VERNE, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Manuscr - Lot 242

VERNE, Jules. Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. Manuscript. S.l. [Cambremer], Éditions des Saints Pères, 2014. Large in-4, royal blue cloth publisher's boards, square spine with author and title in silver lettering, in matching slipcase. 512 pages, numerous full-page and in-text black illustrations. Deluxe facsimile edition of the manuscript of Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, reproducing the engravings from Hetzel's original edition. These exceptional illustrations are by Alphonse de Neuville and Édouard Riou, woodcut by Henri Théophile Hildibrand, Gustave Doré's collaborator. In 1906, Michel Verne (the son) offered this manuscript to Roland Bonaparte, then president of the Société de Géographie, who added it to his library in 1924. Since 2010, it has been kept at the BnF, in the Cartes et Plans department. Limited edition of 1,000 numbered copies on Avorio Fedrigoni paper (no. 44). Complete with flyleaf. This meticulous edition provides privileged behind-the-scenes access to the creative genius behind the scenes, bearing witness to Jules Verne's hesitations over the title of the novel (successively entitled Voyage sous les eaux, 1000 lieues sous les Océans or Vingt mille lieues sous les océans) and Pierre-Jules Hetzel's influence on Captain Nemo's character traits. Entire passages on the heroes and the sea's flora and fauna have been crossed out and reworked. Perfect condition.