1894 Rare Book - The CONQUEST of the MOON by Andre Laurie, Jules Verne's collaborator.
(description)
Author: Andre Laurie (real name: Jean François Paschal Grousset). George Roux, illustrator.
Title: The Conquest Of The Moon. A Story Of Bayouda.
Publisher: London, Sampson Low, Marston & Company., 1894.
Language: Text in English.
Size : 7.5 " X 5.5 ".
Pages : vi-334 pages.
Binding: Attractive and very good original illustrated cloth binding (hinges fine, overall slightly worn and scuffed) under a protective removable mylar cover.
Content: Very good content (bright, tight and clean, some light foxing and staining - as shown, school presentation bookplate and name of the previous owner on the first endpaper - as shown).
Illustrations: Complete with the 9 beautiful illustrations by Georges Roux.
Estimate: (USD 200 - USD 350)
The book: Rare and attractive early edition of The Conquest Of The Moon - A Story Of Bayouda by Andre Laurie who was a contemporary and sometimes collaborator with Jules Verne. In this novel, he describes a trip to the moon made by dragging the moon to earth via giant electromagnets! Originally published in 1889. A rare find in any condition!
The author: Jean François Paschal Grousset (7 April 1844, Corte – 9 April 1909, Paris) was a French politician, journalist, translator[1] and science fiction writer. Grousset published under the pseudonyms of André Laurie, Philippe Daryl, Tiburce Moray and Léopold Virey. Grousset was born in Corte, Corsica, and studied medicine before commencing a journalistic career. In 1869 he began working for the weekly newspaper La Marseillaise, writing pro-revolutionary articles. As a result of an attempt by Grousset to challenge Pierre Napoleon Bonaparte to a duel during 1870, Grousset's second, Victor Noir, was shot and killed by Bonaparte during a quarrel. Later the same year Grousset was sentenced to six months imprisonment. He was elected a member of the Paris Commune, becoming a member of its Executive Committee and Delegate for External Affairs. After the fall of the Commune, he was arrested and, in 1872, he was deported to New Caledonia. He escaped, and lived in Sydney, San Francisco, New York City and London, making a living by teaching French. He returned to France after the 1880 amnesty, becoming involved in literature and physical culture, but eventually returning to politics and, in 1893, becoming a Socialist Deputy for the 12th arrondissement of Paris. Like Jules Verne, he was another discovery of publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel. He "collaborated" with Verne on Les Cinq Cent Millions de la Begum (1879), L'Étoile du Sud (1884) and L'Épave du Cynthia (1885). Some scholars believe that these works were based on manuscripts written by Grousset and rewritten by Verne at Hetzel's request.
The illustrator: George Roux (1853–1929) was a French artist and book illustrator. His best-known works today are a large number of illustrations he created for the science-fiction novels of Jules Verne, in the series Les voyages extraordinaires. He was the second-most prolific illustrator of Verne's novels, after Léon Benett, drawing the illustrations for 22 novels in the original editions of Verne's works with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel. The first of them was L’Épave du Cynthia (The Salvage of the Cynthia, 1885) and the last was L'Étonnante aventure de la mission Barsac (The Barsac Mission, 1919).He also illustrated André Laurie's Axel Ebersen, the Graduate of Upsala published in instalments in volume 14 (1981–2) of the Boy's Own Paper.