1890 Rare Book - Five Weeks in a Balloon, A Voyage of Exploration by Jules Verne

Author: Jules Verne. Illustrated by Riou.
Title: Five Weeks in a Balloon. A Voyage of Exploration and Discovery in Central Africa.
Publisher: London, Sampson Low, Marston & Company, [c. 1890s].
Language: Text in English.
Size: 7.5 x 5 inches.
Pages: viii-352 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good publisher’s original pictorial green cloth binding, lavishly decorated in gilt, black, and red, showing three hot air balloons, a tropical bird, and a sleeping elephant motif. Spine also decorated with a matching hot air balloon vignette. Rear board in solid green (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed - as shown) under a protective removable mylar cover. A bright and evocative binding typical of Sampson Low’s late 19th-century adventure series.
Content: Good content (bright, tight, some light foxing and staining - as shown).
Illustrations: Illustrated with 64 wood engravings by Riou, including full-page plates (e.g., “A Close Shave,” “The Falls of Gouina,” and “A Solemn Sunset”), and numerous in-text illustrations. Complete.

Estimate: (USD 250–300).

The book: This charming Victorian edition of Five Weeks in a Balloon by Jules Verne presents the author's first published novel in English, vividly brought to life through Riou’s adventurous illustrations. Translated from the French, the story follows Dr. Samuel Fergusson’s aerial expedition across uncharted Africa—an imaginative blend of science, geography, and fantasy. This edition, with its richly gilt and pictorial binding, reflects the era’s fascination with exploration, invention, and imperial curiosity.

The author: Jules Verne (1828–1905) is regarded as one of the founding fathers of science fiction. A visionary French author, Verne penned adventure novels that foresaw technological advances and captured the imaginations of generations. Works like Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Journey to the Centre of the Earth, and Around the World in Eighty Days made him one of the most translated authors in history.

The illustrator: Édouard Riou (1833–1900) was a celebrated French illustrator known for his collaborations with Jules Verne, particularly in the early Voyages Extraordinaires. Riou’s detailed engravings lent a dramatic and immersive quality to Verne’s works, grounding the fantasy in realistic and often heroic visual narratives.