THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND ... WRECKED IN THE AIR. Authorized Edition. With Forty-eight Illustrations. New York: Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., 654 Broadway, 1875 [i.e. 1874]. Octavo, pp. [1-4] [1] 2-110 [111: map] [112: ads], double columns, fly leaves at front and rear, 48 illustrations, 1 full-page map, publisher's decorated brown cloth, front panel stamped in gold and ruled in blind, spine panel stamped in gold, rear panel ruled in blind, yellow endpapers. First authorized U.S. edition. The Henry L. Shepard 1874 piracy titled SHIPWRECKED IN THE AIR may have preceded this Scribner, Armstrong edition by a few days. The Scribner, Armstrong edition is dated 1875 on the title page, but the book was issued in late October 1874. It was copyrighted 26 October 1874 and Scribner, Armstrong filed two deposit copies on 31 October 1874. WRECKED IN THE AIR, the first of three parts of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND, was issued simultaneously in cloth and in pictorial wrappers, the latter binding state now rarely encountered. WRECKED IN THE AIR, the only part of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND issued by Scribner, Armstrong in a two-column format (perhaps utilizing the plates of the SCRIBNER'S MONTHLY MAGAZINE printing), was rushed into print to compete with the 1874 Shepard piracy. 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. Myers 42. Taves and Michaluk V013. Early owner's gift inscription dated 1874 on the front flyleaf. Cloth worn at spine ends and corner tips, a very good copy. (#148056).
Price: $350.00
No statement of printing. "AUTHORIZED EDITION" on title page.