Jules Verne - La maison à vapeur - 1880

VERNE (Jules) - The Steam House. Journey through northern India - Paris, Collection of Extraordinary Voyages, J. Hetzel & Co., [1880].
Bibliographic and physical description

Large octavo (about 27 x 18 cm). Half-title, title page adorned with an engraving mentioning Rue Jacob, 99 drawings by Léon Benett and a plate map. Followed by the very precious publisher's AI Catalogue at the end of the work, explicitly announcing the new releases “In preparation for the year 1881”.

Publisher's binding known as “with the two elephants” in red percaline signed Lenègre at the tail of the spine (A. Lenègre Binder). Front cover ornamented with a rich decoration of elephant heads, the emblem of the Extraordinary Voyages and the central emblem bearing the title “THE STEAM HOUSE”. Gilded edges.

Very nice copy. Gilt on the first cover and spine bright. Very bright red percaline. Small signs of wear at corners and headcaps. Inner pages with small scattered foxing.

First published as a large illustrated volume at the end of 1880 (with the AI 1881 catalogue), The Steam House takes readers to the heart of post-revolt colonial India. Jules Verne imagines the “Behemoth,” a fantastic steel railway locomotive driven by steam and carved in the shape of a giant elephant, steered by engineer Banks and mounted by Colonel Munro.

This novel fuses the scientific wonder of the industrial era with the geographical precision of southern India, elevated by the exotic and meticulous illustrations by Léon Benett.