Jules Lermina

Who was Jules Lermina?

Jules Lermina was a French writer. He began his career as a journalist in 1859. He was arrested for his socialist political opinions, and received Victor Hugo's support.

He published a number of Edgar Allan Poe-inspired collections, Histoires Incroyables [Incredible Tales], Nouvelles Histoires Incroyables [New Incredible Tales] and a short novel, L'Élixir de Vie [The Elixir of Life]. Le Secret des Zippelius [The Secret of the Zippelius] featured the controlled disintegration of water. His two-volume La Bataille de Strasbourg [The Battle of Strasbourg] was one of the first novels on the theme of the yellow peril.

In L'Effrayante Aventure [Panic in Paris], Lermina used Bulwer-Lytton's vril-force to create a vril-powered flying machine. The novel also features the resurrection of prehistoric creatures frozen in ice in caverns under Paris. Mystère-Ville, written under the pseudonym of William Cobb, and illustrated by Albert Robida, was about Protestants who had fled France and created a secret, futuristic city in a hidden Chinese valley.