Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Verne, Jules. The Mysterious Island: Wrecked in the Air.. Scribner, Armstrong & Co., New York, 1875.
Price: US$475.00 + shipping
Description: First American edition, first English language edition in book form, and first authorized edition of the first part of the crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas and In Search of the Castaways. Slim octavo, original green cloth decorated in gilt, with forty-eight illustrations. Scribner Armstrong published this slim, double-column volume at the end of October 1874, both in wrappers (now exceedingly rare) and cloth, as here. The book was announced as about to be published on October 24th, it was copyrighted on the 26thm and two deposit copies were received on the 31st. Meanwhile, Henry L. Shepard of Boston was rushing to press an "authentic" edition (as opposed to an "authorized" one, which Scribner Armstrong's was). On October 24th Shepard announced his was "ready," and on the 31st announced that it was "ready" in wrappers but "nearly ready" in cloth. In short, precedence is a matter of a day or two, perhaps even hours. Incidentally, this was the only "Part" of The Mysterious Island that Scribner Armstrong published in this format; they quickly republished it in their usual (shorter and squatter) format, and then published the following two parts in that format. In near fine condition. Often referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction", French novelist Jules Verne had a wide influence on on the literary avant-garde and on surrealism. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages Extraordinaires, a widely popular series of scrupulously researched adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne's The Mysterious Island is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, indicating the influence of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Johann David Wyss' Swiss Family Robinson on the thematic structure of the trilogy. In September of 1875, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle published the first British edition of Mysterious Island in three volumes entitled Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island. The trilogy has been adapted numerous times for film, television, and radio broadcast.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Verne, Jules. The Mysterious Island Abandoned. Sampson, Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London, 1875.
Price: US$637.69 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Translated from the French by W H G Kingston. 1st edition 1875 (ads dated 1875). All 50 plates present. Publishers blue decorated cloth. Gilt on spine and upper board. Light wear on corners & edges. Spine professionally re-backed using the original spine with matching blue cloth beneath. 40 pages of publishers ads bound in at rear. All edges gilt
Seller: Black Cat Bookshop P.B.F.A, Leicester, United Kingdom
Price: US$895.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1875. First American Edition and First English Language Edition in Book Form [Sampson, Low, Marston & Co. in England had serialized this first of three parts of Mysterious Island in March of 1874 in St. James Magazine]. With a singular tall, slender octavo format with 48 illustrations for this first edition of Wrecked in the Air, Scribner Armstrong continued their bitter competition with Henry L. Shepard of Boston, who announced on the same day, October 27th, 1874 [under the title "Shipwrecked in the Air"]. This Scribner Armstrong edition, however, was the authorized one - letters of authorization from French true first edition pubisher Jules Hetzel and from Sampson, Marston & Low are reproduced on the recto of the frontispiece - and Shepard could only counter with "Authentic Edition". Date of 1875 on the title page is correct, with 1874 entry date noted on the verso of the title page - where Scribner also continues his battle with Shepard by cautioning the buyer against "any editions .which do not bear the imprint of Scribner, Armstrong & Co.works published under other other imprints are PIRATED, and cannot fail to be inferior in every particular.". Taves & Michaluk [V013] appear to concur that the Shepard edition can be deduced to have been pirated from the Sampson, Low serialized product. Nonetheless, that Shepard edition, which was well-made, is a collectible edition in its own right. This Scribner's true authorized first edition meets specs not just for the Verne collection, but as a souvenir of adventures in publishing as they were in the late nineteenth century. Note that the full three-part Mysterious Island tale was published somewhat later: Wrecked in the Air is the first part. Condition: Corners touched, spines tips fraying, small indications of soil and wear. Prior ownership by a long-term public service family in the Boston area: bookplate of Frederick M. Whitney on the front pastedown, and the signature of Willis S. Whitney - dated December 6th of 1874 in Boston - on the flyleaf. Handsome, bright and firm, better than very good. See scans. L20n
Seller: Singularity Rare & Fine, Baldwinsville, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Description: 12mo (signed in eights, but sewn in sixes), pp. [1-4] [i-iii] iv-vi [vii] viii [1] 2-304 [305-312: ads], fly leaves at front and rear, 50 full page illustrations by J. Ferat (integral to text leaves, not inserted plates), publisher's pictorial bevel-edged brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in blind, yellow endpapers. First U.S. edition. Part two of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, published by Scribner, Armstrong in November 1875, two months after Sampson Low's British edition. In 1876 Scribner, Armstrong published all three parts of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND in a single volume. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2234. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 767. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 19. Bleiler (1978), p. 199. Reginald 14643A. Myers 42. Taves and Michaluk V013. Light rubbing to cloth, a few white spots to rear panel (shelf paint offset?), else a clean, tight, very good copy. A much better than average copy of this book. (#173531)
Seller: Currey, L.W. Inc. ABAA/ILAB, Elizabethtown, NY, U.S.A.
Verne, Jules. THE MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT. Ward, London, 1875.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: Small octavo, pp. [i-v] vi-viii [9] 10-179 [180: decorative cut] + 2 undated publisher's catalogue, 12 and 16 pages respectively, inserted at rear, publisher's pictorial brown cloth, stamped in black, gold and blind, edges plain, cream endpapers. First British edition, first or early printing. Translation of the first part of LES ENFANTS DU CAPITAINE GRANT . (1867-1868). The first edition in English was published in June 1873 by Lippincott as A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. IN SEARCH OF THE CASTAWAYS: A ROMANTIC NARRATIVE OF THE LOSS OF CAPTAIN GRANT OF THE BRIG BRITANNIA AND OF THE ADVENTURES OF HIS CHILDREN AND FRIENDS IN HIS DISCOVERY AND RESCUE . This adventure story, featuring Paganel, the prototype of the absent-minded professor and one of Verne's most successful creations, is one of the few novels by Verne not published by Sampson Low. It was first published in England by Ward, Lock, and Tyler in 1875-1876 in three volumes THE MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT, ON THE TRACK and AMONG THE CANNIBALS. The Ward, Lock, and Tyler edition of THE MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT was published 25 December 1875 in both paperbound and clothbound issues as number 5 of their "Youth's Library of Wonders and Adventures." This clothbound copy is number 5 of their "Jules Verne Library." ON THE TRACK and AMONG THE CANNIBALS were published in February and March 1876 as numbers 6 and 7 of "The Jules Verne Library." Neither of these books are listed in the publisher's advertisement of this series on page [ii] of THE MYSTERIOUS DOCUMENT, nor is this title or the series found in the book catalogues which are largely devoted to Beeton's books for family reading and reference. The Ward, Lock, and Tyler edition preceded the 1876 Routledge edition published as A VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD: SOUTH AMERICA. Taves and Michaluk V005. Not in Myers. Topp, Victorian Yellowbacks & Paperbacks, 1849-1905 II, p. 152. Gift inscription on the front free endpaper. Cloth lightly rubbed, a bright, clean, nearly fine copy. Exceedingly scarce. (#173590)
Seller: Currey, L.W. Inc. ABAA/ILAB, Elizabethtown, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$1610.33 + shipping
Description: First edition in book form in English of the second part of The Mysterious Island, a sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (1867-8). Originally published in French as L'Île mystérieuse in 1874, it was serialized in the US in Scribner's Monthly from April of that year. The Mysterious Island comprises Dropped From the Clouds, Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island. It sees the return of both Captain Nemo and Tom Ayrton, two of Verne's most enigmatic characters. The purported translator of this work was W. H. G. Kingston (1814-1880), an author of adventure and sailing stories; however, the translation was actually the work of his wife, Agnes Kinloch Kingston (1824-1913). A distinguished linguist, Kinloch Kingston published several German and French translations under her husband's name, including Verne's Michael Strogoff (1876) and Johan Wyss's The Swiss Family Robinson (1891). Gallagher A33. Octavo. Original red cloth, spine and front cover lettered and decorated in gilt and black, rear cover framed and with publisher's monogram in blind, bevelled boards, gilt edges, Binder's ticket of Burn & Co. to rear pastedown. Wood-engraved frontispiece, 49 plates. With 40 pp. publisher's advertisements at rear. Extremities rubbed, spine a little toned, ends bruised, a handful of marks to cloth, gilt bright, light foxing to contents: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Verne, Jules. The Mysterious Island: Abandoned.. Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., New York, 1875.
Price: US$1750.00 + shipping
Description: First American edition of the second installment in Verne's Mysterious Island trilogy. Octavo, original publisher's green cloth decorated in gilt, illustrated. Translated from the French by W.H.G. Kingston. In near fine condition. A very sharp example. Often referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction", French novelist Jules Verne had a wide influence on on the literary avant-garde and on surrealism. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages Extraordinaires, a widely popular series of scrupulously researched adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne's The Mysterious Island is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, indicating the influence of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Johann David Wyss' Swiss Family Robinson on the thematic structure of the trilogy. In September of 1875, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle published the first British edition of Mysterious Island in three volumes entitled Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island. The trilogy has been adapted numerous times for film, television, and radio broadcast.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$4750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 3 volumes. Dropped From The Clouds: viii-[9]-310+[2 ad] pages with frontispiece and numerous black and white illustrations. Abandoned: viii+304+[8 ad] pages with frontispiece and numerous black and white illustrations. The Secret of the Island: viii+299+[1 ad] pages with frontispiece and numerous black and white illustrations. Small octavo (7 3/4" x 5 1/2") bound in original polisher's cloth with beveled terra cotta cloth boards with an bright unfaded gilt scene to the front and gilt motifs to spine. Dropped From The Clouds is in green cloth; Abandoned bound in blue cloth; The Secret of the Island bound in original brown cloth. (Gallagher, Mistichelli Eerde A33) First American editions. The Mysterious Island (French: L'Île mystérieuse) is a novel by Jules Verne, published in 1875. The original edition, published by Hetzel, contains a number of illustrations by Jules Férat. The novel is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (1870) and In Search of the Castaways (1867 68), though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, seen as indicating the influence of the novels Robinson Crusoe and The Swiss Family Robinson. Verne developed a similar theme in his later novel, Godfrey Morgan (French: L'École des Robinsons, 1882) The chronology of The Mysterious Island is completely incompatible with that of the original Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, whose plot begins in 1866, while The Mysterious Island begins during the American Civil War, yet is supposed to happen some years after "Twenty Thousand Leagues". In the United States the first English printing began in Scribner's Monthly, April 1874, as a serial. In September 1875 Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle published the first British edition of Mysterious Island in three volumes entitled Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island (195,000 words). In November 1875 Scribner's published the American edition of these volumes from the English plates of Sampson Low. The purported translator, W. H. G. Kingston, was a famous author of boys' adventure and sailing stories who had fallen on hard times in the 1870s due to business failures, and so he hired out to Sampson Low as the translator for these volumes. However, it is now known that the translator of Mysterious Island and his other Verne novels was actually his wife, Agnes Kinloch Kingston, who had studied on the continent in her youth. The Kingston translation changes the names of the hero from "Smith" to "Harding"; "Smith" is a very common name in the UK and would have been associated, at that time, with the lower classes. In addition many technical passages were abridged or omitted and the anti-imperialist sentiments of the dying Captain Nemo were purged so as not to offend English readers. This became the standard translation for more than a century. In 1876 the Stephen W. White translation (175,000 words) appeared first in the columns of The Evening Telegraph of Philadelphia and subsequently as an Evening Telegraph Reprint Book. This translation is more faithful to the original story and restores the death scene of Captain Nemo, but there is still condensation and omission of some sections such as Verne's description of how a sawmill works. In the 20th century two more abridged translations appeared: the Fitzroy Edition (Associated Booksellers, 1959) abridged by I. O. Evans (90,000 words) and Mysterious Island (Bantam, 1970) abridged by Lowell Bair (90,000 words). Condition: Previous owner's gift inscription dated 1875 to front end papers. Recased with original end pages with some archival repairs to spine ends, some occasional foxing, soiling and fingering else a very good sharp set.
Seller: The Book Collector, Inc. ABAA, ILAB, Fort Worth, TX, U.S.A.
Price: US$12000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition in English in book form of the first volume of Verne's Mysterious Island trilogy, preceding the Scribner Armstrong's first American edition. Octavo, original publisher's cloth decorated in gilt, all edges gilt, illustrated, tissue-guarded frontispiece. Translated from the French by W.H.G. Kingston. In fine condition. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Armorial bookplates to the pastedown and front free endpaper. An exceptional example, scarce in this condition. Often referred to as the "Father of Science Fiction", French novelist Jules Verne had a wide influence on the literary avant-garde and on surrealism. His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the Voyages Extraordinaires, a widely popular series of scrupulously researched adventure novels including Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870), and Around the World in Eighty Days (1873). Verne's The Mysterious Island is a crossover sequel to Verne's famous Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways, though its themes are vastly different from those books. An early draft of the novel, initially rejected by Verne's publisher and wholly reconceived before publication, was titled Shipwrecked Family: Marooned with Uncle Robinson, indicating the influence of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe and Johann David Wyss' Swiss Family Robinson on the thematic structure of the trilogy. In September of 1875, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle published the first British edition of Mysterious Island in three volumes entitled Dropped from the Clouds, The Abandoned, and The Secret of the Island. The trilogy has been adapted numerous times for film, television, and radio broadcast.
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
Price: US$12695.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND TRILOGY CONSISTING OF: DROPPED FROM THE CLOUDS, ABANDONED, THE SECRET OF THE ISLAND FIRST/FIRST UK EDITIONS.Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London 1875 Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London 1875 Sampson Low, Marston, Low & Searle, London 1875 FIRST Edition, FIRST printings of the three books which when combined create THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND Trilogy by Jules Verne. This is the Scarce complete set of First UK Editions, First printings of the three books. The UK Sampson Low printings preceded the US printings. In September of 1875, Sampson Low, Marston, Low, and Searle published the first British edition of Mysterious Island in three volumes entitled “Dropped from the Clouds”, “Abandoned”, and “The Secret of the Island”. The UK editions preceded the US Editions, with all three copies in this set having the requisite 1875 date to the title page as required. Please note – The set of complete first printings very rarely show up on the market. Dropped From The Clouds, 1875: The book is in beautiful condition with crisp, clean beveled green cloth boards with bright unfaded gilt scene to the front and slightly faded gilt motifs to spine. The book has sharp corners with no edgewear. Full gilt outer page block. The book has benefited from being rebacked with the original cloth laid back down. As such, the binding is tight and square and quite readable. Original peach colored end papers, with no owner names, no bookplates and no inscriptions. The original tissue guard is present but with age toning, and the interior pages are clean with but a very occasional handling mark. A superb overall clean crisp copy of this exceedingly scarce first UK printing. This book represents the largest value within the trilogy set as very very few first UK printings come up for sale. Abandoned, 1875: The book is in beautiful condition with vibrant purple/red cloth with crisp, clean beveled boards with a bright gilt scene to the front and gilt motifs to spine. The book has sharp corners with no edgewear. Full gilt outer page block. The book has benefited from being rebacked with the original cloth laid back down. As such, the binding is tight and square and quite readable. Original peach colored end papers with one small delicate scripted owner name otherwise no bookplates and no inscriptions. The original tissue guard is present but with age toning, and the interior pages are very crisp and clean internally with only a very occasional handling mark and withOUT the more typical stains and foxing. A very clean, crisp copy. The Secret Of The Island, 1875: The book is in beautiful condition with vibrant purple/red cloth with crisp, clean beveled boards with a bright gilt scene to the front and gilt motifs to spine. The book has sharp corners with no edgewear. Full gilt outer page block. The book has benefited from being rebacked with the original cloth laid back down. As such, the binding is tight and square and quite readable. Original peach colored end papers with a nearly scripted owner name and date to the front paste down, otherwise no bookplates and no inscriptions. The original tissue guard is present but with age toning and the interior pages are very clean internally with only a very occasional handling mark and withOUT the more typical stains and foxing. A very clean, crisp copy. A very handsome, impossible to locate, extremely scarce set of these three books in the first UK printing of each title. Presents extremely well on the shelf! ADDITIONAL 22 IMAGES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST. Please see our ABE store for other landmark SciFi titles.
Seller: Meier And Sons Rare Books, New Canaan, CT, U.S.A.
Price: US$13500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND TRILOGY (1875), UK, Sampson Low Publishers TRUE FIRST EDITIONS with 1875 on the title pages. Condition: Very good. Some restoration work to spines. Dropped From the Clouds has been rebacked with original spine laid on top. A really nice set.
Seller: JayLin Books, Cleveland, OH, U.S.A.