MISTRESS BRANICAN

1891. Translated from the French by A. Estoclet. Illustrated by L. Benett. New York: Cassell Publishing Company, n.d. [1891]. Original mint green cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt.

First American Edition (and first edition in English) of this tale involving shipwreck off the coast of Aboriginal Australia. After her husband John has gone to sea and she loses her only child, San Diego resident Dolly Branican goes mad. When she recovers four years later, she discovers that her husband's ship was lost at sea. As heir to a substantial fortune during her madness, Dolly uses these resources to finance the discovery of the whereabouts of her husband's ship the Franklin, because she doesn't believe he is dead. Years later a clue to the fate of the Franklin is discovered in Australia; Dolly quickly goes there to discover that her husband may still be alive in a remote part of northwestern Australia. [Kytasaari] This undated Cassell edition was published in November 1891 -- the first Verne book to be published in America after the July 1, 1891 effective date of the International Copyright Act; Sampson Low's London edition was published a year later, in November 1892. This copy is in mint green cloth; we have also had ochre and aqua cloth (no priority). This is a remarkably clean copy, in near-fine condition (one corner bumped, a short nick in the spine head); the front endpaper bears a 1932 signature, and the rear endpaper bears numerous penciled notes dated 1960. Taves & Michaluk V038; Myers 41.