Jules Verne (1828-1905) was born in the French port of Nantes on the coast of Brittany. His father was a lawyer and the family were comfortably well off. As a young boy, Verne showed an early interest in adventure, narrowly being prevented from going to sea at the age of 11 as a cabin boy. After school he studied law in Paris, before returning to Nantes. He had already been unlucky in love twice, but he continued to write and after going back to Paris, he became involved in the literary salons there. His first published work, a short story, appeared in 1851 and his first novel, Five Weeks in a Balloon, came out in 1863. It set off a career as a writer that lasted until his death. Apart from Journey to the Centre of the Earth, his other works include Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and Around the World in 80 Days. Rev F. A. Malleson (1819-1897) was a clergyman at the church of Broughton-in-Furness in Lancashire. In 1877, he translated Journey to the Center of the Earth for London publisher Ward, Lock & Co. Ltd. This work is now widely regarded as the book's foremost translation. George Davidson edited this edition and modernized Rev F. A. Malleson's original translation.