Polar Lands Voyages and Adventures of Captain... Lot 26

[Polar Lands] Voyages and Adventures of Captain Hatteras by Jules Verne. Illustrations by Riou. Paris, Bibliothèque d'Éducation et de Récréation, J. Hetzel et Cie, sd (ca 1877). Large in-8° double bound in half black chagrin. Spine with five boxes with gilt fillet frames and the inscriptions: "Julius / Verne" and "Adventures / of / Captain Hatteras". Bevelled dishes in black lacquered wood about 4 mm thick glued on very thin cardboard. Plate signed A. Thirteen in the central engraving at the bottom of the plate. No mention of bookbinder or publisher. Gilded edges. Moiré guards. Imprimerie Gauthier -Villars. First plate stamped with eight figures and several ornamental motifs. The figures and some motifs have been enhanced with gold. Fan bearing the gilded inscriptions, in arcs of a circle, "Voyages Extraordinaires/ par / Jules Verne" and, underneath, in a cartouche with a very ornate frame: "Aventures / du Capitaine / Hatteras" (Adventures / of the Captain / Hatteras). Second mute plate. This plate is indisputably very close to the one executed by A. Souze for the "Two Elephants" cartouche, created in 1875. The placement of the fan, the title cartouche, the engravings and the hemp rope for the general framing are, except for a few nuances, similar! Only the drawings are different, in particular the elephant heads replaced by portraits of figures (now four) representing the four continents (Europe, East Africa and Asia), the fifth (Australia) being, at that time, less defined as such. Perhaps this is an Art binding and therefore unique! designed by an artist for a particular event, woodworking requiring a remarkable technique and virtuosity This binding is, in our opinion, contemporary with the interior notebooks that we place around 1876-1877, although we know of no equivalent creation at that time. It should also be pointed out that the moiré endpapers, which are stronger than the blue endpapers reserved for cardboard, are the indi