A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH, CONTAINING A COMPLETE ACCOUNT OF THE WONDERFUL AND THRILLING ADVENTURES OF THE INTREPID SUBTERRANEAN EXPLORERS, PROF. VON HARDWIGG, HIS NEPHEW HARRY, AND THEIR ICELANDIC GUIDE, HANS BJELKE ... Sold Only by Subscription. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 654 Broadway, n.d. [1874?]. 12mo, pp. [1-4] [i-ii] iii-vi [vii] viii 1-413 [414: blank] [415-420: ads], flyleaves at front and rear, 55 full-page illustrations and title page vignette by Riou, original brown cloth, front and spine panels stamped in black and gold, rear panel stamped in blind, yellow endpapers. First printing of Scribner, Armstrong's "complete" edition, published at $3.00 and released in late 1874 or early 1875. This undated 413-page edition with 55 full-page illustrations was preceded by a Scribner, Armstrong edition with title page dated 1874 with 384 pages and 52 full-page illustrations (a copy of this 1874 edition has been noted signed and dated 4 November 1873 by an early owner). This earlier version was offset from the plates of the British 1872 Sampson Low edition and was offered for sale at $2.00. It is probable that Scribner, Armstrong rushed out this early version to compete with the unauthorized edition published in Boston by the Henry L. Shepard & Co. in 1874. Scribner, Armstrong's "complete" edition has reset text with printer's imprints on title leaf verso reading "Jas. B. Rogers Co. / Printers and Stereotypers, / Philadelphia" and "John F. Trow & Sons, / Printers and Bookbinders, / 205-213 East 12th St., / New York." Pages [415-420] are publishers' advertisements with a single Verne title, FROM THE EARTH TO THE MOON DIRECT IN 97 HOURS, 20 MINUTES, listed on page [420]. The title page calls for 52 illustrations by Riou, the spine panel for 53, but there are actually a total of 55 full page illustrations in the text as per the "list of illustrations." This "complete" issue, published at $3.00, was probably released simultaneously with the "popular" issue, 305 pages with 20 illustrations, published at 75¢. In any event, both editions were available by or before Scribner, Armstrong issued the first part of THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND in 1875 as both are advertised on the title leaf verso along with A FLOATING CITY and THE BLOCKADE-RUNNERS, the latter noted as "just issued." Regardless of the matter of priority of these Scribner, Armstrong editions, this "complete" issue is quite scarce and it is a very desirable edition of A JOURNEY TO THE CENTRE OF THE EARTH. Translation of VOYAGE AU CENTRE DE LA TERRE (1864). Anatomy of Wonder (1995) 1-94 and (2004) II-1182. Angenot and Khouri, "An International Bibliography of Prehistoric Fiction," SFS, VIII (March 1981), 47. Bleiler, Science-Fiction: The Early Years 2228. Clareson, Science Fiction in America, 1870s-1930s 766. Survey of Science Fiction Literature III, pp. 1102-05. Suvin, Victorian Science Fiction in the UK, p. 16. In 333. Bleiler (1978), p. 199. Reginald 14630. Myers 35. Taves and Michaluk V002. This copy has smoke and water damage from a fire, but is a tight, presentable copy overall. A decent copy of a rare and desirable edition of this book. (#165801).
Price: $500.00
No statement of printing.