Under the auspices of the publishing house led by Pierre-Jules Hetzel, most of the beloved works of Jules Verne, classified by literary critics as works of anticipation, were published in serial form in the pages of the prestigious “Magasin d’éducation et de récréation”, founded in 1864, which, brought together in a volume, gave birth to the well-known author’s series, awarded by the French Academy, “Voyages extraordinaires”.

To the great satisfaction of a public passionate about the odysseys of Verne’s heroes, the collection grew by dozens of new titles, but also by numerous reprints, both during the author’s lifetime and posthumously.

The novels composed more or less during the first half of the writer’s literary career remain the spearheads of the series. These are dominated by protagonists whose names—such as Otto Lidenbrock, Pierre Aronnax and Nemo, or Phileas Fogg and Passepartout—continue to stir the emotions of readers today just as they did in the past.

Some of them can also be found in the exhibition organized by the National Library of Romania: “Cinq semaines en ballon”, “Voyage au centre de la Terre”, “Vingt mille lieues sous les mers”, “Aventures de trois Russes et de trois Anglais”, “Le Tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours” – its 1883 edition being the oldest of all the titles exhibited, and the so-called Hetzel editorial binding “with initials” of the volume being among the first used for Jules Verne editions – “Le Chancellor”, “La Maison à vapeur”, “Le Rayon vert”, “Nord contre sud”, “César Cascabel”, “Le Château des Carpathes”, to mention just a few of the works presented.

Intended primarily for young readers, Verne’s volumes enjoyed appreciation on a much wider scale, constituting editorial successes, published in considerable editions for that time. Only a loyal and numerous audience can justify the successive reprints – under the brand name “J. Hetzel et Cie” and, later, “Hachette” – of these charming adventures. “En très belle édition grand in-8° illustrée”, they also conquer collectors’ book lovers or, simply, shortly after their appearance, become a fashion, being purchased to be given as gifts on the occasion of the New Year, a fact evidenced by the handwritten dedications found on their bindings, bearing the date January 1^st…

The illustrated catalogue, created on the occasion of the 110^th anniversary of the passing of this French writer, one of the most valued figures of universal literature, comprises a selection of titles representative of his work in

Hetzel illustrated editions. It offers a detailed description of these copies, with original bindings, executed in the workshops of the prodigious houses Engel, Lènegre and Magnier, which are preserved in the Special Collections of the National Library of Romania.

Deluxe in-octavo editions with gilded edges and covers covered in red cloth, sumptuously decorated with golden motifs or ornamented by means of polychrome plates, endowed with an exceptional iconographic apparatus – frontispieces, vignettes, chromolithographed cartographic representations, black-and-white illustrations and chromotypes, belonging to such renowned illustrators and engravers – these volumes are among the cultural emblems of the period, sometimes even called “the century of Jules Verne”. Today, they are accorded significant bibliophilic value.

The critical apparatus of the catalogue includes an index of the illustrators and engravers of the presented editions, as well as another of the original Hetzel publishing book binding models.