Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas

First published in 1869-70, this adventure novel follows Professor Pierre Aronnax, his servant Conseil, and the harpooner Ned Land after they are taken aboard the submarine Nautilus. Its commander, Captain Nemo, has withdrawn from the surface nations and lives by hunting, science, and occasional violence against shipping. The captives travel the world's oceans: coral seas, wrecks, ice, and the ruins of Atlantis, while they debate escape. Nemo remains both host and jailer, revealing fragments of a private war. The book is a scientific romance of underwater engineering and geography, and a political fable about exile, revenge, and the cost of absolute independence.

Bound in white cloth blocked in black on all sides with a wrap-around drawing. Cream endpapers printed with black images. Pale blue slipcase.