Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$939.71 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 12 mo. 2 volumes, pp. viii, 348; 342. 16 illustrations by George Cruikshank (8 in each volume). Second edition with the new preface dated 1 August 1836. Original green pebbled cloth, blind-embossing, gilt spine lettering, yellow coated endpapers. Thumbed, tanning to book block, occasional stains, all plates foxed and darkened, handwritten number label tipped to front pastedown of vol. 1; covers scuffed and worn, corners soft, spine ends started, faint numbers in black to head of spine. Overall, a good, tight set. Description sounds worse than actuality.
Seller: Karol Krysik Books ABAC/ILAB, IOBA, PBFA, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$1127.66 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: pp: vi [1]2-305; [iv][1]2-302; [i-iii]iv-viii [1-3]4-375. THE SECOND SERIES. Three volumes uniformly bound in half black leather over marbled boards, raised bands with gilt trim to spine, marbled endpapers, and pictorial title page. The twenty-seven plates include two not found in the first edition. These volumes each lack the half-title page. Dickens' first book had an immediate impact. His writing ".broke new ground.written in a new style.seemed to bring a refreshing breath of reality into the literary atmosphere." (Gissing, 'The Immortal Dickens', 1924). True first editions of this book are extremely scarce. Eckel comments on this and points out that ".so rare are first-class copies of the early issue of the original edition that a record price.was established for a set in parts.in 1908". (Eckel 'The First Editions of the Writings of Charles Dickens' 1913). The second series contains an extra story not found in the first issue. 'The Drunkards Death' is the final story in volume III. It was completed by Dickens while he was working on several other projects. A very good, or better, set with light shelf rubbing. The green ribbon markers are present all volumes but is detached and laid in volume 1. There is some soiling to the gilt top edges of all three volumes.
Seller: MAPLE RIDGE BOOKS, UXBRIDGE, ON, Canada
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: Edition : 1st Edition , Contemporary Half Morrocco with marbled boards, marbled end papers. Five raised bands in six compartments. Gilt titles on two and three, spine with gilt floral motifs. , Second Series was hastily released for Christmas sales with a large number of inconsistent variants. As a consequence of this variety, our example, though complete, is without the following three plates: ?Vauxhall Gardens by Day?, ?A Pickpocket in Custody?, and ?Mr. John Dounce? The Table of Contents also erroneously lists ?Vauxhall Gardens by Day? twice, and omits ?Mr. Minns and his Cousin? , Size : 8vo (128 x 195mm), Illustrated with frontispiece and 6 plates by George Cruikshank. , Ex. Libris: Abel E. Berland. , P. Half Title, Blank, Illustrated Title, Blank, Full Title, Printer?s Imprint, Preface (i-iii), Blank, Contents (vii-viii), 1-377 (25 mispag. as 52, 32 mispag. as 23, 62 mispag. as 46). Book is in very good condition, top edge gilt, occasional faint browning. Handsome copy in original crimson half morocco.
Seller: Alexandre Antique Prints, Maps & Books, Toronto, ON, Canada
Price: US$2098.84 + shipping
Description: FIRST EDITION. 2 vols. Fronts & plates with some light off-setting. Contemp. full calf, boards with single-ruled borders in gilt, embossed spines, dark brown morocco labels; neat repairs to spines. Armorial bookplate in vol. I of Sir Robert Johnson Eden, Bart.
Seller: Jarndyce, The 19th Century Booksellers, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$3498.06 + shipping
Description: First edition, first printing of Charles Dickens' first book. Three volumes. Finely and uniformly bound by Bayntun Riviere in full dark green morocco, gilt stamped portrait of Dickens to the upper board, the author's signature in facsimile stamped in gilt to the lower board. Five raised bands, gilt decorated compartments and titles in gilt to the spine. Gilt decorated board edges and inner dentelles. Marbled endpapers. All edges gilt. 'Sketches' is illustrated with 16 plates by George Cruikshank (complete), however plate 4 'London Recreations' called for opposite page 142 in volume I, has been misbound at page 142 in volume II. Tissue guards to the frontispiece of both volumes. 'Second Series' is illustrated with 20 plates by George Cruikshank (complete). Retaining the half-title, Publisher's adverts discarded. An attractive set, the bindings in fine condition and without fading. The first two volumes, with the cropped or faded ownership signature of Charles Tovey (1812-1888, merchant and writer of wines) at the head of the title pages. The contents of all three volumes, with some toning and spotting to the margins throughout, are otherwise clean and without loss or tears. The first edition of Charles Dickens first book was published in two volumes in February 1836, just a month before the publication of the first number in the parts issue of The Pickwick Papers. The sketches were praised for their "humour, wit, touches of pathos, and the 'startling fidelity' of their descriptions of London life" (ODNB). The 'Second Series' was published ten months later in December 1836. Both were subsequently re-issued in various formats (book form, collected and parts) to satisfy demand. (Smith: Dickens in Original Cloth, part one: 1;2) Further details and images for any of the items listed are available on request. Lucius Books welcomes direct contact with our customers.
Seller: LUCIUS BOOKS (ABA, ILAB, PBFA), York, United Kingdom
Price: US$3500.00 + shipping
Description: 3 vols. Illustrations by George Cruikshank. 12mo, old half morocco, gilt panelled spines, marbled sides; a.e.g. First edition of "Sketches;" second edition of The Second Series. A clean, tight and sound set, attractively bound.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$12500.00 + shipping
Description: . Sketches by "Boz". Illustrative of Every-Day Life, and Every-Day People. London: John Macrone, 1836. Full Description: DICKENS, Charles. CRUIKSHANK, George, [illustrator]. Sketches by "Boz,". Illustrative of Every-Day Life, and Every-Day People. In Two Volumes. Volume I [II]. London: John Macrone, 1836. First edition, first printing (i.e., by Whiting). Two twelvemo volumes ( 7 15/16 x 4 7/8 inches; 201 x 125 mm). viii, 348; [iv], 342 pp. With the date on the preface reading 'February, 1836' and with almost every internal flaw called for by Smith in both volumes except five in volume I (1 is not spaced apart in 100; "o" is not missing in "thought" on 107; "S" not missing on page 143, only some copies; 'r' not missing on pg 258; and plate has imprint on pg 329) and two in volume II 9pg 287 with hyphen; page 305, spacing is okay in some copies only). No half-titles called for. Some internal pages bear no pagination as called for by Smith. Sixteen inserted engraved plates by George Cruikshank, eight in each volume. These two volumes have the frontispieces bound in at their respective chapters (Vol I is bound facing page 47 and Vol II is bound facing page 24). The first printing of the first edition carries the imprint of Whiting, whereas the second and third printings carry those of Hazard and Vizetelly, respectively. Original dark green leaf-patterned cloth. Spines lettered and stamped in gilt. Yellow coated endpapers. Some very minor shelfwear to head and tail of spines. Bindings slightly skewed. Pages lightly toned. A few pages roughly opened, but never affecting text. Housed together in a half green morocco clamshell. A near fine copy of this rare first edition of Dickens' first book. "Those to whom the Sketches revealed a new writer saw in them many merits which to us are obscured: they broke entirely new ground, were written in a new style, and despite their frouzy topics, seemed to bring a refreshing breath of reality into the literary atmosphere. Nowadays, the best parts of the book seem to be those which are purely descriptive. Remembering how rare a thing is the ability to depict, really to depict, in words and especially to make interesting a description of the everyday, the commonplace, we gladly recognize in Boz's handwork the first proofs of Dickens' extraordinary power" (Gissing, The Immortal Dickens). Cohn 232. Gimbel A1. Smith, Dickens, I, 1. HBS 68995. $12,500.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$15900.29 + shipping
Description: Steel-engraved plates by George Cruikshank. First editions. Three volumes. 8vo. Original green mille-feuille cloth and original pink sand-grain cloth, housed together in a handsome early case. London, John Macrone. A very attractive set: tape stains to the endpapers of both volumes of the first part, with some foxing, particularly to the early leaves, joints slightly weak, a few splash marks to the bindings, upper fore edge corner bumped, but binding unworn and unsophisticated. The second part also has some very small tape stains to the endpapers and the binding has been skilfully recased, with repair the to head and tail and the upper hinge, although there is still a bit of a gap before the pictorial title page. The first part has the bold contemporary ownership inscription of ?F.N. Tyrwhitt-Drake Feb 1836? (the month of publication) on the title pages, with a pencil note below ?lent to Reeves?: the Tyrwhitt Drakes, based in Amersham, were one of the wealthiest families of the 18th and early nineteenth centuries, commissioning the beautiful Shardeloes House from architect Stiff Leadbetter, with decoration by the young Robert Adam. The second part has an inscription (still attractive though someone has attempted to deface the family name) on the front paste-down endpaper ?A trifling memento from Robert Fox to his brother Edward Christmas Day 1836.? The Second Series was rushed out for the Christmas trade, and there is a baffling combination of variants, none of which Smith concludes as ?having a consistent relationship? Given that this copy is unambiguously early (it has a gift inscription dated only eight days after publication), it has no list of illustrations (this indicates an early issue for Eckel), the plates have the erroneous imprint ?Volume III?, and the binding has no black panels on the spine.
Seller: Maggs Bros. Ltd ABA, ILAB, PBFA, BA, London, United Kingdom
Dickens, Charles. Sketches by Boz (two volume set). John Macrone, London, 1836.
Price: US$17500.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: First Editions, First Printings of this two volume set. A wonderful copy SIGNED by Charles Dickens on a handwritten letter by Dickens laid into the book. The books are bound in the publisher's original green cloth. The bindings are tight with NO cocking or leaning with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the books. A superb copy SIGNED by the author. We buy Dickens in the original parts.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Price: US$35000.00 + shipping
Description: First edition. viii, 348; [iv], 342 pp. with all 16 illustrated plates by Cruikshank. Two volumes bound in publisher's green leaf-patterned morocco cloth, spine lettered in gilt, pale yellow coated endpapers. Near Fine, unsophisticated copies with contemporary gift inscriptions on paste downs alongside armorial bookplates and tiny bookplates, discrete number stamps to copyright pages with withdrawal stamps from G.M.A. Library. Some foxing to contents, darkening to plates, and occasional corner creasing. Slight lean to first volume. Lovely grain of cloth with hardly any rubbing (truly superior in this respect) and gilt lettering still quite distinct despite the years. Housed in a custom slipcase. The famous Victorian novelist's very first book, largely comprised of humorous short pieces that had been printed in magazines the past three years. "A Visit to Newgate," "The Black Veil," and "The Great Winglebury Duel," are published here first. Rare in the original cloth in such excellent condition.
Seller: Burnside Rare Books, ABAA, Portland, OR, U.S.A.