The Will of an Eccentric

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The Will of an Eccentric
Verne-TE1.jpg
Frontespiece of the french original edition
Author Jules Verne
Original titleLe Testament d'un excentrique
Illustrator Georges Roux
LanguageFrench
Series The Extraordinary Voyages #46
Genre Adventure novel
Publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel
Publication date
1900
Publication placeFrance
Published in English
1900
Media typePrint (Hardback)
OCLC 40237480
Preceded by The Mighty Orinoco  
Followed by The Castaways of the Flag  

The Will of an Eccentric (French : Le Testament d'un excentrique) is a 1900 adventure novel written by Jules Verne based on the Game of the Goose.

Contents

Plot summary

The Noble Game of the United States. Verne-Te-full.jpg
The Noble Game of the United States.

William J. Hypperbone, an eccentric millionaire, living in Chicago, has left the sum of his fortune, $60,000,000, to the first person to reach the end of "The Noble Game of the United States of America." The game he devised is based upon the board game "The Noble Game of Goose"; however, in his version, the players are the tokens and the game board is the United States. The contestants are Max Réal, with his companion Tommy); Tom Crabbe, with his trainer John Milner; Hermann Titbury, with his wife Kate; Harris T. Kymbale (on his own); Lizzie Wag, with her friend Jovita Foley; Hodge Urrican, with his companion Turk; and the mysterious player only known as "XKZ." Who is this mysterious "XKZ" who was added to the game by a codicil to the will? Time and completion of the game will tell.

In 1897, the first Baedecker guidebook for the U.S. was published, and Verne used this as the source for his descriptions of the modes of transport, timetables, and geographic descriptions of the numerous places the twelve participants were required to visit in order to claim the prize.

Publication history

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References

  1. "The Will of an Eccentric | ATBOSH Media Ltd". Archived from the original on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2016-02-21.