Laurie, André
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
Pseudonym of Paschal Grousset (1844-1909), French politician and author. His first political novel, Le rève d'un irreconciliable ["Dream of a Diehard"] (1869) and several political works were published under his real name, but thereafter he used the Laurie pseudonym. While living as a communard exile in London, Laurie wrote the original version of the book which was later published – significantly modified – as Les Cinq Cent Millions de la Begum (1879; preferred trans as The Begum's Fortune) as by Jules Verne (see his entry for history of his translations in general). Laurie legally renounced title to the story, as he did with The Southern Star Mystery (1884), rewritten and published as by Verne. Both authors put their name to L'épave du Cynthia (1886; cut trans I O Evans as Salvage from the Cynthia 1958). It was a strange collaboration, Laurie being politically a long way to the left of Verne (whose crabwise political odyssey leftwards is exceedingly difficult to describe concisely), and in some ways a finer writer, though he distinctly lacked Verne's narrative energy.
Of Laurie's several solo sf novels, five have been translated into English. The best known is Les exilés de la Terre, Séléne Company Limited (1887; trans anon as The Conquest of the Moon: A Story of the Bayouda 1889), in which plans are made to drag the Moon from its orbit to land in the Sahara Desert, where its resources can be plundered; but the executors of the plan are drawn to the Moon instead. Laurie wrote of the discoveries of scientifically advanced societies in Le Secret du Mage (1890; trans anon as The Secret of the Magian, or The Mystery of Ecbatana 1891) and Atlantis (1895 Magasin d'Education et recreation; 1895; trans L A Smith as The Crystal City Under the Sea 1896; vt The Crystal City 1896) – Underground in the first case, on the great Island of Atlantis in the second; of Suspended Animation in Axel Ebersen: Le Gradue d'Upsala (1891; trans anon as Axel Ebersen, the Graduate of Upsala 1891-1894 Boy's Own Paper; 1892); and of a transatlantic tunnel in De New York à Brest en sept heures (1888; trans anon as New York to Brest in Seven Hours 1890). Le Géant de L'Azur ["The Giant of the Azur"] (1904) involves giant Airships; his most critically acclaimed work, Spiridon le muet ["Spiridon the Mute"] (1906; trans Michael Shreve as Spiridon 2010), involves Telepathy and an Underground ant civilization. [JE/PN/JC]
see also: Boys' Papers; Near Future; Under the Sea.
Jean François Paschal Grousset
born Corte, Corsica, France: 7 April 1844
died Paris, France: 9 April 1909
works
series
Gérard
- Gérard et Colette: Les Cherchers d'Or de L'Afrique Australe ["Gérard and Colette: The Searchers for Gold in South Africa"] (Paris: J Hetzel and Company, 1897) [in the publisher's Les Romans d'Aventures series: illus/hb/Léon Benett]
- Le Filon de Gérard: Les Cherchers d'Or de L'Afrique Australe ["Gérard's Lode: The Searchers for Gold in South Africa"] (Paris: J Hetzel and Company, 1899) [in the publisher's Les Romans d'Aventures series: illus/hb/Léon Benett]
individual titles
- Le Capitaine Trafalgar (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1886) [hb/]
- Captain Trafalgar: A Story of the Mexican Gulf (London: Cassell and Co, 1887) [trans by William Westall of the above: hb/]
- Les exilés de la Terre, Séléne Company Limited (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1887) [hb/Georges Roux]
- The Conquest of the Moon: A Story of the Bayouda (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1889) [anon trans of the above: hb/Georges Roux]
- De New York à Brest en sept heures (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1888) [first appeared 5 July-20 December 1888 Magasin d'Éducation et de Récréation: hb/]
- New York to Brest in Seven Hours (London: Sampson Low, Searle, and Rivington, 1890) [anon trans of the above: hb/]
- Le Secret du Mage (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1890) [first appeared 5 July-20 December 1890 Magasin d'Éducation et de Récréation: hb/]
- The Secret of the Magian, or The Mystery of Ecbatana (London: Sampson Low and Co, 1891) [anon trans of the above: book is dated 1892: hb/]
- Axel Ebersen: Le Gradue d'Upsala (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1891) [hb/]
- Axel Ebersen, the Graduate of Upsala (London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle and Rivington, 1892) [anon trans of the above: hb/]
- Atlantis (Paris: Romans d'Aventures, 1895) [first appeared 5 January-20 June 1895 Magasin d'Éducation et de Récréation, Nouvelle Série: hb/]
- The Crystal City Under the Sea (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co, 1896) [trans by L A Smith of the above: hb/Léon Benett]
- The Crystal City (Boston, Massachusetts: Estes and Lauriat, 1896) [vt of the above: hb/]
- The Crystal City Under the Sea (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co, 1896) [trans by L A Smith of the above: hb/Léon Benett]
- Le Géant de L'Azur ["The Giant of the Azur"] (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1904) [in the publisher's Les Romans d'Aventures series: illus/hb/George Roux]
- Le Maître de l'Abime ["The Master of the Abyss"] (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1905) [hb/George Roux]
- Spiridon le muet ["Spiridon the Mute"] (Paris: Publications Jules Rouff et Cie, 1906) [first appeared 6 December 1906-28 March 1907 Le Globe Trotter: hb/]
- Spiridon (Encino, California: Hollywood Comics/Black Coat Press, 2010) [trans of the above by Michael Shreve: pb/Jean-Félix Lyon]
works in association with Jules Verne
- Les Cinq Cent Millions de la Begum (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1879) [hb/]
- The Begum's Millions (Middletown, Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press, 2005) as by Jules Verne [preferred trans by Stanford L Luce of the above: see Verne entry for explanation: hb/L]
- L'Étoile du Sud: le Pays des Diamants (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1884) [hb/]
- The Southern Star Mystery (London: Arco, 1966) [cut trans of the above by I O Evans: hb/]
- L'Epave Cynthia (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1886) [hb/]
- Salvage from the Cynthia (London: Arco, 1964) [cut trans of the above by I O Evans: hb/]
- The Waif of the "Cynthia" (Bibliolife, 2008) [vt of the above: hb/]
- L'Île à Hélice (Paris: J Hetzel et Cie, 1896) [hb/]
- Floating Island; Or, the Pearl of the Pacific (London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co, 1896) [trans William J Gordon of the above: hb/]
- Propeller Island (London: Arco, 1961) [cut trans of the above by I O Evans: hb/]
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