VERNE, Jules. La Maison à vapeur. Voyage à travers l'Inde se - Lot 100

VERNE, Jules. La Maison à vapeur. Voyage à travers l'Inde septentrionale. Published in Paris by Bibliothèque d'éducation et de récréation J. Hetzel et cie between [1880] and [1881]. Edition illustrated by Léon Benett. In quarto / In-4 format. Polychrome cardboard with two elephants on a blue background. Smooth three-box spine with gilded arabesque motifs, author, collection, title, publisher and name of bookbinder (Antoine Lenègre) in gilded letters. Rich gilded decoration on the front cover, with several framed subjects: prehistoric animals, an ice scene from Fur Country, the Great Eastern, a steam train, a subject framed by two elephant heads, books holding an inkwell and a world map. Title and collection in a central gilded fan motif. All edges gilt. 398-(4) pages, numerous black-and-white drawings by Léon Benett, including a frontispiece, a title-page vignette and numerous in-text drawings. Covers rubbed, spine split at tail cap, corners slightly dulled and crushed. Very fine edition of this historical adventure novel set in India, featuring a revolutionary means of transportation: a gigantic steam-powered elephant pulling two comfortable wagons, which travels without the need for a railroad. Handwritten bookplate on the title page. Clean and fresh inside. A fine copy, beautifully bound.