Jules Verne - Les cinq cent millions de la Begum - 1881

JULES VERNE. — THE FIVE HUNDRED MILLIONS OF THE BEGUM / THE MUTINEERS OF THE “BOUNTY” (PARIS, HETZEL, [1881], BINDING WITH RED INITIALS).
Paris: J. Hetzel et Cie, [1881].
Grand in-8°. Publisher's red percaline binding with “initials.”
Exceptional copy of this major work, preserved in a remarkably fresh and well-kept state. Gilding well preserved, one spine may be a little dull, but the brilliance of the red percaline is striking. Front board sparkling.

Red percaline binding, particularly vivid, with black motifs and flawless gilding on the front board, spine in good condition, rear board with the rosette very clear, headbands and corners very well preserved.
Covers firmly bound, laid paper very clean, minimal foxing, Hetzel catalogue “BC” well present at the end.

The Five Hundred Millions of the Begum anticipates, with terrifying lucidity, the excesses of the 20th-century military–industrial complex.