Jules Verne - Le Docteur Ox - 1875

VERNE, Jules.
The Doctor Ox, Master Zacharius, A Wintering in the Ice, A Drama in the Air.
Paris: J. Hetzel et Cie, 18, rue Jacob, [1876-1877].
A small octavo volume, publisher's green percaline binding with initials, the first cover multicolored and gold-stamped with the medallions of the intertwined initials of the author and the publisher (JV and H), the second cover adorned with a cold-foil rosette on a green background, smooth spine richly adorned by binder Ch. Magnier, gilt edges. Hetzel catalogue at the end for the years 1876-1877 (presenting the new 1877).

Superb and highly desirable first octavo edition illustrated in publisher's binding with initials (First type), dressed in its original green percaline, a rare and particularly elegant variant. The work brings together four major tales by Jules Verne and is adorned with the hors-texte engravings and vignettes by Bertrand, Frœlich, Théophile Schuler, Émile Bayard and Marie. A copy remarkable for the freshness of the plates, with the back well preserved and the gilding bright, despite the slight foxing usual on the inner portion of the leaves.

Originally published in volume in 1874, Le Docteur Ox is, without doubt, the liveliest and most spirited satire by Jules Verne. The action takes place in the peaceful Flemish town of Quiquendone, where the population lives at the pace of a phlegmatic slowness. The mysterious Doctor Ox and his assistant Ygène propose to install there a network of lighting with pure oxygen. The experiment turns to collective hysteria when the gas, released in overdose, inflames the blood of the inhabitants, transforming the calmest citizens into bilious and passionate beings.

The immense success of the text prompted Jules Verne and his publisher Hetzel to consider unexpected artistic variations. With the cooperation of librettists Victor Wilder and Alfred Delacour, Jules Verne adapted Le Docteur Ox for the lyric stage in the form of a three-act opéra-bouffe, set to music by Jacques Offenbach. The premiere took place at the Théâtre des Variétés in January 1877 — precisely at the time the publisher's catalog was issued and present at the end of this copy. This delightful pairing of Vernian satire and Offenbach's Parisian spirit offered the capital one of the most attended entertainments of the year 1877.