Complete Works / Extraordinary Journeys / Five Weeks in a Balloon / Journey to the Center of the Earth / Adventures of Three Russians and Three Englishmen / The Black Indies by Jules Verne. Paris, Bibliothèque d'Éducation et de Récréation, J. Hetzel et Cie, sd (ca 1877). Large quadruple in-8°. Publisher's full burgundy percaline boards (only colour) "au miroir". On the back, the title is "Five weeks in a balloon / ETC." 2nd cover very similar to the 5th type "rose bouquets" boards. Charles Magnier Binder. Blue endpapers. Printed by Gauthier-Villars. A few pages out of order. Otherwise, a very nice copy well pinched without any restoration. Extremely rare in this condition! Hetzel's first attempt to produce the complete works of Jules Verne, the series of hardbacks "au miroir" was abandoned after six quadruple large in-8° volumes (+ a single double volume for the novelty of the year, Hector Servadac). These volumes group together titles without any apparent thematic will. Probably considered too massive and impractical for reading, these volumes were bound in very small numbers, which explains their remarkable rarity. Finally, let us underline that there is a quadruple hardback "à la tulipe", containing Voyages et aventures du capitaine Hatteras and Le Pays des Fourrures, and whose spine, identical to that of the "Miroir", bears the mention "Hatteras / Etc. This concomitance leads us to believe that in 1877-1878, Hetzel had put his three bookbinders in competition for the creation of a new serial binding, whether single, double or quadruple: Engel for the "Tulip", Magnier for the "Mirror" and Lenègre for the "Pomegranate"... None of the three attempts will seduce Hetzel for a long time, who will prefer them, as we know, the "two elephants" cartonnage. This analysis therefore places the "mirror" cartonnage on the top step of the podium of "treasures" of Vernon's bibliophily, where "Tulips" and "Pomegranates" have been flourishing for years!