The Purchase of the North Pole by Jules Verne

THE PURCHASE OF THE NORTH POLE (also known as TOPSY-TURVY), is a sequel to FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON, set twenty years later in the 1890s.  One of the last unclaimed regions of the Earth is the Arctic, the ownership of which is to be settled through an international auction.  While several countries bid, a mysterious group from the United States wins the auction.  The winning group is none other than the Baltimore Gun Club, whose plans for the North Pole include altering the axial tilt of the Earth (using another giant cannon) in order to bring their newly-acquired polar lands more sunlight, making commercial mining feasible and making them immensely wealthy.  Shorty however, alarming predications of massive flooding in Asia and natural disasters set off a massive hunt for the giant cannon before it can be fired.

Jules Gabriel Verne (1828-1905) was a French author who, along with British writer H. G. Wells, is considered to be one of the founders of the science fiction genre.  Verne wrote about space, air, and underwater  travel before navigable aircraft and practical submarines were invented, and before any means of space travel had been devised. He is the second most translated author of all time, only behind Agatha Christie.  A number of his books have been made in films several times.