HECTOR SERVADAC

1878. Translated by Ellen E. Frewer. With Numerous Illustrations. New York: Scribner, Armstrong & Co., 1878. 2 pp undated ads. Original red cloth pictorially decorated in gilt and black, beveled.

First complete American hardbound edition -- also the first authorized American edition. A collision with the errant comet "Gallia" rips out a section of the Earth that includes Gibraltar and the north coast of Algeria, carrying off various unintentional "colonists" (including French Captain Hector Servadac and his orderly Ben Zoof) into space on a two-year orbit of our solar system; they are forced to take refuge in a volcano to survive the cold stretch farthest from the sun. This tale was first published in America (and in the English language) by the pirate-publisher George Munro in his wrappered "Seaside Library" in September 1877. A month later the Philadelphia firm of Claxton, Remsen & Haffelfinger issued the first half of this tale in a pirated cloth-bound volume titled TO THE SUN?. Then in November 1877 (though dated 1878) were published the authorized Sampson Low edition in England, and this authorized Scribner Armstrong edition -- both of the entire tale, both with the Ellen Frewer translation. (It was not until May 1878 that CR&H published the second half of their Philadelphia edition, OFF ON A COMET!.) This is a magnificent volume, produced at the apex of American book design, with an elaborately decorated binding and with over 100 full-page illustrations, originally priced at a hefty $3.00. This copy is in red cloth (we have also had terra-cotta and green -- no priority). It is a handsome copy, with the binding unusually bright -- in near-fine condition (just a touch of wear at the extremities). Taves & Michaluk V016; Myers 33.