FFiivvee WWeeeekkss iinn aa BBaalllloooonn publication of this book is funded by the Beatrice Fox auerBach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Five Weeks in a Balloon A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa JULES VERNE Translated with introduction and notes by frederick paul walter Edited by arthur b. evans wesleyan university press Middletown, Connecticut Wesleyan University Press Middletown, CT 06459 www.wesleyan.edu/wespress Translation and annotations © 2015 Frederick Paul Walter Bibliography and biography © 2015 Arthur B. Evans All rights reserved Manufactured in the United States of America Designed by Richard Hendel Typeset in Miller, Didot, and Clarendon by Tseng Information Systems, Inc. publication of this book is funded by the Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving Wesleyan University Press is a member of the Green Press Initiative. The paper used in this book meets their minimum requirement for recycled paper. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Verne, Jules, 1828–1905. [Cinq semaines en ballon. English] Five weeks in a balloon: a journey of discovery by three Englishmen in Africa / Jules Verne; translated with introduction and notes by Frederick Paul Walter; edited by Arthur B. Evans.  pages cm — (Early classics of science fiction) Includes bibliographical references. iSBn 978-0-8195-7547-0 (cloth : alk. paper) — iSBn 978-0-8195-7548-7 (ebook) I. Walter, Frederick Paul, translator. II. Title. PQ2469.c5e55 2015 843′.8—dc23  2014045129 5 4 3 2 1 Cover illustration by Édouard Riou (1833–1900). Gratefully dedicated to the staff, volunteers, and aeronauts at the anderSon- aBruzzo international Balloon MuSeuM in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Contents Introduction: Verne Takes Off, xi FIVE WEEKS IN A BALLOON, 1 Note on the Translation, 293 Gallery of Heroes, 295 Notes, 305 Bibliography, 315 Jules Gabriel Verne: A Biography, 349 About the Contributors, 357