Books

345 p. 30 cm. Frontispiece and 11 other plates, each with 4 pictures. Green cloth with black and gold impressing. Gilt stamped picture of a balloon. Possible variant. Mylar wrap (removed for photos). Small tears in spine head and cut in spine tail. Some edge wear and rubbing. Frontispiece loosening. Stain from pressed flower on pp. 102-3. Light soiling, thumbing, foxing elsewhere. Overall, pages are clean and neat. Verne's first big success is, according to the Publishers' Note, a satire on English travel books about Africa. Deadly on-ground obstructions are avoided by the ingenious use of balloon travel, although there are still savages, storms, volcanoes, mirages, and grasshoppers to contend with. The book, combining known science with Verne's own flights of imagination, was an immediate hit with the public. The Osgood edition contains 48 of the original illustrations, considerably scaled down in size through a heliotype process. Taves & Michaluk V0001. Myers 20. First American Illustrated Edition (2nd American ed. after Appleton).

Five Weeks in a Balloon was the first novel in Jules Verne’s series known as the Extraordinary Voyages. It tells the story of a journey over Africa in a hydrogen balloon, exploring both uncharted territories and the spirit of adventure.