Rare Verne Edition Surfaces In Concord, NH

I’ve seen this book on Antiques Roadshow, and again on Pawn Stars, but the last place I expected to see a first edition, first printing copy of the US edition of the landmark 1873 Jules Verne sci-fi novel, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, was at an auction in Concord, NH… but there it was, inconspicuously mixed in with several other collectible Verne titles on a tray lot. Not inconspicuously enough, I guess, because it cost a substantial sum of money to obtain it, but here it is!

Conservative estimates of the number of existing copies of this edition range from 50 to 60. Printed by Boston publisher James R. Osgood in late 1872, the initial run is supposed to have burned up in the great Boston fire of that year and no one is exactly sure where the ones that survive came from or how they came into the market. Interestingly – and perhaps partially explanatory of my motivation to step up a little beyond my comfort zone to obtain this piece – one of the things that led me into bookselling as a passionate pursuit was the discovery of a copy of the “common first edition” of this book – the 1873 Geo. M. Smith replacement edition (also a rare book, despite the nomenclature) – several years ago in a book lot at the very same auction.

Unfortunately, book dealing has not been a lucrative enough pursuit to be able to file this once-in-a-lifetime piece away in my personal library – some teaser photos below, but you can get a better look at it on eBay – while it lasts!