Paul d'Ivoi - Les Voleurs de Foudre - 1912

Original edition (and first printing) of this excellent adventure novel by Paul d'Ivoi, one of the most imaginative writers of conjectural fiction (Pierre Versins, Encyclopédie de l'utopie et de la science fiction p.460).

Wrapped in its beautiful publisher's cloth binding, with a fine polychrome decorative panel on the upper cover by J. Fau, the second cover is blank. All edges gilded.
Beautiful first plate, light superficial scratches. Clean перcaline. Three corners slightly pierced. A tear at the second hinge near the headcap (3 cm). Interior fresh, paper a little yellowed (as always), no foxing. Spine solid.

Illustrated with 80 in-text engravings, and 20 large plates hors texte after designs by Louis Bombled.

18th volume published in the "Collection des voyages excentriques". Between 1894 and 1914, Paul d’Ivoi published the 21 volumes that form the series Voyages excentriques, which exploited the vein of Jules Verne's Extraordinary Voyages. In 1894, the first volume of the series, "Les Cinq sous de Lavarède", co-authored with Léon Chabrillat, brought him fame.

"The Voyages excentriques series presented itself to the public in an exceptionally attractive form. Due to the originality of their appearance: a first plate adorned with a full-color polychrome motif related to the work's subject, faithful to the very imaginative character of the author. As for the back, it is also personalized for each title by a vignette depicting the central character of the story. This variety confers on the entire collection an unrivaled place in the field of bound volumes in percaline with decoration."