Item #13516 THE TRIBULATIONS OF A CHINAMAN. Jules Verne.

THE TRIBULATIONS OF A CHINAMAN.

Translated by Ellen E. Frewer. Illustrated by L. Benett. New York: E.P. Dutton and Company, 1881. 1 page undated ads (with prices in sterling). Original green cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt.

First Illustrated Edition of this curious tale... Wealthy Chinaman hears that his fortune is lost. Opts for honorable suicide by arranging for a friend to kill him. Learns that his fortune isn't lost after all. Tells friend thanks but there is no need to kill him. Friend replies that he has already arranged for some thug to do the deed and now can't contact him... This Dutton edition was actually published in October 1880, exactly a year after Lee and Shepard of Boston published the first edition in English (which was unillustrated, and was in a plain binding). Although this Dutton edition comes from the British sheets (including the same binding design, the same plates, and even an ad leaf for Verne's works with prices in sterling), it was published a month earlier than Sampson Low's first British edition.

This is an unusually bright, clean copy: fine, virtually as new. Taves & Michaluk V020; Myers 55. Item #13516

Price: $775.00

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