphyxiation, so that Krupp's stand-in could be punished in
Verne's fiction by the very key to Prussia's superiority over France.
In other words, not all coincidences are convincing.
Jean-Louis Trudel
Le jeu. 31 juill. 2025, à 19 h 56, quentin skrabec
<qrsk...@gmail.com> a écrit :
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quentin skrabec
been translated into French until 1968-1970. So, how would Verne have
known about Krupp's fear of asphyxiation?"
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That's the point Verne was aware of Krupp's fear. NOT SUGGESTING VERNE USED MANCHESTER 'S BOOK! -I NOTE IT AS MANCHESTER DOCUMENTS THE FEAR OF KRUPP WHICH NOT ALL MEMBERS WOULD KNOW__ POINT IS VERNE WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT THIS FEAR_ KNOWN IN EUROPE AT THE TIME- yes I know Verne used it else. My research question is not whether he knew of the fear but that he possibility he used it. I have more on this "coincidence"
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I agree that this is circumstantial evidence and will need to dig deeper unless Verne clearly states he used his Krupp - hard proof would be impossible. However, that's the fun of research, using observations to build a hypothesis.
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When researching potential sources for Verne technology, remember that, unlike my engineering / hard science papers, there is no way to test a hypothesis by repeating it.
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Remember, there are many prisoners in jail based only on circumstantial evidence. Circumstantial evidence and observation are the basis for a research hypothesis. So far, it's not fully developed for inclusion in a research article, more of a newsletter type thing , and I appreciate your raising the question.
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HOWEVER
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Definition of circumstance evidence in our type of research
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"In research, circumstantial evidence refers to indirect proof that leads to a logical inference about a fact in question. It's not a direct observation of the fact itself, but rather a collection of facts and circumstances that, when considered together, suggest the fact's existence. While it requires drawing inferences, it can be as compelling as direct evidence in establishing a fact."
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Some coincidences are perceived as meaningful by individuals, leading them to seek explanations beyond chance this is common outside the hard sciences. This is the very seeds of research. These can be related to personal experiences, beliefs, non-related knowledge, modus operandi, related history etc.
AGAIN THANKS SO MUCH - IT WILL BE A GREAT HELPQUENT
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Subject: Re: [JVF] Help with Begum's Fortune
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