''The New Traveller's Almanac'' is a series of writings included in the back of all six issues of ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II
''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II'' is a comic book limited series written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill, published under the America's Best Comics imprint of DC Comics in the United States and under Vertigo in th ...
'', covering the timeline and the world of ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'' (''LoEG'') is a comic book series (inspired by the 1960 British film ''The League of Gentlemen'') co-created by writer Alan Moore and artist Kevin O'Neill which began in 1999. The series spans four volum ...
''.
The six issues covered the
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...
,
Continental Europe
Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...
, the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
,
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
,
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
and the
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
s, and the
Polar Region
The polar regions, also called the frigid geographical zone, zones or polar zones, of Earth are the regions of the planet that surround its geographical poles (the North Pole, North and South Poles), lying within the polar circles. These high l ...
s. In the Volume II collection, the ''Almanac'' was collected into a single 46-page document. All of the information from it was drawn from pre-existing literary sources (such as
Shakespearean
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
plays or the
Cthulhu Mythos
The Cthulhu Mythos is a mythopoeia and a shared fictional universe, originating in the works of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. The term was coined by August Derleth
August William Derleth (February 24, 1909 – July 4, 1971) was an ...
).
The ''Almanac'' is written in the style of a declassified document from
MI5
The Security Service, also known as MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Go ...
taken from a government library. It is notable in introducing characters such as Prospero and Orlando, who will later become main characters in ''
The Black Dossier
''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Black Dossier'' is an original graphic novel in the comic book series ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen'', written by Alan Moore and illustrated by Kevin O'Neill. It was the last volume of the series ...
'' and
Volume Three. The travel reports, mostly compiled from log entries by
Mina Murray
Wilhelmina "Mina" Harker (née Murray) is a fictional character and the main female character in Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''.
In the novel
She begins the story as Miss Mina Murray, a young schoolmistress who is engaged ...
, Prospero and
Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo (; later identified as an Indian, Prince Dakkar) is a fictional character created by the French novelist Jules Verne (1828–1905). Nemo appears in two of Verne's science-fiction classics, ''Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas'' ( ...
(and occasionally quote from them, including Prospero's log written entirely in
iambic pentameter
Iambic pentameter () is a type of metric line used in traditional English poetry and verse drama. The term describes the rhythm, or meter, established by the words in that line; rhythm is measured in small groups of syllables called "feet". "Iambi ...
), scan over every part of the world in several chapters.
Buried in the exhausting prose are various hints at portions of the story not covered by the graphic novel portion of the volume, such as the adventures of earlier leagues, Murray's correspondence with
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
, Murray and
Allan Quatermain
Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel ''King Solomon's Mines'', its one sequel ''Allan Quatermain'' (1887), twelve prequel novels and four prequel short stories, totalling eighteen works. An English professional ...
's search for the
fountain of youth
The Fountain of Youth is a mythical spring which allegedly restores the youth of anyone who drinks or bathes in its waters. Tales of such a fountain have been recounted around the world for thousands of years, appearing in the writings of Herod ...
known as the "Pool of Fire and Life" or "the Fire of Life", and their investigation of
H. P. Lovecraft-style phenomena and parallel universes for the British government.
The narrator is at times intentionally ignorant, obfuscating literary references and plot points so that they serve as
easter egg
Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...
s. For example, the narrator refers to Murray's visit to "an elderly bee-keeper who resided near the seaside cove of Fulworth" (in "
The Adventure of the Lion's Mane
"The Adventure of the Lion's Mane" (1926), one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by British author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 12 stories in the cycle collected as ''The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes''. It is notable for bein ...
" Sherlock Holmes retires to Fulworth to keep bees).
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Traveller's Almanac
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
Encyclopedias of fictional worlds