Later Years, Death and Posthumous Works

Although he was enjoying immense professional success by the 1870s, Jules Verne began experiencing more strife in his personal life. He sent his rebellious son to a reformatory in 1876, and a few years later Michel caused more trouble through his relations with a minor. In 1886, Verne was shot in the leg by his nephew Gaston, leaving him with a limp for the rest of his life. His longtime publisher and collaborator Hetzel died a week later, and the following year his mother passed away as well.


Verne did, however, continue to travel and write, churning out Eight Hundred Leagues on the Amazon (La Jangada) and Robur the Conqueror (Robur-le-conquérant) during this period. His writing soon became noted for a darker tone, with books like The Purchase of the North Pole (Sans dessus dessous), Propeller Island (L’Île à hélice) and Master of the World (Maître du monde) warning of dangers wrought by technology.

Having established his residence in the northern French city of Amiens, Verne began serving on its city council in 1888. Stricken with diabetes, he died at home on March 24, 1905.

However, his literary output didn't end there, as Michel assumed control of his father's uncompleted manuscripts. Over the following decade, The Lighthouse at the End of the World (Le Phare du bout du monde), The Golden Volcano (Le Volcan d’or) and The Chase of the Golden Meteor (La Chasse au météore) were all published following extensive revisions by Michel.

Additional works surfaced decades later. Backwards to Britain finally was printed in 1989, 130 years after it was written, and Paris in the Twentieth Century, originally considered too far-fetched with its depictions of skyscrapers, gas-fueled cars and mass transit systems, followed in 1994.