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MICHAEL STROGOFF

The Courier of the Czar

By Jules Verne, translated by W.H.G. Kingston and revised by Julius Chambers.

With 90 Full-Page Illustrations

Published by Scribner, Armstrong & Company. The date 1877 is on the title page.

This book was first published in the U.S. by Scribner in 1877. This edition is the first edition with the elaborate spine decoration and with the gilt embellished leaping horse design on the front board. They are beautiful books with gilt embossing on the spines. They are difficult and expensive to find today.

From Wikipedia:
Michael Strogoff: The Courier of the Czar (French: Michel Strogoff) is a novel written by Jules Verne in 1876. Critics consider it one of Verne's best books. Unlike some of Verne's other famous novels, it is not science fiction, but a scientific phenomenon is a plot device. The book was later adapted to a play, by Verne himself and Adolphe D'Ennery. Incidental music to the play was written by Jules Massenet in 1880. The book has been adapted several times for films and cartoon series.
Michael Strogoff, a 30-year-old native of Omsk, is a courier for Tsar Alexander II of Russia. The Tartar Khan, Feofar, incites a rebellion and separates the Russian Far East from the mainland, severing telegraph lines. Rebels encircle Irkutsk, where the local governor, brother of the Tsar, is making a last stand. Strogoff is sent to Irkutsk to warn the governor about the traitor Ivan Ogareff. Ogareff, a former colonel, was once demoted and exiled and now seeks revenge against the royal family. He intends to destroy Irkutsk by setting fire to the huge oil storage tanks on the banks of the Angara River.
On his way to Irkutsk, Strogoff meets Nadia Fedor, daughter of an exiled political prisoner, Basil Fedor, who has been granted permission to join her father at his exile in Irkutsk, the English war correspondent Harry Blount of the Daily Telegraph and Alcide Jolivet, a Frenchman reporting for his 'cousin Madeleine'. Blount and Jolivet tend to follow the same route as Michael, separating and meeting again all the way through Siberia. He is supposed to travel under a false identity, but he is discovered by the Tartars when he meets his mother in their home city of Omsk.
Michael, his mother and Nadia are eventually taken prisoner by the Tartar forces. Ivan Ogareff alleges that Michael is a spy. After opening the Koran at random, Feofar decides that Michael will be blinded as punishment in the Tartar fashion, with a hot blade. For several chapters the reader is led to believe that Michael was indeed blinded, but it transpires in fact that he was saved from this fate (his tears at his mother evaporated and saved his corneas) and was only pretending.
Eventually, Michael and Nadia escape, and travel to Irkutsk with a friendly peasant. They are delayed by fire and the frozen river. However, they eventually reach Irkutsk, and warn the Tsar's brother in time of Ivan Ogareff. Nadia's father, who has been appointed commander of a suicide battalion, and later pardoned, joins them and Michael and Nadia are married.

8 1/2 x 6 x 1 5/8 inches---377 pages + 2 page map and 6 pages of Scribner titles (catalogue) in back

CONDITION:
This book is in very good condition with some restoration. All the original materials which show (and some which don’t) have been used to restore this book at great cost in time and labor. Authentic and archival materials have been used throughout--non acidic glues and pastes, nonacidic Japanese papers for reinforcing, etc. The book is complete and original with all pages and illustrations present.
This book was originally in fragile condition as in typical with all of Verne’s early American editions. Shaken” or weak binding, shot hinges and worn, torn joints. The textblock was rebound into the original cover using new cloth spine reinforcing. The original cloth spine was rebacked with cloth. The book’s corners have been stabilized.
The cloth is lightly soiled and darkened. The rebuilt corners and spine ends have been retouched with a matching color.
The original endpapers were retained and new paper hinges were used to reinforce them. The front endpaper has two penciled owner’s names and dates. The first date is Jan. 1, 1878.
All internal pages in this book are complete and intact. They are toned with age, but nearly all are in better than average condition with little foxing and no tearing or smudges. Pages 10 and 11 show acid toning from an old newspaper clipping that must have sat in the book for a long time. The two page map at the back shows a little more tanning than the rest of the book.
The book will come protected with a clear mylar jacket.

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