co-authors wanted

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quentin skrabec

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Jul 23, 2025, 6:31:40 PMJul 23
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Friends of Verne

Again, I am seeking help from the forum, but I also want to offer something in return and maybe a unique opportunity. For forty years, I have published 23 books and over 100 articles on the history of engineering and business, as well as Verne’s technology during an active career. I've been working and researching full-time for the last five years on Jules Verne’s technical sources for his ideas on futuristic engineering, his thoughts on manufacturing and capitalism, and specific industries such as steel, iron, shipbuilding, and armaments. In the last four years, seven papers and four newsletter articles on my research of Jules Verne. I attribute this success to the help of the forum. Most of these were published in the United States and the United Kingdom. Now I seem to be facing a type of barrier to getting my research published in European journals. While I will continue to ask the forum for help, I am also looking for co-authors for my research, particularly those from Europe or the forum, to help balance my efforts. I am seeking non-technical individuals or those with different expertise, such as translation, literary, etc., who could augment my research.  I would welcome technical people as well. I have completed both a short and a long research effort on Begum’s Fortune – the abstract follows  if you are interested, I can provide the full article to anyone.

 I also have several pieces nearing my completion on Steel and Verne Futurism, Verne’s Circular and integrated manufacturing in several of his novels, the engineering of the Albatross, Verne’s view of paternal capitalism, and if anyone would like to co-author with me let me know. Again, I have extensive research material that I can supply and incorporate to align with your interests and research.  

Quent Skrabec  qrsk...@gmail.com

Anything I should be sure to use or check on the following effort, Begum’s Fortune, a favorite of mine?????

Verne’s Fictional Quest for the Secrets of Krupp Steel

( based on European and French Espionage in the 1800s)

Abstract

Most scholars 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 representative of Essen, Germany. Verne’s unique circular labyrinth of his steelmaking city is representative of Krupp’s factory integration and design.  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. A major subplot involved an industrial spy's search of Herr Schultze’s steelworks, which was based on international espionage to uncover the 19th century's greatest industrial secret: the Krupp cast crucible steel cannon process. Verne details this secretive Krupp process and layout with remarkable accuracy, knowledge, and understanding through his industrial spy character, Marcel Bruckmann, before the first process details were widely published in 1888. Another subplot is a competition between the two fictional cities that embodies the real struggle between German social democrats and Krupp loyalists to control Krupp’s city of Essen and its future. Begum’s Millions replicates the struggle of Krupp’s industrial paternalism versus the industrial social democracy movement in Europe of the 1870s, in which Krupp was a prominent political and financial player.

 


[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

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Jul 23, 2025, 8:37:11 PMJul 23
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Greetings,

While Stahlstadt is cool enough in a dystopian Metropolis sort of way
(and has a bit of a space travel connection), I'd like to stick up for
France-Ville and note that it is no less rigorously speculative,
basing itself on the kind of urban planning that led by the second
half of the 19th century to great city parks (Central, Hyde,
Mount-Royal, etc.), better aqueducts and sewers, and a renewed concern
for healthy cities. As I remember it, Verne cites a British reformer,
only a few years before Ebenezer Howard started proposing garden
cities. Only a few more years later, Zola would depict an ideal
(socialist?) city in _Travail_ (1901).

Jean-Louis Trudel


Jean-Louis Trudel

Le mer. 23 juill. 2025, à 18 h 31, quentin skrabec
<qrsk...@gmail.com> a écrit :
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quentin skrabec

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Jul 23, 2025, 9:16:17 PMJul 23
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Jean
 understand your point and agree since the article's focus is on Krupp's role and manufacturing and the search for the secret of cast steel cannons - I see your point, the social issues will only take away, and it's a small part of the actual article. Franceville vs Stahlstadt social heath issues etc are not my interest - and its been covered by others

The abstract distorts its role and proportion of the article should be taken out - it does take away from my main focus and  discussion of Krupp and the secret processing 

I m taking  all discussion out totally of social side issues-- its a smaller part of the article   this shorter, better focus will make a possible good fit for the newsletter

New summary - 
Abstract
            Most scholars 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 representative of Essen, Germany. Verne’s unique circular labyrinth of his steelmaking city is representative of Krupp’s factory integration and design.  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. A major subplot/theme involved an industrial spy's search of Herr Schultze’s steelworks, which was based on international espionage to uncover the 19th century's greatest industrial secret: the Krupp cast crucible steel cannon process. A Krupp cast-steel cannon was the most feared worldwide due to its accuracy and range. Krupp forced employees to take oaths, closed sections to them so no one knew the whole process, and even spied on former employees. Verne details this secretive Krupp process and layout with remarkable accuracy, knowledge, and understanding through his industrial spy character, Marcel Bruckmann.  Bruckmann's fictional process details were published based on French military espionage reports.

[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.


Thanks —
 
From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Jean-Louis Trudel <trud...@gmail.com>
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Subject: Re: [JVF] co-authors wanted
 
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John Lamb

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Jul 25, 2025, 7:55:35 AMJul 25
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Dear Quentin, you may wish to add Verne's fascination with telegraphic cable technology to your list.  Many of the advances in the study of electricity (linking too to your more recent thread) from 1850 to 1880 were spurred on by the desire to lay trans oceanic cables. Flemming Jenkins's research into gutta percha in tandem with  George Thompson (later known as Lord Kelvin) and devising the unit of electrical resistance known as the ohm, spring to mind, as well as Kelvin's development of the mirror galvanometer to amplify the signal. Then there is the personality sphere of those who were at the forefront of promoting cable technology such as Cyrus Field and Gordon Bennett and how they fed not only into Verne's content but also his characters (think Cyrus Smith and Gideon Spillet in Mysterious Island). Lord Kelvin cooperated with Robert Louis Stevenson in writing Jenkins's biography ...a rare provable example of a literature / scientific interface which I believe answers many of the questions re Verne that you pose. Verne ends up predicting the decline of high St shopping due to shopping via cable in The Floating Island which I find incredible. I find there is almost a 'heartbeat' or pulse in Verne's works that mention specific technological advances and repeat them at regular intervals throughout the Voyages Extraordinaires. Whether placing all these in one table book by book, and looking for patterns, interrelationships would help, I do not know, but it might establish a 'hierarchy' of Verne's interests and how they interrelate. Best John


quentin skrabec

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Jul 25, 2025, 11:31:42 AMJul 25
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John
I would always be happy to work with you - we both share a passion for Verne's technology, which I believe is the beating heart of Verne and why he is popular, a topic that warrants further research. For many scholars, this line of research is not as interesting as trying to establish Verne as a pure literary giant ( no doubt Verne wanted more respect in this area, which even his own country refused to give). In America, Verne was read for his unique blend of science, engineering, and adventure; his purer literary efforts never found the same popularity. Here is my controversial opinion as an American lover of Verne: for me , when he ventured too far from his unique blend, his stories become rather dull.  Of course, many great literary novels bore me 🙂.
Here's another controversial opinion I believe as an engineer, Verne was a great engineer, even a type of scientist (although Verne himself downplayed being any scientist, and many scholars bristle at the suggestion). Verne, like a good (even great) engineer, was well-versed in the science and did go to many resources and other scientists ( that's part of being a scientist) and had the imagination of an engineer to envision the future where that science might take us.  One of Verne's favorite scientists, Faraday, was a Jules Verne of science, often predicting where his discoveries might take the world. 

Remember, memorable research challenges the collective view of experts, which is the purpose of research. Stick to your passion; most great advances in our world came from sticking to one's passions against the experts. Most great ideas are initially viewed as absurd or incorrect. To me, being viewed as out of the "proven" orthodoxy is the prerequisite for becoming a great idea for the future. It is only the passionate that can withstand the collective resistance of "proven orthodoxy" 

You, my friend, have brought passion to the Forum and with it the seeds for new ideas.
Quent  
From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of John Lamb <cads...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 1:48 AM

Alex Kirstukas

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Jul 25, 2025, 2:50:00 PMJul 25
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Hi friends,

As someone fascinated both by Verne's literary techniques and by the history of science, I'm glad to say I haven't seen any evidence that Verne scholarship isn't interested in his use of science, geography, and technology - much less that Vernians view that angle as absurd or incorrect!

On the contrary, many of the greatest literary studies on Verne dive deep into the way he incorporates real scientific ideas and processes - going right back to the major essays of Marius Topin in 1876 and François Berge in 1929. (Both are available in English translation in recent issues of the NAJVS's Extraordinary Voyages magazine - Topin in the Feb 2024 issue, Berge in the July 2025.)

Even if we only stick to English-language scholarship of the last few decades, there's lots of wonderful work that addresses this area, such as Anastasiya Klimchinskaya's article "The Laboratory of the Mind's Eye," Marie-Hélène Huet's article "Engineering Fiction," and Art Evans's book Jules Verne Rediscovered.

There are also annotated translations of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Miller/Walter for Naval Institute Press), Five Weeks in a Balloon (Walter for Wesleyan UP), and Robur the Conqueror (me for Wesleyan UP) that pay close attention to scientific sources; Rick Walter's and my translations for Wesleyan even include biographical registers of all the scientific experimenters Verne names.

As far as I can tell, when Verne scholars have advised caution or expressed doubts on this forum, it hasn't been because of a scientific approach - it's just been asking for more clear outside evidence to make the arguments persuasive. With Verne, we're blessed with LOTS of documentary evidence about his writing processes and priorities, including correspondence, interviews, manuscripts, and miscellaneous notes and notebooks - so the strongest arguments are the ones that demonstrate clearly how they fit with, interact with, and add to what's already known about Verne.

Cheers,

Alex


quentin skrabec

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Jul 25, 2025, 5:02:06 PMJul 25
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Alex

Truly sorry you took my comments as a criticism of the forum- in fact it had nothing to do with the forum or the society. I believe you might be mixing my comments with another matter. 
I apologize to anyone in the forum who took it as a specific criticism of the forum or society, which has been extremely helpful to me and to which I owe much to.
Certainly, it had nothing to do with Miller, Walter or yourself - whose works I have the greatest respect for.  I did want to encourage John to push his somewhat perspective.

If anyone was in the least offended please contact me to clarify

Alex 
Please contact me
I feel we must talk directly to clarify what is obviously a misunderstanding of  things as soon as possible it truly troubles me that I upset you

Please contact me

6609 Buck Creek 
Maumee Ohio 43537







It was a generalization of the direction of much scholarship, including science fiction journals in the states.
From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Alex Kirstukas <alex.ki...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 2:49 PM

quentin skrabec

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Jul 25, 2025, 5:35:23 PMJul 25
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Still very troubled that some feel it was an attack on the forum

  • One note - I am looking for co-authors or collaborators etc - to co author papers and assure i have a counterbalance, international perspective ( i believe Americans have a very different perspective than Europeans - not a criticism of either 🙂) probably because we Americans grew up with poor translations.   
Quent
From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Alex Kirstukas <alex.ki...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 2:49 PM

quentin skrabec

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Jul 25, 2025, 5:58:12 PMJul 25
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Sorry - send previous too fast
By co-author I m not looking for some one take on a big burden (although your welcome too) - maybe someone young  working full time or doesn't time to write - and would like to get published 
I m been literally full time on Verne / Victorian science and engineering research - since i retired 4 years ago--- i do mean full time working longer hours than during my working life ( but loving it and getting lost in this research quest and world) - it something i always wanted to do and now have the time
Quent
 

From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Alex Kirstukas <alex.ki...@gmail.com>
Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 2:49 PM

Alex Kirstukas

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Jul 26, 2025, 10:39:02 AMJul 26
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Hi Quent,

Please don’t worry, no offense taken! I just wanted to celebrate the wealth of great research material out there (such as those studies by Huet, Evans, and Klimchinskaya) and make sure you were aware of them.

Speaking of the literature, one more book recommendation you might get a kick out of: Gallagher et al’s Jules Verne: A Primary and Secondary Bibliography. It’s from 1980, so makes some errors and predates a LOT of important recent work. Still, for English-reading Verne fans with no French, it provides capsule summaries of early research, including important publications from some of the big names no Vernian should miss (Michel Butor, Simone Vierne, etc) and gives a sense of what a variety of work was done by earlier generations of Verne scholars. Like Isaac Newton would say, we’re on the shoulders of giants. 

All the best,

Alex


On Jul 25, 2025, at 10:58 PM, quentin skrabec <qrsk...@gmail.com> wrote:



quentin skrabec

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Jul 26, 2025, 11:57:44 AMJul 26
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Alex

I would like to be polite and respectful as I have been for twenty years, but that is no longer possible with you. You forced me into a public defense. If you're going to accuse someone of AI plagiarism in a professional paper, you better have solid evidence and a knowledge of the law , other than setting off a personal alarm!!!! This is the worst type of attack that can be made any writer let alone the damage that can be done to a career. Because you are striking at the heart and soul of a professional writer, and I hurt; other members can understand my hurt. I do take solace in the fact that Jules Verne had to deal with this. 
 You have an attitude of superiority that is not good in a research forum. It's too bad because I respect your writings and love the forum. As for you, as a professional scholar, I regret that I cannot say the same about your writings. 
You and a select inner circle are not the keepers of the temple of Verne research - you do not define what is required reading or necessary for research. Nor are you the priesthood of Verne research or the one that has the ability to certify one as a truly qualified Verne researcher. Of course, you can have your opinions, but if you are the scholar you claim to be, you must respect other scholars and be open to their views, not judging them by your personal requirements for credibility. My sources on science and my in-depth knowledge of Victorian science offer new insights into Verne's work in technology. I truly hate to be forced to argue the point with you, but you have stated a lack of understanding of science and Verne by me. You put me in the most uncomfortable position as a scholar, or everyone having to defend my credibility and even honesty.    It is not required to know French or read Verne in French or have personally touched Verne's papers, which you seem to think it puts you in some superior position to judge.  It may account for why Vernennia is a failed effort ( not to be too Trumpian here 🙂 but taking five years to assemble a year's worth of writing material for the annual edition might indicate something is wrong. 
I would be happy to send you my books on Victorian science and engineering - it just might be you don't know all the scientific sources Verne could have used - even a few weren't European 🙂

I regret having to write this, but I am still interested in a personal discussion with you to bring this to a conclusion.
sadly
Quent

Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2025 10:38 AM

Ariel Pérez Rodríguez

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Jul 26, 2025, 2:29:46 PMJul 26
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Hi Quentin,

I think you have mixed up messages that should have been private in a public forum.

Alex has suggested that you consider reviewing relevant English-language bibliography on Verne as part of your documentation process, to support your research and complement the sources you already possess. Having published 25 books and over 100 articles does not entitle anyone to claim ownership of absolute truth either.
  
Verniana is an online journal established in 2008 that has published twelve volumes of scholarly contributions on Verne. It deserves respect, as do the individuals who have contributed to it and those who have managed the journal over the years. The reviewers’ comments were intended for your eyes only and should not have been made public, as you have done. If you had concerns, they should have been addressed directly with the journal’s editor.  

Best regards,
Ariel

quentin skrabec

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Jul 26, 2025, 3:03:23 PMJul 26
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I have no disrespect for the journal in i wanted to be published in it — i hold it in high esteem  — i used my credentials only in defense (believe me it is humiliating for me to have to do so) of the accusation i used AI and had "no knowledge of Verne and science" 
I m sorry this might be uncomfortable for many - but it is a very serious accusation as a reason for rejecting a paper - and sometimes uncomfortable discussions can bring improvement- you know as well as I do - i will suffer much more by doing so - alex is a respected old guard and has earned that position - but not the right to accuse one of plagiarism
i feel i at least have the right to air this 
NOTE - I did ask Alex to call me because I was upset — with No Response, see Forum discussion prior to 

As for the other I said about the priesthood because it is how I feel and the DEEP Hurt inflected on me- yes i am really mad too - 
I hope Alex with get with to work it out in private— this is the third offer 
 sincerely with great respect for the journal and forum 



From: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Ariel Pérez Rodríguez <ari...@gmail.com>
Sent: Saturday, July 26, 2025 2:29 PM

To: jules-ve...@googlegroups.com <jules-ve...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [JVF] co-authors wanted
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