David Spilman Fine Books

The Field of Ice; Illustrations by Riou [Part Two of the Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras, Le Desert de glace (1866)]

Verne, Jules

New York: George Routledge and Sons, N/D [1876]. Very Good Plus. First Edition, Later Printing. 8vo [7.5x5.5in]; iv, 269 pp., frontispiece and 126 illustrations in text and including 26 plates; Dark Blue-Green cloth covers with blind stamped borders, designs and lettering, gilt lettering on spine, all edges trimmed; Minimal shelf wear to covers, edges and corners, small white spots on front and bottom edge, small nick on front joint, several small splits to top and bottom of spine, light age toning to text, hinges tight, prior owner pencil name on front flyleaf and bookplate of subsequent owner on front end paper. [Taves and Michaluk V004]. Item #14352

Jules Verne (1828-1905) a French author famous for his many novels of adventures, exploration and the future, and the "Father of science fiction". Verne started as a playwright and then science articles that provided a direction for his writing of adventure stories set in scientific background. He wrote more than sixty "scientific romances" with high adventures of his characters.

The first French edition of "Field of Ice" in 1875 and was part of series of the adventures of Captain Hatteras. Verne's books were very popular and reprinted in many languages. The inspiration for Verne was likely from the real British Franklin Expedition to discover the Northwest passage in 1845 and were subsequently stranded in the ice flows and all perished. The novel is about reaching the North Pole and the challenges and dangers from the weather conditions and lack of adequate supplies.

This book was owned by Arthur Lloyd Thomas (1851- 1924) who was a federal civil servant that was appointed Secretary of Utah Territory in 1879 and the 14th Territorial Governor of Utah from 1889 to 1893. After losing the first Governor election after statehood, he was appointed as the Utah Postmaster from 1898 to 1914. He was a collector of books about western expansion and exploration with an interest in human development and expanding civilization (from his great granddaughter comments). Thomas just hand wrote his name in this book, used used an ink stamp signature to identify his later books. After his death, the library was distributed among his heirs, and his son, Alexander Ramsey Thomas, Sr. (1883-1946), pasted a heraldic bookplate and used ink rubber stamps to identify the book as part of his library. Alexander was a lawyer and moved to the Ukiah Valley, California in 1913 to practice law and as an officer of the Court.

Price: $100.00