Long-Lost Diary of Jules Verne Reveals He Predicted Internet and Video Calls in 1878 Manuscript

In a discovery that has sent shockwaves through both literary and scientific communities, a private diary belonging to legendary science fiction author Jules Verne has been found concealed within a writing desk that once belonged to his family estate in Nantes, France.

The leather-bound journal, dated 1878, contains extensive notes and sketches depicting what Verne called 'the photophone network' — a global system of instantaneous visual communication that bears an uncanny resemblance to modern video conferencing technology.

Dr. Marguerite Lavoisier, lead researcher at the Jules Verne Museum in Amiens, described the find as 'unprecedented.' The diary includes detailed passages about 'luminous threads spanning continents' through which people could 'see and speak with loved ones across any distance, as clearly as if they stood in the same parlor.'

Perhaps most striking are Verne's sketches of handheld devices he termed 'pocket windows' — flat rectangular objects through which users could access vast libraries of human knowledge and communicate through written messages that would arrive 'before one could draw breath.'

'What makes this discovery extraordinary is not just the technological foresight,' explained Dr. Lavoisier, 'but that Verne deliberately kept these ideas private. Margin notes suggest he feared his publishers would consider them too fantastical even for his adventure novels.'

The desk containing the hidden compartment was purchased by antique dealer Henri Beaumont at a routine estate auction last autumn. The secret drawer was discovered only when Beaumont noticed a discrepancy in the desk's dimensions during restoration work.

Scholars are now re-examining Verne's published works, including 'Paris in the Twentieth Century' — a novel rejected by his publisher in 1863 for being too unbelievable — to identify connections with the newly discovered material.

The diary will be displayed at the Bibliothèque nationale de France beginning this spring, with plans for a comprehensive academic publication to follow. Literary historians suggest this find may fundamentally reshape our understanding of Verne's creative process and cement his reputation not merely as a storyteller, but as one of history's most prescient visionaries.