A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH

1874. [a fine, bright copy] With Fifty-Two Illustrations by Riou. Sold Only By Subscription. New York: Scribner, Armstrong and Co., n.d. [1874]. 6 pp undated ads. Original green cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt.

"Deluxe Edition" of Jules Verne's second book. The original French edition came out in 1864, and the British edition came out in November 1871 (dated 1872). Scribner Armstrong's first American edition came out in November 1873, though dated 1874; almost a year later (undated, but in late 1874), Scribner Armstrong also published this deluxe edition, sold by subscription only, on heavier paper stock in a beautiful gilt-pictorial (truncated) binding. In the Summer 1996 "Verne" issue of Firsts Magazine, six entire pages with twelve illustrations are devoted solely to this edition of this title... The firsts [editions] were often produced hurriedly in large quantities to satisfy the demand from the reading public. These volumes were quickly followed by lavishly produced illustrated versions. For collectors, these attractive later editions can be more desirable and difficult to find than the true firsts. The 1874 Scribner deluxe edition... features a glorious decorated cover. The front cover's centerpiece is an embossed and foil-stamped figure of the three underground explorers on their raft. The spine illustration shows the explorers in an underground crystal cave... [Robin Smiley, in Firsts] This copy is in the second binding state, stamped at the bottom of the spine with just "Scribners"; the first binding has the same gilt-pictorial design, but has beveled boards and reads "Scribner, Armstrong & Co." The cloth color is green (we have also seen terra-cotta and brown -- no priority). This is an unusually fine copy, quite bright and with scarcely any wear. Taves & Michaluk V002. (Inventory #: 15655)