THE FLOATING ISLAND or The Pearl of the Pacific

First English edition, first printing. Publisher's green cloth over bevelled boards, illustrated in black, white and gilt. All edges gilt. Illustrated title page and 79 full page steel engravings. Tissue guard to the frontispiece. An excellent, better than very good copy, the binding firm with a little rubbing and bumping to the spine tips and corners. The contents with two previous owner's names (dated 1912 and August 1966) to the front endpaper, the latter owner's small bookplate to the upper left corner of the front pastedown, are otherwise clean throughout. The inner front hinge is slightly tender and cracked but holding.

A very attractive example of the first edition in English, translated by W. J. Gordon and published in October 1896, preceding the first American edition by just over a year. This is the "deluxe" issue binding with bevelled boards and extra gilt blocking, there was also a "standard" issue on lighter boards with only the titles in gilt. (Bleiler).