Jules Verne - Face au drapeau - 1896

VERNE, JULES. — HETZEL PAMPHLET BINDING "PARIS MUNICIPAL PRIZE".
Face au Drapeau. Paris: Hetzel Collection, [1896].
Grand in-8°. Red percaline binding from the Hetzel publisher, with gilt arms of the City of Paris, gilded edges.

First illustrated edition of this great science and military anticipation novel by Jules Verne, featuring the inventor Thomas Roch and his formidable protective lightning (the "Fulgurator Roch"), coveted by pirates.

Publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel reserved part of his print runs for the City of Paris for the distribution of school prizes at the end of the 19th century. The copy is bound in its original red percaline, stamped with the gilded Parisian arms hot-pressed into the cover.

Good period copy. Red percaline in good condition with slight rubbing at the headcaps and corners. The central coat of arms gilding is bright and clear. Interior clean, complete with the original chromotypographic plates. A faint angular damp stain is visible in the lower margin of the first leaves (half-title and title).

When Face au Drapeau appeared in 1896, the famous chemist Eugène Turpin (inventor of melinite) immediately recognized himself in the character of the mad scientist Thomas Roch! Believing that Jules Verne was portraying him as a lunatic ready to sell his scientific secrets to France’s enemies, Turpin sued the author.

Jules Verne was brilliantly defended in court by Raymond Poincaré (future President of the French Republic) and won his case! As for the volume itself, it was customary for the Paris municipal prize laureates to scribble or copy the name of their favorite author on the title page—a touching testament to the admiration of the young readers of 1896.