LONG BEFORE MUCH OF HIS IMAGINATION BECAME REALITY, French novelist and poet Jules Verne took readers on wonderful journeys of fantasy - ventures to the Moon, long flights in manned balloons, a long voyage under the seas. And this story: a journey to the very center of the Earth - going down a volcano in Iceland and emerging from another one in Italy.
Ironically, the writings of Verne (1828 - 1905) are seen largely as
escapism for younger readers in most of the English-speaking world
whereas in his native France and elsewhere his work in avant-garde
surrealism is increasingly taken more seriously.
Whatever
it is - abridged translated books for children or works worthy of
scholarly analysis - Verne's stories remain immensely popular and have
had a major impact on science-fiction writing and the film industry. One wonders how Verne himself would have reacted to the routine voyages around the world by nuclear-powered submarines, or to Neil Armstrong's Giant Step for Mankind on the Moon.
THIS VOLUME IS ONE OF THE POPULAR SERIES OF CLASSIC BOOKS for young readers printed for Barnes & Noble by the Sterling Publishing Company. They are attractive leather-bounds that are likely to
be collected in sets not only for reading enjoyment but also for
a handsome display on the family bookshelves.
Several of them have been issued -
internationally favorite titles like The Wizard of Oz, The Little
Mermaid, Grimm's Fairy Tales, The Wind in The Willows, Aladdin and the
Arabian Nights, The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood, Alice in Wonderland, Heidi, Aesop's Fables, and the like. Young
readers are certain to enjoy them, but so will adults who value quality products - and who may be
tempted to dip into them for happy bedtime reading memories.
THIS BOOK HAS BEEN BOUND IN BONDED LEATHER AND IS BRAND NEW,
fresh from its plastic wrapping and never read. The cover background
color is
a deep orange with a design in gold and grey-blue. The
page ends are in gilt for an attractive appearance as well as
protection of the
paper. It has a ribbon sewn-in page-marker that can be used to teach
small readers
that bent page corners will spoil the book.
THIS HANDSOME COLLECTIBLE BOOK is illustrated with the wonderful art of Édouard Riou, the French painter and book illustrator who illustrated many of Verne's books. Each drawikng is a work of art (we show some examples above).
One of the attractions of this Barnes & Noble series is the
reproduction of illustrations like these that first delighted readers of an earlier generation.