VERNE (Jules). The Invasion from the Sea. — The Lighthouse at the End of the World. Paris: Collection Hetzel, [1905]. — In-8, 273 x 176. Red cardboard binding featuring an elephant, title on the front flap, spine depicting a lighthouse (Engel). First combined and illustrated edition of these two novels, featuring illustrations by Benett in the first and by Rioux in the second. It includes twelve chromotypographic plates, six for each title. This is the only edition published by Hetzel. The novel *L’Invasion de la mer* is inspired by a real-life project emblematic of the French colonial spirit of the time. In the 1880s, Captain Roudaire proposed submerging part of the Sahara under the waters of the Mediterranean by digging a canal from the Gulf of Gabès in Tunisia to the chotts (permanent saltwater bodies with shifting shorelines, located in semi-arid regions). The project was abandoned, but Jules Verne gave it a fictional follow-up in this story. A copy in an “elephant-back” cardboard binding with the title on the spine, the only known copy of this title in this binding. It was presented as a prize by Deputy Georges Berger, with a gold-embossed inscription on the back cover. Spine faded; covers are in beautifully fresh condition. Small tear on the spine near the title.