Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas (Illustrated 1875 Edition): F. P. Walter Translation

Rien de particulier, c'est un livre !

I love the story and I wanted my daughter to read it. Turned out we didn't actually have a copy in the house so I decided to buy this edition.It is a beautiful hard-bound book, with what appears to be very good quality binding and paper. The original illustrations are reproduced very well and the font used is - apparently - one that was in common usage in the 1840s.As a book, it is well worth a place on any library shelf.The story of course is a classic adventure story and is considered by many to be one of the first ever science-fiction books. We might take the idea of submarines for granted today, but 170-odd years ago, it was utterly new and Jules Verne imagined an amazing vehicle, extrapolated from - at the time - cutting edge ideas (if that is not SF, I don't know what is).Buy it, read it, be carried away by the adventure...

SeaWolf has created probably the optimal paperback edition and an even better hardcover version of this absolute classic in literature; it is basically all you will ever need for this work unless Norton Critical does an edition. I tend to prefer the hardcovers here for their nicely blended borders on the cover, but either will suffice.The typeface, page quality, and cover are all top notch. I am absolutely in love with the art chosen for this edition! The illustrations are amazing quality, and this translation is wonderful. I have not really tested too many translations out, but I definitely enjoyed just about every single word of this novel. F.P. Walter actually published his original translation in 1993, and then revised it again in 2010, which is the lovely one we have here, so this has none of the terrible mistakes or translation errors of much earlier editions. It's faithful and beautiful.If you haven't read Verne before, the child-like wonder is off the charts for this one. 20,000 might be his best book. And that is saying something. You won't read too many works as fine and polished as Verne at his best. It combines science, technology, history, adventure, and great characters that make you think about the world they live in, which comes to life so vividly that few will ever forget a novel such as this. There is a reason books like this persist. A masterpiece. SeaWolf has done the original great justice here. Highly Recommended.

I was disappointed that the version of 20,000 Leagues included in Barnes & Noble's otherwise nice leatherbound Verne compilation was the blatantly mistranslated Lewis Mercier version, which unfortunately is the most common, and was looking for a nice version of the book with a better translation. Seawolf is publishing a newer translation by F.P. Walter instead, and the difference is immediately noticeable in that the book is significantly heftier in page count. It reads a lot more naturally, too.The book is extremely well put together. The cover and pages feel sturdy, the design is attractive, and it includes multiple illustrations scattered generously throughout. This feels like the definitive version of the novel in english.

Book arrived in lovely condition - well packaged. Not read it yet as bought 5 together but looking forward to it x