THE MYSTERIOUS ISLAND. The Modern Robinson Crusoe. (3 volumes-in-1)
[a fine 3-in-1 copy] Translated from the French by W.H.G. Kingston. Complete in Three Parts. I. Dropped from the Clouds. II. Abandoned. III. The Secret of the Island. 145 Illustrations. New York: Scribner, Armstrong, & Co., 1876. 4 pp undated ads. Original blue cloth pictorially decorated in black and gilt.
First Combined American Edition, primary binding state -- of what is actually Verne's sequel to TWENTY THOUSAND LEAGUES..., ending with the death of Captain Nemo. Scribner Armstrong, Verne's authorized American publisher, had published these "three parts" as separate volumes in November 1875. At some time between then and the end of March 1876 (when this three-in-one volume was reviewed in the New York Daily Tribune), the three parts were combined into this single volume -- with separate pagination as in the three individual books. The spine illustration, of "the stranger" grappling with a jaguar, comes from the second volume, ABANDONED; the front cover illustration, of the castaways peering through a spyglass from the mouth of their cave dwelling, comes from the third volume, THE SECRET OF THE ISLAND. (During 1876, all-in-one-volume editions were also published by Donnelley Loyd of Chicago (650 pages, only 24 illustrations), by Household Words of Boston (abridged), and by The Evening Telegraph (abridged, a 25¢ paperback) -- priority between the four uncertain, though those other three were rudimentary productions.)
This copy is in the primary binding state, with "Scribner Armstrong & Co" at the foot of the spine (copies without "Armstrong" were bound up after Armstrong left the firm in mid-1878), and withOUT "The Modern Robinson Crusoe" blind-stamped at the top of the rear cover. The cloth color is royal blue; we have seen others in bright green, in olive green, and in terra-cotta (no known color precedence).
Remarkably, this copy is in close-to-fine condition, with the merest hint of wear at some edges, and a few unobtrusive spots on the rear cover; atypically, the original yellow endpapers are clean and intact. Why this consolidated edition has become scarce we do not know; perhaps few copies were produced in this format, or perhaps it is simply that few copies have survived. (This is a volume of formidable bulk -- 911 pages of text, plus the 145 illustration leaves not reckoned in the pagination, equals 1201 "pages"!) The equally fine Aronovitz copy (in terra-cotta) sold for $8,125 in May 2026. Taves & Michaluk V013; Myers 42 ("a very rare edition!"). Item #15891
Price: $6,250.00