Description
VERNE (Jules).
The Invasion from the Sea. – The Lighthouse at the End of the World.
Paris: Collection Hetzel, [1905]. — In-8, 273 x 176. Red cardboard binding featuring an elephant, title on the front flap, spine depicting a lighthouse (Engel).
First combined and illustrated edition of these two novels, featuring illustrations by Benett in the first and by Rioux in the second. There are twelve chromotypographic plates, six for each title. This is the only edition published by Hetzel.
The novel *L’Invasion de la mer* is inspired by a real-life project that epitomises the French colonial spirit of the time. In the 1880s, Captain Roudaire proposed flooding part of the Sahara with water from the Mediterranean by digging a canal from the Gulf of Gabès in Tunisia to the chotts (permanent bodies of salt water with shifting shores, found in semi-arid regions). The project was abandoned, but Jules Verne gave it a fictional follow-up in this story.
A copy in ‘one-elephant’ cardboard binding with the title on the spine, the only known example of this binding for this title. It was presented as a prize by the Member of Parliament Georges Berger, with a gilt inscription on the back cover.
Spine faded, covers in a fine, fresh condition. A small tear on the spine near the title.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
About the sale
Claude Mozis Library – Black Africa and the African diaspora
Auction location
Auction time
10/21/2026 at 2:00 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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