Underground City Or, The Child Of The and 12 similar items

?UNDERGROUND CITY : or, The Child Of The Caverns? Jules Verne An attractive collector?s copy. A cut above the others. Translated by W.H. G. Kingston Philadelphia: Porter Coates, No Date. Original publisher?s brown cloth pictorially decorated in black and gold. This is the first American edition of this supernatural tale sited in a deep Scottish mine. Verne has written about a mine with unreal wealth and put into it a mysterious being endowed with superhuman and supernatural powers who performs wonders unsurpassed. This book is attractive showing old Silfax standing with raised arms in a small boat on Loch Malcolm, calling Harfang the owl to ignite the explosive gas trapped under the cavern ceiling. This story was first published in English in the Spring of 1877, in Munro's "Seaside Library." The British edition was issued later that year. The publication date of this Porter Coates edition is uncertain. Probably about 1887. It is regarded as the first illustrated American edition, as no other American edition is cited earlier than 1888 (and that edition was also by Porter Coates). This copy is a nice bright, near fine copy. A bit of end wear to the spine ends and corners, much less than usually encountered in this beautifully bound book. The interior is tight and crisp. Evidence of some kind of book plate removal on the first blank page, with a name in ink from 1890 written under that area. First American hardback edition.