VERNE (Jules). Five weeks in a balloon. Voyage of discovery in Africa by three Englishmen. Paris: Bibliothèque d'éducation et de récréation, J. Hetzel, [1866]. -Small in-8, 234x150: frontispiece, (2 ff.), 370 pp., (1 f.), 23 plates. Publisher's lilac percaline boards "aux bouquets de roses", second board decorated with cold motifs at center and corners, gilt edges. Extremely rare first illustrated edition and first single hardback of the very first illustrated volume of Les Voyages extraordinaires, which hit bookstores in early 1866. It is in small in-8 format. The illustrations include 51 compositions by Édouard Riou and Henri de Montaut, including a frontispiece and 23 hors-texts. Purple boards "aux bouquets de roses". The type 1 spine features a fully enclosed central oval, and the second plate is decorated with a cold decoration. There is a catalog leaf at the end. Cartonnage very skilfully restored and reassembled.