Jules Verne - Voyage au centre de la terre - 1880

VERNE, Jules
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Paris, Hetzel Collection, Bibliothèque d'Éducation et de Récréation, J. Hetzel et Cie, 18, rue Jacob, n.d. 1880. [Illustrated edition in “initials” binding]. Work awarded a prize by the Académie française.

Contemporary Havana cloth binding in the “initials” style. Upper cover decorated with a rich geometric border and gilt tools, centered with three medallions: the upper medallion bearing the monogram JV (Jules Verne), the central medallion displaying the title of the work (Jules Verne / Journey to the Center of the Earth), and the lower medallion bearing the monogram JH (Jules Hetzel). Spine decorated to match, gilt edges. Copy in poor condition, with several old repairs using Velcro on the inside. Page 64 loose.

Profusely illustrated with superb wood-engraved vignettes after the original drawings by Édouard Riou.

One of the undisputed high points of Jules Verne’s work and of the scientific speculative novel, presented here in one of the most sought-after and aesthetically striking publisher’s bindings from the Hetzel publishing house: the “initials” design, combining the writer’s and publisher’s monograms against a background of gilt foliage.

This landmark masterpiece in the Extraordinary Voyages series takes the reader on the fabulous expedition of Professor Lidenbrock, his nephew Axel, and their guide Hans through the dark craters of Iceland’s Snæfellsjökull to the prehistoric inland seas.

To imagine the underground landscapes and antediluvian creatures in this novel, first published in 1864, Jules Verne drew inspiration from the geological theories of his time, but above all from the pioneering work of French paleontologist Louis Figuier (The Earth Before the Flood). Illustrator Édouard Riou brought this buried world to life with such graphic power that his visions of inland seas and prehistoric marine reptiles became the visual archetype for all later adaptations and underground explorations in popular culture.