1885 Rare Book - Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery by Jules Verne

Author: Jules Verne.
Title: Godfrey Morgan: A Californian Mystery.
Publisher: London, Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, and Rivington, [circa 1885].
Language: Text in English. 
Size: 7.5" x 5.25".
Pages: 192 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original publisher’s striking green pictorial cloth binding with ornate black and gilt decoration to front board and spine (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. All edges gilt.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, rare light foxing and staining mainly on preliminary and last pages - as shown, endpapers' inner hinges worn but still tight - as shown). 
Illustrations: Illustrated with seven full-page black-and-white engravings, including frontispiece and illustrated title. Complete.

Estimate: (USD 250 – 300).

The book: A handsome and early English edition of Godfrey Morgan, one of Jules Verne's lesser-known adventure tales, originally published in French in 1882 as L'École des Robinsons. A satirical take on Robinson Crusoe, the novel follows a Californian millionaire’s nephew, Godfrey Morgan, as he learns the hardships of life on a deserted island. This British edition features beautifully detailed engravings that heighten the novel’s comic and dramatic moments—crocodile attacks, shipwrecked misadventures, and the civilizing of the wilderness.

The author: Jules Verne (1828–1905), widely considered the father of science fiction, is best known for visionary classics such as Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days. With his flair for imaginative storytelling and prescient technological speculation, Verne helped define modern speculative literature. Godfrey Morgan showcases his skill in parody and satire, offering a humorous lens on colonialism, privilege, and self-reliance.