Backwards to Britain
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''Backwards to Britain'' (french: Voyage à reculons en Angleterre et en Ecosse) is a
semi-autobiographical novel An autobiographical novel is a form of novel using autofiction techniques, or the merging of autobiographical and fictive elements. The literary technique is distinguished from an autobiography or memoir by the stipulation of being fiction. Bec ...
by the French writer
Jules Verne Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet, and playwright. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
, written in the fall and winter of 1859–1860 and not published until 1989. The novel follows the travels of two Frenchmen, Jacques (representing Verne) and Jonathan (Verne's friend
Aristide Hignard Jean-Louis Aristide Hignard (20 May 1822 – 20 March 1898) was a French composer of light opera notable as a friend of Jules Verne, also from Nantes and six years Hignard's junior, some of whose librettos and verse he set to music.Patrick Barbier ...
), on a journey from Paris to Scotland.


Plot

Jacques Lavaret, a young Parisian man, is eager to visit Scotland. He is delighted when his friend, the composer Jonathan Savournon, announces that he can get a free trip to Britain, with room for a friend, on a steamer trading between
Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...
and
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. Jacques, filled with enthusiasm and Anglophilia, sets off for the steamer in late July 1859, but when he gets to
Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
to meet up with Jonathan, he is faced with bad news. The steamer has been delayed some days, and will dock not in Saint-Nazaire but in
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
, 500 kilometers south of Paris. The two friends spend the delay sightseeing in Nantes and traveling by another boat from there to Bordeaux. Jacques and Jonathan weather the adventures and mishaps of the voyage, amused at the irony of traveling "backwards", away from Britain, in order to get there. After visiting Jonathan's friend Edmond R—, who shows them around the city, Jacques and Jonathan embark at last on the steamer for Liverpool. Jacques, who speaks no English, has difficulty communicating with the ship's commander, the Scottish Captain Speedy, but he is not alone; neither of Speedy's two
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
s, picked up in Bordeaux, can speak the language either. The
bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...
Jonathan does a little interpreting, and helps Jacques through some pronunciation errors when he tries to pepper his conversation with English phrases. Twenty-four days after leaving Nantes, the two friends arrive in Liverpool, where they marvel at unfamiliar English customs and are astounded at the depths of poverty and squalor in the streets. After meeting with a tradesman, Mr. Joe Kennedy, and his guest Sir John Sinclair, they travel by rail to
Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...
. Jacques and Jonathan explore the city, redolent with memories of
Sir Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy' ...
, whose novels Jacques adores. They visit many landmarks, including the Scott Monument, the Palace of Holyrood, Arthur's Seat (Jacques's first experience of a mountaintop view), and the beach at Portobello. They dine with the family of Mr. B—, Jonathan's brother's wife's uncle; Jacques is taken with Mr. B—'s daughter, Miss Amelia, who promises to draw up an itinerary for their sightseeing to come. Jacques and Jonathan see Calton Hill and
Edinburgh Castle Edinburgh Castle is a historic castle in Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland. It stands on Castle Rock (Edinburgh), Castle Rock, which has been occupied by humans since at least the Iron Age, although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. ...
the next day, and dine with the B— family again. Following Miss Amelia's instructions, they travel by steamer up the
Firth of Forth The Firth of Forth () is the estuary, or firth, of several Scottish rivers including the River Forth. It meets the North Sea with Fife on the north coast and Lothian on the south. Name ''Firth'' is a cognate of ''fjord'', a Norse word meani ...
, dine with a Catholic priest in
Oakley, Fife Oakley is a village in Fife, Scotland located at the mutual border of Carnock and Culross parishes, Fife, west of Dunfermline on the A907. The village was built in connection with the Forth or Oakley Ironworks (1846), now all gone along wit ...
, and proceed by rail to
Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, which they discover to be as dingy as Liverpool. Then their rail route continues to Balloch and
Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...
, which they cross by boat, admiring the views of Luss and Ben Lomond. They drive by coach from Loch Lomond to
Loch Katrine Loch Katrine (; or ) is a freshwater loch in the Trossachs area of the Scottish Highlands, east of Loch Lomond, within the historic county and registration county of Perthshire and the contemporary district of Stirling. The loch is about lon ...
, reminded more than ever of Scott's novels. Crossing Loch Katrine with other passengers, including a bagpiper in traditional Highland dress, they reach the northernmost point of their travels. They dine in
Callander Callander (; gd, Calasraid) is a small town in the council area of Stirling, Scotland, situated on the River Teith. The town is located in the historic county of Perthshire and is a popular tourist stop to and from the Highlands. The town ser ...
and take a train to Stirling, where they admire Highland dress uniforms and pibrochs before heading back to Edinburgh. Sad to be leaving Scotland, they order tickets for
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
. Arriving in London, they cross
London Bridge Several bridges named London Bridge have spanned the River Thames between the City of London and Southwark, in central London. The current crossing, which opened to traffic in 1973, is a box girder bridge built from concrete and steel. It r ...
and climb to the top of
St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, marveling at its whispering gallery; then they see the
Palace of Westminster The Palace of Westminster serves as the meeting place for both the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Informally known as the Houses of Parli ...
,
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
,
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...
, and
Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...
, and make their way through the West End. At the Princess's Theatre in Oxford Street, they see a production of
Shakespeare 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 ...
's ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
''. By the next morning, Jacques is tired of London, complaining that they are now sightseeing only from a sense of duty. They travel down the
Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
and see Greenwich, the
Tower of London The Tower of London, officially His Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress of the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, which is separa ...
, and
Madame Tussaud's Madame Tussauds (, ) is a wax museum founded in 1835 by French wax sculptor Marie Tussaud in London, spawning similar museums in major cities around the world. While it used to be spelled as "Madame Tussaud's"; the apostrophe is no longer us ...
. Having spent a week in England and Scotland, they take a steamer back to France. Their tour was rushed, but colorful and memorable; they are now ready to take a different and much more leisurely kind of trip as they "travel backwards through their memories" to relive their experience of Britain.


Themes


Literary sources

Verne's experience of Scotland, and his writings about it, come from a reader's point of view: they reflect that he had discovered the country in books before setting foot there himself. In particular, his view of Scotland is heavily influenced by the works of the novelist Sir Walter Scott and the poet James Macpherson. (Indeed, Verne's novels often describe Scotland simply as the land of Scott, or as that of his hero Rob Roy.) Another source for Verne's Scottish themes came from the French writer Charles Nodier, who used his 1821 travels in Scotland as the impetus for two works he wrote that year: ''Promenades de Dieppe aux montagnes d’Écosse'' and ''Trilby ou le lutin d'Argail''. Verne cites both Nodier and Scott in the first chapter of ''Backwards to Britain'', as well as several other writers who influenced his conception of Britain:
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
in his novels '' The Pickwick Papers'' and '' Nicholas Nickleby'';
Louis Énault Louis Énault (1824 - 28 March 1900) was a French journalist, novelist and translator. He sometimes used the pseudonym Louis de Vernon. Life Born in Isigny-sur-Mer, he trained as a lawyer in Paris and then, thanks to his links with the right-wing ...
, author of ''Angleterre, Écosse, Irlande, voyage pittoresque'' (1859); and
Francis Wey Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places *Rural Mu ...
, author of ''Les Anglais chez eux : esquisses de mœurs et de voyage'' (1850–1). Other writers mentioned in the book include François-René de Chateaubriand, a distant relative of Verne himself;
Victor Hugo Victor-Marie Hugo (; 26 February 1802 – 22 May 1885) was a French Romantic writer and politician. During a literary career that spanned more than sixty years, he wrote in a variety of genres and forms. He is considered to be one of the great ...
, whose poem "Le 7 août 1829" from '' Les Rayons et les Ombres'' is quoted; and
James Fenimore Cooper James Fenimore Cooper (September 15, 1789 – September 14, 1851) was an American writer of the first half of the 19th century, whose historical romances depicting colonist and Indigenous characters from the 17th to the 19th centuries brought h ...
, an author often cited in Verne's novels.


Imagery

As numerous images in ''Backwards to Britain'' imply, such as the juxtaposition of Scott with
James Watt James Watt (; 30 January 1736 (19 January 1736 OS) – 25 August 1819) was a Scottish inventor, mechanical engineer, and chemist who improved on Thomas Newcomen's 1712 Newcomen steam engine with his Watt steam engine in 1776, which was fun ...
or the description of modern gas taps in ancient castles, Verne was especially interested in emphasizing Scotland's evocative combination of an legendary past and an intriguingly modern, scientifically innovative present. In Verne's novels, Scotland is depicted a land of
utopian A utopia ( ) typically describes an imaginary community or society that possesses highly desirable or nearly perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia'', describing a fictional island society ...
possibilities, as is suggested by his fictional underground city New Aberfoyle in '' The Black Indies'' or the dreams of an ideal Scottish island settlement imagined in ''
The Children of Captain Grant ''In Search of the Castaways'' (french: Les Enfants du capitaine Grant, lit=The Children of Captain Grant) is a novel by the French writer Jules Verne, published in 1867–68. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of ill ...
''. The idea of moving backwards, as reflected in both the French and the English published titles, is a central motif in the novel. Verne continued to explore it throughout the novels published during his lifetime, collectively known as the '' Voyages Extraordinaires''. In these novels, progress is often characterized not merely as going forward into the future but also as revisiting and gaining a better understanding of the past and present.


Publication

In 1862, Verne submitted ''Backwards to Britain'' to the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel. Hetzel rejected it, but he accepted another Verne manuscript involving the more timely themes of ballooning and African explorations; it was published in 1863 as ''
Five Weeks in a Balloon ''Five Weeks in a Balloon, or, A Journey of Discovery by Three Englishmen in Africa'' (french: Cinq semaines en ballon) is an adventure novel by Jules Verne, published in 1863. It is the first novel in which he perfected the "ingredients" of his ...
''. The rejected manuscript of ''Backwards to Britain'' was eventually acquired by the Bibliothèque de la Ville de Nantes. ''Backwards to Britain'' was first published in an edition edited by Christian Robin, ''Voyage à reculons en Angleterre et en Ecosse'' (Paris: Le Cherche Midi, 1989), including the text, facsimiles of two pages of the manuscript, a map, and 84 images from contemporary sources. An English translation by Janice Valls-Russell was published by W & R Chambers Ltd in 1992.


Notes


Footnotes


References


Citations

* * * * * * * {{Verne Novels by Jules Verne 1989 French novels Novels set in the 1850s