The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, Edward A Wilson - Child Book, Kids Book, Vintage Book, Science Fiction, Voyages Extraordinaires

Beautiful deluxe edition of The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne, the exciting sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and In Search of the Castaways.

Written by Jules Verne. Illustrated by Edward A. Wilson. Introduction by Ray Bradbury. A Heritage Club special edition, copyright 1959 by the George Macy Companies. The Heritage Press.

The Mysterious Island is a fantastic sequel to Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea and In Search of the Castaways, in which five American Union soldiers taken prisoner by Confederate forces escape during the siege of Richmond by hijacking a balloon. They fly into a storm that carries them all the way to the Pacific, where they crash-land on a desert island. Their efforts at survival are aided by a mysterious benefactor who's revealed to be Captain Nemo. The island is the home port of the famed Nautilus. By now Capt. Nemo is an old man, the last survivor of his crew. He reveals to these castaways that he is a long lost Indian Prince and bestows them with gifts of diamonds and pearls before he dies. In the end, a volcano erupts and buries the Nautilus and its captain for all time, and the soldiers are rescued and returned to the United States, and they make their home in Iowa.

"History has been, and continues to be, made by men who were boys who once read and were stirred by the author of the book that you now hold in your hand."

- Ray Bradbury, Introduction to The Mysterious Island

Jules Verne (1828 - 1905) was a French novelist and playwright who pioneered science fiction writing in works such as Five Weeks in a Balloon, From the Earth to the Moon, Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea, Around the World in Eighty Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, In Search of the Castaways, and The Mysterious Island. All of his work was first published in French and fifty-three stories, including his best-known works, were serialized in the Magasin d'Éducation et de Récréation (Magazine of Education and Recreation) before being published in book format. These stories are known collectively as the Voyages Extraordinaires.

When reading Jules Verne, it's important to consider the quality of the translation. Verne wrote sophisticated literary fiction appropriate to any age of reader but he didn't write specifically for children. English translations through the 19th and 20th centuries were so poorly done that US and UK critics and publishers consigned his work to the children's book market.

Included in this deluxe edition of The Mysterious Island is the Sandglass, a newsletter insert published by The Heritage Club which provides background on the author, the story, the illustrator, the translator, and the printing details.

The Heritage Club edition was translated by William Henry Giles Kingston (1814 - 1880), an English author and translator who wrote his own seafaring adventures for boys. His translation of several Verne stories, including The Mysterious Island, helped to popularize Verne's work in the US and England. However, in the 1940s a Kingston heir came into possession of his literary estate, including diaries and journals, and discovered that Kingston's wife, Agnes Kinloch Kingston, was the real translator of Verne stories they had worked on together. In the Victorian era, credit went to her husband.

Edward A. Wilson (1886 - 1970) was a Scottish-born artist and one of the great book illustrators of the 20th century. His work has stood the test of time as the best in American illustration.

www.societyillustrators.org/edward-wilson

Etsy.com/shop/TheCharmedBookshop
Visit TheCharmedBookshop.com for more first edition children's books.

Condition*: Fine/Very good. There is some sunning around the edges of the case.

* Based on guidelines of the Independent Online Booksellers' Association.