Seas and Oceans Mathias Sandorf by Jules Verne.... Lot 30

Seas and Oceans] Mathias Sandorf by Jules Verne. Illustrations by Férat. Paris, Bibliothèque d'Éducation et de Récréation, J. Hetzel Éditeur, 1885 (ca 1898 for the hardback). Large triple in-8°. Publisher's full percaline paperback with "golden globe" of the 3rd type. Engel bookbinder. Gilt edges. Blue endpapers. Printed by Gauthier-Villars. Original illustrated edition. A very fine copy, without the slightest alteration, of this extremely rare volume of which only eight or nine copies are known. Without doubt the most beautiful one that has passed through our hands! This version with the "golden globe" is, without a doubt, a commercial "accident" in Hetzel's publishing career. We have, in fact, come to the conclusion that the polychrome cardboard with Mathias Sandorf's "anchor spine", whether the "red band" or the "black band", was inaugurated in 1896 (see our article in La Gazette de la Librairie Monte Cristo n°5 of December 2020), which implies that this version with the "gilded globe" was produced later, most probably in 1898, as suggested by the use of the type 3 plate on the front cover. . But, why an "accident"? Let us recall that the "anchor spine" binding allowed the publisher, as well as the booksellers, to distinguish the triple volumes from the double volumes, the first ones being sold at a higher price, so it would have been commercially aberrant to create a confusion by introducing a triple volume in the "golden globe" series. Many hypotheses have been put forward as to the miraculous presence of this "alien" in the "Golden Globes" series. The most probable is that Engel, binder of the two "polychrome" versions since 1896, covered Mathias Sandorf with a "lighthouse spine" and a "golden globe" plate simply by mistake, this version being by far the most frequent: in 1898, the catalogue includes no less than thirty-one "golden globes" for only three "anchor spines"! As for the idea that this was a special order for a few "collectors" of the time, it seems unlikely to us... It was probably just a happy "accident", because the "anchor back" will be used without interruption for this title until 1914.