And here, we present a curated collection of our recently acquired, splendid antique 'Voyages Extraordinaires' by renowned sci-fi author Jules Vernes to brighten up a dry and blue January. 

Born in Nantes in 1828, Verne was inspired by his teacher Madame Sambin, the widow of a naval captain who had disappeared thirty years prior; she often told her students that just like Robinson Crusoe, her husband would one day return. Clearly a tale which stuck with Verne, he carried the stories of adventure from his childhood through his studies in law, before he encountered Alexandre Dumas and commenced a literary career. In 1862, he met publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel, and showed him his manuscript for 'Voyage en Ballon', later retitled 'Five Weeks in a Balloon'. The work was published to great success, and their work together set history, defining the genre of science-fiction and inventing and reconstructing tropes. 

The Hetzel bindings of 'Voyages Extraordinaires' were lavish and bright, as you will see in our beautiful examples...

Vingt Mille Lieues sur la Mer

Presented here we have two sumptuous copies of what is possibly Verne's most famous work, 'Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea', each in the original French language. The first was published in 1872, and is bound in Hetzel's 'A L'Obus' binding, which was used between 1872 and 1874. In remarkable condition, it narrates Captain Nemo's renowned and epic adventure in the Nautilus, a tale inspired by ancient journeys such as Homer's Odyssey, as the Nautilus' travellers seek to find a mysterious and ancient sea monster. This is an early edition, with the work having made its debut in book form in 1872. 



Our other copy was published in 1905, and is a reissue in the cartonnage binding cited by Jauzac as 'A L'Eventail et a Un Elephant'. This is a truly remarkable example of the Hetzel cartonnage bindings, with a beautiful decorative spine which so epitomises the genre ruled over by Jules Verne. Both of our examples of this work are beautifully illustrated by Alphonse de Neuville throughout, and in Verne's original French.

Claudius Bombarnac

We have also acquired a true first edition of 'Claudius Bombarnac', an adventure novel following the eponymous reporter who is covering the Grand Transasiatic Railway between Uzun Ada and Peking. The train contains all manner of colourful and strange characters, and Bombarnac hopes to find a protagonist for his piece that it may be something more than a travelogue... Our 1893 first edition is presented in the 'Steamer' style cartonnage binding which was introduced by Hetzel in 1891. Wonderfully illustrated and including colour plates, this is a beautiful first edition Verne.

L'Ile Mysterieuse 

A 1895 Collection Hetzel edition of another extremely renowned work from the 'Voyages Extraordinaires', 'The Mysterious Island'. Narrating the tale of five prisoners of war from the American Civil War as they hijack a hydrogen balloon and end up stranded on an elusive and isolated island. Our copy is presented in the cartonnage binding known as the 'Dos a l'ancre', used for only three of Verne's titles. Verne's works were often published in the run-up to Christmas in such decorative bindings in the hopes that they would become Christmas best-sellers. Illustrated throughout by Jules-Descartes Ferat, this is a truly splendid reprint of this important work.

Hector Servadac

Titled 'Off on a Comet' in English, 'Hector Servadac' is an imaginative piece of science-fiction, telling the outlandish tale of a comet named Gallia brushing the Earth near Gibraltar, and as it departs, taking with it some thirty-six Europeans from Spain, France, Russia and the U.K. Bound in a quarter crushed morocco, this work was published c1878, and is profusely illustrated by Paul Philippoteaux. It provides a thrilling voyage through space, led by Captain Hector Servadac of the French Army. A lovely and early edition of this work, which was first published in 1877.

And finally, if you are not in the market for French Verne's, but would rather experience these exciting works in the English language, here are two examples of the first U.K. editions of Jules Verne's works.

The Master of the World

A scarce first U.K. edition of one of Verne's final works, published in 1914 from the French of 1904. Bound in smart decorative cloth, this is a particularly good and clean example of this work, which is known to fox due to the quality of paper used. Illustrated by Georges Roux, this is a particularly bleak work, written as Verne grew weaker and less well, and is full of foreboding and terror. It follows a series of unexplained events across the United States, as random objects move at such a speed they become near invisible. Our  first edition is a lovely example of this later and somewhat bleaker Jules Verne.

The Chase of the Golden Meteor

Finally, we have a first U.K. edition of 'The Chase of the Golden Meteor', which was published posthumously and also is more of a social commentary than a piece of hard science-fiction. It concerns two astrologers as they battle of credit for the discovery of a meteor, which turns out to be made of gold. A political and social exploration of greed and vanity, this was one of seven such posthumous works. Our first U.K. edition is also bound in the simplistic and bright publisher's cloth, and illustrated throughout.

The remainder of our works by the legendary and pioneering Jules Verne can be found here; for our other science fiction, see here on our website.