L'Invasion de la Mer. Le Phare du bout du monde

First and only octavo edition illustrated by L. Benett with numerous photographs.
Publisher's Hetzel binding "à l'éventail et à l'éléphant" in full red cloth signed Engel, polychrome front board signed Engel, back board type "i" as indicated by Jauzac, lighthouse spine, original blue endpapers, all edges gilt.
Original blue endpapers with marginal shading as usual, one fold and a micro-tear on the first endpaper, small black stains and discoloration on the back board, printed bibliophile's stamp at head of half-title page.
L'Invasion de la Mer is an adventure novel set in Tunisia evoking an authentic project, representative of the French colonial spirit. In the 1880s, François Élie Roudaire planned to flood part of the Sahara desert with Mediterranean waters, by digging a canal from the Gulf of Gabès to the chotts (via the chott el-Jérid). The project was eventually abandoned due to difficulties, but Jules Verne gave it a fictional sequel.
Le Phare du bout du monde has its action set in South America.