The Moberly–Jourdain Incident (1901): The Mysterious Time-Slip at Versailles

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Who Were Charlotte Moberly and Eleanor Jourdain?

The two women were not tourists with a reputation for sensationalism.

Charlotte Anne Elizabeth Moberly was an English academic and educator. She was born in 1846 and later became the first principal of St Hugh's College, Oxford, an institution founded to provide higher education for women.

Eleanor Frances Jourdain, born in 1863, was also an academically educated woman. She studied languages and became associated with St Hugh's College. She eventually succeeded Moberly as principal.

Their educational backgrounds are one reason the story attracted so much attention.

These were two educated women who claimed to have experienced something they themselves struggled to explain.

Their account was later published under the names Elizabeth Morison and Frances Lamont. Project Gutenberg's edition of An Adventure identifies Moberly and Jourdain as the actual authors behind those pseudonyms. (Project Gutenberg)

The Visit to Versailles

The incident occurred during a trip through France in August 1901.

On Saturday, August 10, 1901, Moberly and Jourdain traveled by train from Paris to Versailles.

According to their later account, they were relatively unfamiliar with Versailles.

They visited the Palace of Versailles and subsequently decided to continue toward the Petit Trianon, the smaller château within the wider Versailles estate.

The Petit Trianon had a strong connection with Marie Antoinette, who received the estate from Louis XVI in 1774 and used it as a place away from the formal life of the main palace. (Château de Versailles | Site officiel)

This historical connection later became extremely important to their interpretation of what they experienced.

The Petit Trianon

The Petit Trianon itself is completely real.

Construction of the château began under Louis XV's reign, and the estate was later given to Marie Antoinette by Louis XVI in 1774.

Marie Antoinette had extensive changes made to the surrounding grounds, including the English garden, theater and the famous Hameau. (Château de Versailles | Site officiel)

This means Moberly and Jourdain were walking through a location with a very strong connection to the late 18th century.

The historical setting is therefore not something invented for the legend.

The mystery concerns what the women believed they encountered there.

How the Strange Experience Began

According to An Adventure, the women were trying to find their way through the grounds.

They had a guidebook with them and were attempting to reach the Petit Trianon.

At some point, they missed what they believed was the correct route and entered another path.

The two women later described the atmosphere as becoming increasingly strange.

Moberly reported experiencing an unusual feeling of oppression and uneasiness.

Jourdain also described the surroundings as having an abnormal or disturbing quality.

The experience was not described as a dramatic supernatural event at first.

There was no glowing portal.

There was no sudden flash of light.

There was no obvious physical sensation of being transported.

Instead, according to their account, the surroundings gradually began to feel wrong.

That subtlety is one reason the case has remained controversial.

The Men in the Gardens

One of the first unusual details involved men whom the women interpreted as gardeners or estate workers.

The Château de Versailles' own historical account describes the women encountering men wearing green coats and three-cornered hats, carrying spades. (Château de Versailles)

The clothing appeared strange to the women.

They later associated it with the clothing worn by servants and workers at the Trianon during the 18th century.

However, this interpretation came after the event and after their subsequent historical research.

That distinction is important.

They genuinely reported seeing people.

The interpretation that these people were somehow 18th-century figures appearing in 1901 is the disputed part.

The Strange Atmosphere

Moberly later described an intense feeling of depression, oppression and unnatural quietness.

The surroundings reportedly seemed strangely still.

This feeling is important because the women did not initially describe themselves as knowingly entering a different time period.

They simply felt that something about the environment was abnormal.

The Château de Versailles describes the episode as beginning with an ordinary visit before the atmosphere suddenly became disturbing. (Château de Versailles)

The Man Near the Kiosk

One of the most famous parts of the story involved a man sitting near what the women later believed had been a kiosk.

According to Moberly's later description, he had a dark complexion and a face marked by what she interpreted as smallpox.

He wore a large dark cloak and a broad, slouching hat.

This figure became particularly important because the women later found historical material concerning a person connected with Marie Antoinette.

In their book, they associated the description with the Comte de Vaudreuil, a member of Marie Antoinette's circle.

The original book discusses historical descriptions of Vaudreuil and his connection with Trianon. (Project Gutenberg)

But this identification was made after the experience.

There is no independent evidence demonstrating that the man Moberly saw was actually Vaudreuil.

The Kiosk Mystery

The kiosk became one of the most frequently discussed details of the case.

Moberly and Jourdain remembered seeing a structure that seemed unusual and old-fashioned.

Later research led them to investigate historical maps and documents relating to the gardens.

They found references to a kiosk or pavilion associated with the Trianon grounds.

The Château de Versailles also notes that historical plans provide evidence that a Chinese kiosk had existed at Trianon in the 18th century. (Château de Versailles)

This became one of the strongest pieces of evidence cited by supporters of the story.

But there is an important caveat.

The women conducted extensive historical research after the 1901 experience.

Therefore, historians and skeptical researchers have questioned whether later historical knowledge influenced their reconstruction of what they remembered.

The Curly-Haired Man

Another mysterious figure appeared during the women's journey.

They described a tall or unusual man with dark eyes and curly dark hair, wearing a broad hat.

He appeared to guide them toward the Petit Trianon.

The Château de Versailles also includes this figure in its account of the incident. (Château de Versailles)

The women later attempted to determine whether the man might correspond to a historical person.

Again, the identification remains speculative.

There is no surviving photograph or independent eyewitness testimony establishing who the man was.

The Woman in the Garden

The most famous part of the experience concerned a woman whom Moberly saw near the Petit Trianon.

Moberly described a woman wearing a light-colored summer dress and a large white hat.

The woman appeared to be sitting or sketching.

The scene seemed strangely old-fashioned.

Moberly later became convinced that this woman was Marie Antoinette.

But there is a crucial detail:

Jourdain did not see the woman in the same way.

This difference between their experiences became one of the major points of debate surrounding the case.

The Château de Versailles also states that Moberly saw a woman drawing while Jourdain did not see the same figure. (Château de Versailles)

Did They Actually See Marie Antoinette?

There is no historical evidence that Marie Antoinette appeared at the Petit Trianon in 1901.

Marie Antoinette had been executed in 1793.

Therefore, if Moberly's interpretation was taken literally, it would require a paranormal explanation.

But the original account is more complicated.

Moberly initially described what she saw as a woman.

The identification with Marie Antoinette developed as the two women investigated the historical setting and compared their memories.

In other words:

The woman was part of the original experience.

The identification as Marie Antoinette was a later interpretation.

That distinction is essential.

The Importance of August 10

An extraordinary coincidence soon caught their attention.

Their visit had occurred on August 10, 1901.

August 10 was a significant date in the French Revolution.

On August 10, 1792, the Tuileries Palace was attacked and the French monarchy was effectively overthrown.

Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were taken from the Tuileries to the Legislative Assembly and later imprisoned.

Moberly and Jourdain eventually wondered whether their experience might somehow have been connected with Marie Antoinette's memories of the Trianon.

The original book explicitly discusses the significance they attached to August 10, 1792. (Project Gutenberg)

This became an important part of their later interpretation.

The First Conversation About the Experience

The women did not immediately publish their story.

In fact, they initially went their separate ways.

Several months later, in November 1901, they discussed what each had remembered.

This is where the case becomes particularly interesting.

Moberly told Jourdain about the woman she remembered seeing.

Jourdain said that she had not seen the woman.

They nevertheless realized that they had both experienced unusual feelings and remembered other strange details.

The original account records their November discussion. (Project Gutenberg)

The French Friend and the Marie Antoinette Tradition

Jourdain later described another remarkable coincidence.

After returning to England, she discussed the experience with a French friend.

According to An Adventure, Jourdain had not previously told the friend the details of what had happened.

The friend reportedly mentioned a tradition that Marie Antoinette could be seen at the Petit Trianon on a particular day in August.

She supposedly described the queen as sitting near the garden front wearing a light hat and pink dress.

The friend also reportedly spoke of the gardens and farm being associated with recurring scenes from the past.

Jourdain considered this significant and communicated the information to Moberly. (Project Gutenberg)

However, this was an oral tradition reported by the friend, not independent proof that a supernatural event had occurred.

Their Research Begins

The women became increasingly interested in determining whether the strange details they remembered corresponded with the historical Petit Trianon.

They returned to Versailles and began examining:

• maps
• architectural plans
• historical books
• memoirs
• descriptions of the gardens
• information about Marie Antoinette
• records concerning the people associated with Trianon

This research continued for years.

The original An Adventure contains a substantial section titled “Results of Research”, showing how extensive the later investigation became. (Project Gutenberg)

The Old Maps

One of the most famous pieces of evidence concerns historical maps of the Trianon grounds.

The women found old maps showing features that they believed corresponded to elements of their experience.

The Château de Versailles specifically mentions a historical plan showing that a Chinese kiosk had existed at Trianon in 1774. (Château de Versailles)

Supporters of the case have argued that it would have been difficult for two visitors in 1901 to know about such obscure details.

Skeptics have responded that the women conducted extensive research after their experience, making it difficult to establish which information was genuinely remembered from the original event and which was incorporated later.

The Missing or Changed Landscape

Another important element was the difference between the landscape the women remembered and the landscape they later encountered.

Some paths, structures and garden features had changed or disappeared over time.

This made the women's memories difficult to compare directly with the Versailles of 1901.

The women interpreted these differences as evidence that they had somehow perceived the grounds as they had existed in an earlier period.

Skeptical researchers have pointed out that old gardens naturally change, and visitors can easily become confused by altered paths and historical landscaping.

Both possibilities are important to understand.

The Strange Bridge

The women also described crossing a bridge that later became difficult to reconcile with the 1901 landscape.

Historical maps showed bridges and other structures that had existed in earlier versions of the gardens.

This became another point used by supporters of the time-slip interpretation.

But again, an old structure existing historically does not demonstrate that the women literally traveled through time.

It only demonstrates that the physical environment had changed over the centuries.

The Game of the Ring

Their research also uncovered references to an old-fashioned garden amusement known as the Jeu de Bague.

The original book discusses this feature in its historical research.

The women believed that some of the things they had experienced might have corresponded to activities and structures associated with the older Trianon. (Psi Encyclopedia)

These details contributed to the growing impression that their experience had somehow intersected with the 18th-century landscape.

The Historical Clothing

Clothing became another important clue.

The women believed that some of the people they saw were dressed in clothing that did not belong in 1901.

They later researched 18th-century clothing and discovered similarities between their memories and historical descriptions.

For example, their book discusses men wearing large hats and cloaks and women wearing long-waisted dresses, fichus and hats. (Project Gutenberg)

But clothing is also one of the easiest details for memory to reinterpret after an event.

This is why historians remain cautious.

The Comte de Vaudreuil Connection

The dark-complexioned man near the kiosk became associated with Joseph Hyacinthe François de Paule de Rigaud, Comte de Vaudreuil.

The women found descriptions of Vaudreuil that appeared to resemble the man they remembered.

Their book notes that historical sources described Vaudreuil as a Creole and as having marks associated with smallpox. (Project Gutenberg)

This similarity fascinated the women.

However, the identification was made through retrospective historical research.

There is no independent evidence proving that the person they saw was Vaudreuil.

The Marie Antoinette Connection Became Stronger

As their research continued, the women increasingly interpreted their experience through the history of Marie Antoinette.

They investigated accounts of the queen's visits to Trianon.

They looked into the queen's movements, clothing, servants, gardens and daily activities.

They even considered whether the experience might represent some kind of memory impression left by Marie Antoinette.

This is where the case moved beyond a simple report of strange observations and into a paranormal interpretation.

Their "Psychic" Explanation

Moberly and Jourdain did not necessarily argue that they had physically traveled backward through time in the modern science-fiction sense.

Their later writings considered more unusual psychological and paranormal possibilities.

One idea was that they had somehow encountered an impression or memory of the past.

They wondered whether a powerful historical emotional event could somehow leave an imprint on a location.

This concept is sometimes described as retrocognition.

Retrocognition refers to the alleged paranormal perception of past events.

It is not a scientifically established phenomenon.

The "Time Slip" Interpretation

The modern phrase time slip became the simplest way to describe the case.

According to this interpretation, Moberly and Jourdain temporarily entered another period of history.

They supposedly remained physically at Versailles but perceived the landscape as it had existed more than a century earlier.

Under this theory:

1901 → unusual transition → 18th-century Versailles → return to 1901

There is no scientific evidence demonstrating that such a mechanism exists.

It remains a paranormal interpretation of their reported experience.

The "Ghosts of Trianon" Interpretation

Another interpretation is that the women did not travel through time at all.

Instead, they supposedly encountered apparitions or "ghosts" associated with the historical occupants of Trianon.

This interpretation became popular because some of the people they described appeared to correspond with historical figures.

The Château de Versailles itself uses the expression “The ghosts of Trianon” when presenting the famous story. (Château de Versailles)

But this is a historical/paranormal framing, not a scientific confirmation that ghosts were present.

The "Residual Haunting" Theory

A related theory suggests that emotionally powerful events might somehow leave an imprint on a location.

Under this idea, the women were not interacting with conscious spirits.

Instead, they supposedly witnessed a kind of recording of the past.

This theory has appeared in paranormal literature.

There is no established scientific mechanism demonstrating that human experiences can be recorded into physical locations and later perceived by visitors.

The Psychological Explanation

Skeptics have proposed that the experience could have resulted from ordinary psychological processes.

Possible factors include:

disorientation

fatigue

expectation

suggestion

memory reconstruction

environmental unfamiliarity

historical imagination

later research influencing memory

These mechanisms are well established in psychology.

They do not require the women to have deliberately invented anything.

A person can sincerely remember an event differently from how it originally occurred.

That distinction is extremely important.

A psychological explanation does not necessarily mean "they lied."

It can simply mean that their interpretation and later memory changed naturally.

The Memory Reconstruction Problem

One of the strongest skeptical arguments concerns the passage of time.

The women did eventually produce accounts of their experiences.

But their later descriptions were much more detailed than their earliest recollections.

Researchers have therefore questioned whether the later historical research influenced their memories.

This is especially important because the women actively searched historical records for things resembling what they remembered.

The Society for Psychical Research has discussed this issue in later examinations of the case. (SPR)

The Different Accounts

The two women did not remember everything identically.

Moberly saw the woman she later associated with Marie Antoinette.

Jourdain did not.

They also remembered some people and environmental details differently.

This could be viewed in two ways.

A believer might argue that different witnesses naturally perceive different aspects of an unusual phenomenon.

A skeptic might argue that the differences demonstrate ordinary memory processes.

Neither interpretation can be conclusively established from the surviving evidence.

The Society for Psychical Research

The case attracted the attention of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR).

The SPR had been established in London in 1882 to investigate alleged paranormal phenomena using systematic methods.

The Moberly–Jourdain case therefore reached an organization specifically interested in investigating unusual experiences.

However, the investigation did not produce a universally accepted paranormal explanation.

Later SPR researchers examined inconsistencies, chronology and the women's methods of reconstructing their memories.

The case remained controversial.

The Skeptical Criticism

One of the major criticisms was that the women had not preserved sufficiently detailed independent records immediately after the experience.

This matters because a contemporary written record made immediately after an unusual event would provide much stronger evidence than a detailed account reconstructed years later.

Researchers have also questioned the chronology of the women's written accounts and correspondence.

Mark Lamont's historical investigation for the Society for Psychical Research highlights questions surrounding the dating of the accounts and whether later versions contained material influenced by subsequent research. (SPR)

The 1988 Reassessment

The case continued to be examined long after Moberly and Jourdain had died.

The Society for Psychical Research's later literature includes a detailed reassessment by Michael Coleman in 1988.

The case remained controversial rather than becoming accepted as evidence of time travel. (Psi Encyclopedia)

This is important because the incident has not simply been forgotten.

Researchers have repeatedly returned to the original accounts and attempted to determine whether the evidence supports a paranormal interpretation.

The Paranormal Interpretation by G. W. Lambert

Not every researcher rejected the possibility of something unusual.

Psychical researcher G. W. Lambert argued in papers published during the 1950s and 1960s that some paranormal element might have been involved.

His interpretation was different from the simple "time machine" idea.

Lambert proposed that the women might have perceived scenes from the past through some form of paranormal process, while misinterpreting exactly when those scenes originated.

He placed particular emphasis on the year 1774 rather than simply 1789. (Psi Encyclopedia)

This remains a historical paranormal hypothesis, not an established scientific explanation.

The 1774 Theory

Why 1774?

That was the year Louis XVI gave the Petit Trianon to Marie Antoinette.

Lambert believed some of the details might correspond to an earlier period than the women themselves assumed.

This interpretation demonstrates how complicated the case became.

Even researchers who accepted the possibility of a paranormal event disagreed about what year the women supposedly perceived.

That uncertainty weakens any simple claim that they literally traveled to one precise historical moment.

The "Queen's Memory" Theory

Moberly and Jourdain eventually developed an even more elaborate interpretation.

They wondered whether they had somehow entered into Marie Antoinette's own memories.

Their later book contains a long discussion of this possibility.

They speculated that events surrounding August 10, 1792, might have caused Marie Antoinette to mentally return to memories of Trianon.

They imagined that these memories could somehow have left an impression on the landscape. (Project Gutenberg)

This is fascinating as a historical example of paranormal thinking, but there is no scientific evidence demonstrating that memories can be transferred into physical locations in this manner.

Why the Date August 10 Became So Important

The date created an unusually strong narrative connection.

August 10, 1901

was the day of their experience.

August 10, 1792

was the date of a major event in the French Revolution involving the royal family.

Moberly and Jourdain believed this coincidence might be meaningful.

A skeptic would point out that coincidences occur naturally, especially when a historical site has been studied extensively afterward.

The coincidence is genuine.

Its paranormal meaning is not established.

Could They Have Simply Become Lost?

This is one of the simplest explanations.

The Versailles grounds are extensive and historically complex.

Paths, gardens, buildings and landscape features changed over time.

The women were visitors unfamiliar with the estate.

They had already missed their intended route.

A combination of unfamiliar surroundings, heat, fatigue and confusion could potentially have produced an unusual perception of the landscape.

This explanation does not require deliberate deception.

Could They Have Encountered Costumed People?

Another possibility is that some of the people they saw were ordinary visitors, workers or people participating in some event.

The women later investigated whether a private event had taken place.

They reportedly found no satisfactory record of one.

This is one reason the case remained interesting.

But the absence of a record does not establish that the figures were supernatural.

Temporary activities and ordinary visitors would not necessarily leave documentary evidence.

Could It Have Been a Psychological State?

Another theory suggests that the women entered an unusual psychological state caused by their surroundings.

The feeling of oppression and altered perception might have been related to:

• fatigue
• heat
• unfamiliar surroundings
• emotional expectation
• sensory ambiguity
• temporary disorientation

This type of explanation can account for why the environment seemed strangely different without requiring an actual shift in time.

Could They Have Experienced a Shared Hallucination?

This possibility is sometimes mentioned, but the term "shared hallucination" can be misleading.

The women did not see exactly the same things.

Jourdain did not see the woman Moberly associated with Marie Antoinette.

Therefore, the case is not a simple example of two people seeing exactly the same hallucination.

A better explanation would involve partly overlapping perceptions combined with later discussion and memory reconstruction.

The Telepathy Theory

Because both women experienced unusual sensations, some psychical researchers considered whether telepathy could have played a role.

Perhaps, under this interpretation, one person's impressions influenced the other.

But again, telepathy has not been scientifically established as a mechanism for transmitting detailed historical scenes.

It remains a paranormal hypothesis.

The "Residual Memory" Theory

Another paranormal interpretation proposes that historical events can somehow leave an imprint on a place.

The women would then have perceived a kind of recording of the past.

This idea is attractive because it explains why the experience appeared connected with a particular location.

But no physical mechanism for such a phenomenon has been demonstrated.

Why the Case Is Still Debated

The Moberly–Jourdain case occupies an unusual position.

It is not simply a ghost story invented many decades later.

We have the women's actual published account.

The original An Adventure is available today through Project Gutenberg, allowing readers to examine the account themselves. (Project Gutenberg)

At the same time, the book is a retrospective account, and much of the detailed historical interpretation was developed after the original experience.

That makes it impossible to treat every detail in the later book as an independently verified observation.

What Is Historically Certain?

We can be confident that:

• Moberly and Jourdain were real people.
• Both were academically educated women.
• They visited Versailles in August 1901.
• Their famous experience occurred on August 10, 1901, according to their account.
• They visited the Petit Trianon.
• They reported unusual feelings and perceptions.
• They later compared their memories.
• They conducted extensive research into the history of Trianon.
• They associated some of their memories with 18th-century Versailles.
• Moberly believed she had seen a woman who resembled Marie Antoinette.
• Jourdain did not see the same woman.
• They eventually published their account as An Adventure.
• The book was published in 1911 under the pseudonyms Elizabeth Morison and Frances Lamont. (Project Gutenberg)
• The case subsequently became one of the best-known alleged time-slip stories.

What Has Not Been Proven?

There is no reliable evidence proving that:

• Moberly and Jourdain literally traveled through time.
• They entered the year 1774 or 1789.
• They saw Marie Antoinette.
• The people they saw were ghosts.
• The gardens temporarily reverted to their 18th-century appearance.
• A supernatural force caused the experience.
• Their memories were transmitted from Marie Antoinette.
• A "time portal" existed at the Petit Trianon.

These remain interpretations and theories.

What Did Supporters Believe?

People who accept the paranormal interpretation have generally pointed toward several unusual features.

The women were educated and apparently sincere.

Some of their descriptions seemed to correspond with historical details they believed they could not have known beforehand.

The old kiosk became particularly intriguing.

Some historical maps appeared to contain features resembling elements of their memories.

The date August 10 had a genuine historical connection with Marie Antoinette.

And the women claimed that some of their experiences could not be explained by ordinary events.

For believers, the combination is difficult to dismiss as a simple mistake.

What Did Skeptics Think?

Skeptics have focused on the weaknesses of the evidence.

The most important concerns include:

• the passage of time between the event and publication
• changes between early and later accounts
• extensive historical research after the event
• differences between the women's memories
• the possibility of suggestion
• ordinary disorientation
• the absence of independent witnesses
• the lack of physical evidence
• the lack of a scientifically testable mechanism for time slips

Later skeptical analyses have particularly questioned whether some details were incorporated into the story after historical research. (Psi Encyclopedia)

The Château de Versailles' View

The modern Château de Versailles itself has a page dedicated to the story titled “The ghosts of Trianon.”

The institution describes the August 10, 1901 experience and the subsequent publication of An Adventure.

It also notes the historical discovery of a plan indicating that a Chinese kiosk had existed in the gardens in 1774. (Château de Versailles)

This makes the official Versailles website an excellent source for the historical setting and the documented story.

However, the Château's presentation should not be interpreted as scientific confirmation of time travel.

It is presenting the famous historical legend associated with the site.

The Petit Trianon Today

The Petit Trianon remains part of the Versailles estate.

Visitors can still explore the building and surrounding grounds.

The official Château de Versailles website provides extensive historical information and photographs of the Petit Trianon, its gardens and the wider Trianon estate. (Château de Versailles | Site officiel)

This is particularly useful for your website because you can show readers the real location rather than relying entirely on AI-generated illustrations.

Why This Case Is Different From an Ordinary Ghost Story

The Moberly–Jourdain Incident is unusual because the mystery is not simply:

"Two people saw a ghost."

Instead, it involves:

two witnesses

a historically important location

a specific date

later independent comparison of memories

historical maps

archival research

a published primary account

paranormal interpretations

and decades of skeptical investigation.

That makes it particularly valuable as a case-file subject.

The Real Mystery

The most interesting question may not actually be:

"Did Moberly and Jourdain travel through time?"

A more historically useful question is:

"What exactly happened to their perception and memory during their visit to Versailles?"

We know they reported an unusual experience.

We know they later became convinced that parts of that experience corresponded with the 18th-century Trianon.

We also know that their later investigation influenced the way the event was understood and presented.

What cannot be determined with certainty is whether the original experience was caused by:

• ordinary confusion
• psychological effects
• memory reconstruction
• an unusual environmental experience
• some combination of these factors
• or something genuinely anomalous.

That uncertainty is what keeps the case alive.

The Bottom Line

The Moberly–Jourdain Incident is one of the most famous alleged time-slip cases in history, but it is not proof that time travel exists.

Two educated women really did visit the Petit Trianon on August 10, 1901, and they really did report an unusual experience.

Their subsequent research uncovered genuine historical information about the Trianon, including old maps, buildings, people and traditions.

But the crucial leap—from unusual experience to literal contact with the past—has never been independently demonstrated.

The case therefore sits somewhere between historical testimony, psychology, paranormal folklore and unresolved personal experience.

Perhaps the women genuinely encountered something they could not explain.

Perhaps their minds transformed an ordinary but confusing visit into something extraordinary.

Or perhaps the truth lies somewhere between those two possibilities.

What can be said with confidence is that the Moberly–Jourdain story is real as a historical account of two women's experience.

Whether it was actually a glimpse into the past remains unproven.

Important Real Sources, Images and Historical Material

For your website, I strongly recommend prioritizing these sources.

Château de Versailles — The Ghosts of Trianon

Château de Versailles — The ghosts of Trianon

This is the official Château de Versailles page about the Moberly–Jourdain story. It includes historical context and images of the location. (Château de Versailles)

Château de Versailles — Petit Trianon

Official Petit Trianon historical information

Excellent for authentic historical information about the Petit Trianon and its connection with Marie Antoinette. (Château de Versailles | Site officiel)

Château de Versailles — Official Photo Collection

Château de Versailles official photos

One of the safest places to find real photographs of Versailles, the Trianon gardens and related locations. Check individual reuse conditions before using images commercially. (Château de Versailles | Site officiel)

Château de Versailles — Media Library

Château de Versailles media library

Useful for finding photographs and historical visual material, with the site's reuse-rights information. (Château de Versailles)

Project Gutenberg — Original An Adventure

Project Gutenberg — An Adventure by Moberly and Jourdain

This is one of the most important sources for your article because it provides the original book in a freely accessible digital edition. (Project Gutenberg)

Project Gutenberg — Full Illustrated Text

Read the full An Adventure text

Useful when you want to check the women's own descriptions rather than relying on modern summaries. (Project Gutenberg)

Google Books — An Adventure

Google Books — An Adventure

Useful for bibliographic information and scanned historical editions. (Google Books)

Society for Psychical Research — Historical Investigation

Society for Psychical Research — The Mysterious Paths of Versailles

Useful for the investigative and skeptical side of the case, particularly questions surrounding the dating and evolution of the women's accounts. (SPR)

Society for Psychical Research — Versailles Time-Slip

Psi Encyclopedia — Versailles Time-Slip

Provides a detailed discussion of the original account, later interpretations, skeptical criticism and paranormal theories. (Psi Encyclopedia)

Google Books — Historical Editions

Google Books — An Adventure, 1911 edition

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