Jules Verne and the First Science Fiction Masquerade

In 1877, author Jules Verne organized a costumed masquerade ball in his home town of Amiens, France, and sent out over 700 invitations. This affair was unlike anything before because hundreds of attendees came in costumes based on characters and places from his popular series of "scientific fiction" novels, known as Voyages Extraordinaires (Extraordinary Voyages). The common wisdom is that the first costumed science fiction-themed convention did not take place until over sixty years later, in 1939. Had Jules Verne once again anticipated the future? An illustration about the event from the French newspaper Le Monde Illustré, lead author Kathe Gust to discoverer how Jules Verne's popularity as an author, and his connection to his adopted home town, lead him to put on this amazing event. Based on scattered French newspaper accounts and letters from the time, she has woven together the story of what was arguably the first sci-fi themed costumed masquerade ever held.