Une ville flottante et aventures de 3 russes et de 3 anglais

Banner edition of the first type, second edition after the shell binding. General title leaf bearing the date 1873. Catalogue no. 2 at the end.
Binding known as "À la bannière" or "Au ballon bicolore", royal blue on bordeaux. First plate with balloon. Back cover signed at bottom Lenègre in blind (Lenègre b type), with hexagonal medallion in blind. Gilt edges. Green endpapers. Fine first plate with bright colors and gilt. Spine fairly good, but small scratched areas, one black stain at foot (restoration). Traces of rubbing to edges, headcaps, joints and corners. Dark areas on back cover. Pale scattered foxing, often in margins, but overall rather fresh.
Quite handsome copy.
Novel dating from 1870 set aboard the Great Eastern, a gigantic airship carrying several thousand people on the Liverpool-New York route.