Jules Verne - [Provenance Auguste Fontaine] Vingt mille lieues sous les mers - 1870

VERNE, Jules (1828–1905)
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas. Illustrated with 111 drawings by De Neuville and Riou, etched by Hildibrand. Paris: Bibliothèque d'Éducation et de Récréation, J. Hetzel et Cie, [undated, circa 1870-1880].

Volume in octavo (approx. 27.5 x 18 cm), elegant binding signed on the spine by the famous bookseller Auguste Fontaine. This prestige copy brings together one of the absolute masterworks of Jules Verne’s science-fiction literature and the refinement of a 19th‑century art binding.

Classic illustrated edition of the famous Hetzel collection, adorned with the 111 superb wood engravings after the original drawings by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou. A masterful iconography punctuating the text, including notably the portrait of Captain Farragut and the Abraham Lincoln, the famous invitation of Captain Nemo to the Nautilus salon, the exploration of the abysses beneath the beams of light, and the melancholic portrait of the harpooner Ned Land at the threshing (lise).

Magnificent full dark brown calf binding of the period, executed for Auguste Fontaine (dainty gold lettering discreetly stamped at the bottom of the spine).

Boards framed by a wide set of triple cold-stamped rules forming geometric insets at the corners. Spine with raised bands richly decorated with rectangular compartments in blind and gilded lines, bearing the author’s name and the full title of the work set in fine gilt lettering.

Gilded edges on all sides. Superb white moiré endpapers of high quality.

An exemplar in impeccable conservation. The morocco preserves a magnificent grain and a deeply elegant matte depth. The corners and the headbands are in perfect condition, the joints solid.
Paper in excellent freshness, embellished with a few rare and discreet 'rust spots' inherent to papers of this period, preserving the integrity of pagination and the sharpness of the wood engravings signed by Hildibrand.