Jules Verne is the acclaimed author of such pioneering science fiction as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Journey to the Center of the Earth. Yet he also wrote much more, including stories never before translated into English, which will be presented for the first time in the Palik series, under the auspices of the North American Jules Verne Society.

Foreshadowing such classics as Around the World in 80 Days, this inaugural volume focuses on two of Verne's earliest humorous stories, The Marriage of Mr. Anselme des Tilleuls and Jédédias Jamet, or The Tale of an Inheritance. Translation is provided by Edward Baxter and Kieran O'Driscoll, two of the leading Verne experts; critical commentary examines both stories, and scholars explore why some of the author's stories were overlooked for so many years.

Foreword by Brian Taves; Introduction by Walter James Miller; The Marriage of Mr. Anselme des Tilleuls translated by Edward Baxter, with a preface and notes by Jean-Michel Margot, afterword by Edward Baxter; Appendix: Jédédias Jamet, or The Tale of an Inheritance translated, and with a preface and annotations, by Kieran M. O'Driscoll.