Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$121.68 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Marbled paper lined boards; pp. viii, 526; complete with all plates; vignette/illustrated title page; advertisement p v. Title vignette and first plate ('The Parish Engine') foxed; second plate ('The Election for Beadle') trimmed and tipped onto replaced page; original leather overlaid with faux leather cloth. Text block sound but would benefit from a rebind. Please refer to pictures.
Seller: Rattlesnake Books, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$192.13 + shipping
Description: [Literature] FINELY BOUND, a new edition. Octavo (22 x 14cm), pp.viii; 526 [2]. With 39 engraved plates and a decorated title page by Cruikshank. Contemporary brown half calf, with gilt titles to a burgundy label and further gilt tooling to spine, and marbled paper over boards. All edges and endpapers marbled. A nice clean copy, with moderate toning and spotting to plates. A careful repair to a 4cm tear to plate facing p.82. A 1cm tear to fore-edge of plate facing p.120. Moderate general wear to binding. Very good. 'Sketches by Boz' is a collection of short writings by Charles Dickens. These pieces were originally published in newspapers and periodicals between 1833 and 1836.
Seller: Adrian Harrington Ltd, PBFA, ABA, ILAB, Royal Tunbridge Wells, KENT, United Kingdom
Price: US$192.13 + shipping
Description: New edition, complete. Rebound in bright red half calf over marbled boards. A handsome copy.
Seller: Surrey Hills Books, Cranleigh, United Kingdom
Dickens, Charles. SKETCHES BY BOZ. Chapman and Hall, London, 1839.
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Description: Octavo, 526 pages. In Good plus condition. Rebound in half brown leather with marbled paper boards and paneled spine with gilt text and tooling and red spine label. Boards have slight cocking to spine. Textblock has mild to moderate age toning and light age toning. Marbled textblock edges. Shelved Case 13. 1371089. Shelved Dupont Bookstore.
Seller: Second Story Books, ABAA, Rockville, MD, U.S.A.
Charles Dickens. Sketches by Boz. Chapman and Hall, London, 1839.
Price: US$448.30 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Sketches by Boz illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-Day people. WIth Forty Illustrations by George Cruikshank. New Edition, Complete. By Charles Dickens. Condition good, heavy age toning and discolouration internally. Discolouration on edges of illustrations but does not mar the illustrations themselves. Ex Libris Willaim Edkins. Two signatures in pen of previous (19th Century) owners. Marbled boards worn as are calfskin corners and spine.
Seller: UK Countryside Booksellers, Cromford, DERBY, United Kingdom
Price: US$480.32 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 526 pp, illustrated with 40 b/w plates first 1 volume edition heavy foxing in places and front board has worn badly name on f.e.p. 8vo.
Seller: Foster Books - Stephen Foster - ABA, ILAB, & PBFA, London, United Kingdom
Dickens, Charles. Sketches by Boz. Chapman and Hall, London, 1839.
Price: US$480.32 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: First complete, and one volume, edition. Seemingly first issue with error present on last page and "186, Strand" on title page. Frontis, engraved title and 38 plates as called for. A nice 19th c. leather binding, unsigned. Spine slightly rubbed with wear to cloth at ends but no loss. Wear to surface of the leather along the hinges. Boards rubbed with some marks and a few, very light, surface scrapes. Edges lightly worn at places and corners bumped with wear to leather and small loss at bottom front corner. Internally hinges intact. Heavy foxing to verso of front end paper and following blank which has been compounded by the foxing and darkening to the frontis and engraved title luckily not affecting the title page. Last blank and verso of rear end paper slightly foxed. Contents clean other than some minor offsetting from some plates to the opposite pages. Most of the plates, not all, are darkened around the edges as is common. Postage will be confirmed when you enquire or order and for light or very heavy books will vary from the ABE quote which is based on a 1kg parcel. N.B. Postage to the USA will often be quite a bit less than the quote on ABE.
Seller: The Book Business (P.B.F.A), London, United Kingdom
DICKENS Charles. Sketches by Boz Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day People. , 1839.
Price: US$484.17 + shipping
Description: First single volume edition. With Forty Illustrations by George Cruikshank. 8vo. viii, 526 pp. 19th century half green calf with green cloth boards, spine tooled, bordered, and lettered in gilt, edges marbled. London, Chapman and Hall. A good copy, corners and edges rubbed, all plates foxed, the first few particularly badly. Contemporary ownership inscription to front free endpaper. Front free endpaper and fly leaf stuck together. Podeschi, A7.
Seller: Maggs Bros. Ltd ABA, ILAB, PBFA, BA, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 22 x 14 cm. Octavo. 526pp. With 40 engraved plates by George Cruikshank. Half-title. This is the first issue of the octavo edition with strand on title page, plates after page 121 have publisher's imprint. Bound into full brown leather, gilt decorated spine, black spine label. Marble endpapers and foredges. Front hinge is rubbed and worn. Pen inscription dated 1861 on front blank free endpaper. Eckel p. 19.
Seller: Midway Book Store (ABAA), St. Paul, MN, U.S.A.
Price: US$512.35 + shipping
Description: FIRST COLLECTED EDITION. 8vo. 5.5 x 8.5 inches. viii + 526 pp. Lacking the half title, discarded by binder. Bound in contemporary half morocco; spine in compartments with raised bands, decorated gilt. Patterned endpapers. All edges gilt. The plates are clean with occasional foxing, mostly confined to extreme margins. otherwise a fine clean copy. Illustrated by [40] engraved plates, including engraved title and frontispiece. 'The following pages contain the earliest productions of their Author, written from time to time to meet the exigencies of a Newspaper or a Magazine. They were originally published in two series; the first in two volumes [1836-37], and the second in one [1837]. Several editions having been exhausted, both are now published together in one volume, uniform with the Pickwick Papers, and Nicholas Nickleby.' (Preface). The Sketches were the first published work by Charles Dickens. LITERATURE DICKENS LIT. FICTION ENGLISH 19TH CENTURY FIRST EDITION LITERATURE
Seller: Marrins Bookshop, Folkestone, KENT, United Kingdom
Price: US$650.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: First edition in book form. 1st state. 8vo, three-quarter crushed black morocco and marbled boards, gilt spine with raised bands. viii, 526 pp. t.e.g. ##### First Issue, with engraved half-title/frontispiece which is often missing. Other points: p.526 l.18 having the words 'reeledbefore' run together and all plates following p.120 with publisher's imprint at bottom. Publishers address reading '186, Strand'. A fresh, tight, textually clean copy. Cohn, 234; Eckel 15-22; Gimbel A7; Hatton & Cleaver, p.103; Jerrold, p.364. ##### Condition: Good. Condition: Covers Fair/Text Block Good. Covers: worn but intact, with heavy rubbing to corners, edges, and spine. [see photos]; Front gutter partially cracked but not separated. Text block is clean and tight overall but heavy toning and occasional light foxing to most of the plate margins and versos, not affecting the image or the facing text. Vintage bookplate on front pastedown as well as vintage description from a dealer catalog. Owners inked name, address and date [1857] on title page.
Seller: Burns' Bizarre, IOBA, Sacramento, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$676.30 + shipping
Description: Front. & engr. title with some spotting & off-setting, additional printed title, plates. Contemp. half maroon calf, spine attractively tooled in blind & gilt, black leather label; spine faded to tan. ]A nice clean copy of the first collected edition. 'The following pages contain the earliest productions of their Author, written from time to time to meet the exigencies of a Newspaper or a Magazine. They were originally published in two series; the first in two volumes, and the second in one. Several editions having been exhausted, both are now published together in one volume, uniform with "The Pickwick Papers" and "Nicholas Nickleby".' (Advertisement.)
Seller: Jarndyce, The 19th Century Booksellers, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Near Fine
Description: Frontis., illustrated title page, viii, (1), 526 pages. Bound by Bayntun of Bath in brown calf with gilt rules on boards, raised gilt bands, gilt decorated edges on interior of boards, marbled boards, edges trimmed and gilded. Interior and exterior clean, clear, bright. Slight wear to edges, corners. Hinges fragile, carefully reinforced. Very attractive, with original ribbons. $750.00
Seller: Benemann Books and Maps, Ferndale, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$750.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Octavo size, 534 pp. First one-volume edition, with 40 sketches by George Cruikshank. Originally published in two series/three volumes, "Chapman and Hall obtained the copyright of Sketches in 1837, they published all of them in twenty monthly parts from November 1837 through June 1839. Cruikshank designed a cover, enlarged the plates and created 13 new illustrations for these monthly parts. In May 1839, Chapman and Hall published these parts complete in one volume with all 40 of Cruikshank's illustrations" (Walter E. Smith, Charles Dickens in the Original Cloth), hence the "New Edition" referred to on the title page. Half title page has the "Vote for Spruggins" illustration, full page drawing before title page has crowd waving to two gentlemen in a balloon, indicative of first "one volume" edition published. ___DESCRIPTION: Half navy leather over marbled boards, marbled endpapers and edges. Five raised bands on leather spine, compartments 1, 3, 4, and 5 with gilt decorations, compartment 2 red leather label with title in gilt, compartment 6 gilt device of the head of a double-horned animal. Armorial bookplate on front pastedown of Francis George Dyne (1823-1882/4), the binding is likely custom for the family library as the horned animal at the tail of the spine is mirrored on the left above the field of the coat of arms. All 40 illustrations present, but are heavily toned, not affecting the text. Volume has been rebound by Bolton, Knightsbridge per stamp on rear pastedown. Pagination: (i)-viii include the frontispiece, pictorial title page, standard title page, advertisement, and Table of Contents; (1)-526. ___CONDITION: Overall near fine, with a strong, square text block, solid hinges, straight corners with no rubbing, and other than the bookplate referred to above it is entirely free of prior owner markings. Boards are lightly rubbed, there is some toning to the illustration pages, minimal scattered foxing, and one very small one-quarter inch tear to top of pg. 157. ___CITATION: Podeschi A7. First issue point present on page 526 of "reeledbefore" without space between, title page shows publisher's name and address of 186 Strand. ___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply; please contact seller for details. ___Swan's Fine Books is pleased to be a member of the ABAA, ILAB and IOBA and we stand behind every book we sell. Please contact us with any questions you may have, we are here to help.
Seller: Swan's Fine Books, ABAA, ILAB, IOBA, Walnut Creek, CA, U.S.A.
Price: US$850.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. New Edition, Complete. Octavo. 526 pp. 40 plates including frontispiece and engraved title page. Lacking half title. Bound in early 20th-century three quarter maroon morocco over cloth. Five raised bands; gilt lettering to spine; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers. Light edgewear to boards. Binding is sound. Plates browned and foxed. Pages show a few stray contemporary ink stains but overall unmarked. [Gimbel A7].
Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Price: US$960.65 + shipping
Description: First complete edition of Dickens's first book, revised by the author following issue in two series over 1836 and 1837, and expanded with a further 13 illustrations by Cruikshank. Sketches by Boz collected together the short fiction of the young Dickens, first printed in various periodicals from 1833 to 1836. The Sketches were originally published by John Macrone in book form in two series: the first in two volumes in 1836, and the second in one volume in 1837. Together, they comprise Dickens's first book. While the part issue of Dickens's second book The Pickwick Papers was still ongoing (and proving a major success), Dickens and Chapman and Hall purchased back the rights to the title from Macrone. Chapman and Hall announced the present edition of Sketches, to be issued initially in parts, in August 1837 in the 17th number of Pickwick. They published the first number in November 1837, the same month that Pickwick concluded its part issue. Chapman and Hall's aim was thus to move their newly enlarged Dickens audience, swelled by the success of Pickwick, from subscribing to the parts of one work straight to another. They stressed that both the price, and the one-volume format on completion, would equal Pickwick. The edition was issued in monthly parts from November 1837 to June 1839, with sheets issued in book form on completion; this is a copy bound from the parts, with stab-holes. The edition is important both for its additional illustrations and for its textual revisions. Cruikshank's original illustrations for Macrone's edition were re-engraved and here supplemented by the artist with a further 13 new illustrations. The text was substantially revised by Dickens for this edition, including most importantly the re-arranging of the Sketches into a four-section division, which was kept through all his further editions and through to modern editions. Though Dickens revised the text again for the 1850 Cheap Edition, the text of this 1839 edition has continued to be used, including in Dennis Walder's frequently-reprinted Penguin edition, first published in 1995. Eckel pp. 13-14; Cohn, Cruikshank, 234; Kremers, pp. 69-74. John Forster, Life of Charles Dickens, 1904. Octavo (211 x 132 mm). Late 19th-century red morocco, spine lettered in gilt, gilt ornaments in compartments, lettered at foot "Cruiskhank 1839" (indicative of the book's interest for the commissioner of the binding), covers panelled in gilt and blind, gilt turn-ins, marbled endpapers, gilt edges. Frontispiece, vignette title page, and 38 other plates, all by Cruikshank. Bookplate of 20th-century collector Vyvyan Edwards, whose collection, chiefly of private press books, was sold at Christie's in 1966. Bound without half-title. Very light rubbing at extremities, frontispiece neatly reinserted at head, some browning to plates, more substantially to frontispiece and vignette title page. A handsome copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$960.65 + shipping
Description: First complete edition of Dickens's first book, revised by the author following issue in two series over 1836 and 1837, and expanded with a further 13 illustrations by Cruikshank. This copy comes from the library of William Foyle and is in an attractive Samuel Tout binding. Sketches by Boz collected together the short fiction of the young Dickens, first printed in various periodicals from 1833 to 1836. The Sketches were originally published by John Macrone in book form in two series: the first in two volumes in 1836 and the second in one volume in 1837. Together, they comprise Dickens's first book. While the part issue of Dickens's second book, The Pickwick Papers, was still ongoing (and proving a major success), Dickens and Chapman and Hall purchased back the rights to the title from Macrone. The present edition was issued in monthly parts from November 1837 to June 1839, with sheets issued in book form on completion; this is a copy bound from the parts, with stab-holes. The edition is important both for its additional illustrations and for its textual revisions. Cruikshank's original illustrations for Macrone's edition were re-engraved and here supplemented by the artist with a further 13 new illustrations. The text was substantially revised by Dickens for this edition, including most importantly the re-arranging of the Sketches into a four-section division, which was kept through all his further editions and through to modern editions. Though Dickens revised the text again for the 1850 cheap edition, the text of this 1839 edition has continued to be used, including in Dennis Walder's frequently reprinted Penguin edition, first published in 1995. From 1868 to 1879, Samuel Tout (1841-1902) bound books in Soho, London. He then worked in Whitechapel with William Coward, continuing on his own after 1880. Tout was also an early member of the staff of Karslake's Hampstead Bindery, which opened in Charing Cross in 1898. Provenance: though unmarked as such, this copy comes from the collection of William Foyle (1883-1963), the co-founder of the eponymous chain of booksellers. Foyle's grandson acquired a substantial portion of the original collection at the landmark Foyle Library sale in 2000, including the present copy. Cohn, Cruikshank 234; Eckel, pp. 13-14; Kremers, pp. 69-74. John Forster, Life of Charles Dickens, 1904. Octavo (207 x 130 mm). Late 19th-century half-morocco by Tout, spine with raised bands forming six compartments lettered and ruled in gilt, marbled paper sides and endpapers, all edges gilt, green silk bookmarker. Frontispiece, vignette title page, and 38 other plates, all by Cruikshank. With 19th-century armorial bookplate of Daniel Drew (1850-1914) of Burnley on the front pastedown. Very light rubbing to extremities, faint sunning to spine, minor foxing to endpapers and contents, slight browning to plate margins, short tear to centre of 2M2: a very good copy.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Dickens, Charles. Sketches by Boz. London: Chapman & Hall, 1839.
Price: US$960.65 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: New Edition, complete, first 1-volume edition, first issue - advertisement leaf following title dated May 15, 1839, all plates before page 120 without the Chapman & Hall imprint, page 526 with 'reeled before'. 20th century binding of half red leather over marbled boards with gilt lettering, decoration and five raised bands to spine. Top page edge gilt, other page edges untrimmed. Marbled endpapers. Half title present. Illustrated by George Cruikshank, frontispiece, additional pictorial title, and 38 full page etched plates (all present). Page edges slightly browned, previous owner s bookplate to front endpaper, pale spotting to endpapers, binding slightly weak between front free endpaper and front blank, otherwise the book is in very good condition in slightly spine faded very good condition covers.
Seller: Jeremy's Books, Andover, HAMPS, United Kingdom
Price: US$1000.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Octavo. viii, 526p. ill. Bound in later 3/4 black moroccan leather. Marbled boards. AEG. Gilt lettering to spine. 5 raised bands. Good binding and cover. Wear to extremities. Sunning to spine. Clean, unmarked pages. Includes frontis, title page vignette, and 38 pl. by Cruikshank. Dampstaining to bottom edges of plates. First impression of the 1839 edition, with the publishers address, 186, Strand, added to title page. Cohn, 234; Eckel 15-22; Gimbel A7; Hatton & Cleaver, p.103; Jerrold, p.364
Seller: Sequitur Books, Boonsboro, MD, U.S.A.
Price: US$1150.00 + shipping
Description: "With forty illustrations by George Cruikshank," 8.25 x 5.25, finely bound in gilt-ruled golden crushed morocco; aeg, SIGNED BINDING BY BAYNTUN- RIVIERE, 526 pp, covers with just a hint of rubbing, hinges a little loose, pp toned, illustr darkened (as usual) else a lovely, finely bound copy of the "New Edition, Complete." FIRST ED THUS (with "186 Strand" on engraved title).
Seller: John K King Used & Rare Books, Detroit, MI, U.S.A.
Price: US$1250.00 + shipping
Description: First Edition, First Issue in One-Volume: with the engraved half-title/frontispiece, error on p. 526, "186, Strand" present on the title page, publisher information printed on all plates after p. 120, etc. [Eckel]. 5.25 x 8.5in. viii. 526pp. + 38 plates. Bound in later three quarters calf over marbled boards with gilt ruling. Spine with 4 raised bands and 5 compartments with gilt titling and decoration. Marbled edges. NEAR FINE. Shows extremely occasional thumbing of some margins, several plates with the slight hints of oxidative stress in the margins, otherwise Fine having been exceptionally well maintained. As pictured.
Seller: North Books: Used & Rare, St. Louis, MO, U.S.A.
Price: US$2475.00 + shipping
Description: First complete edition. First Combined Edition in book form. First Impression. With 40 illustrations by George Cruikshank. 8vo, early three-quarter crushed morocco and marbled boards, the spine handsomely and ornately decorated in gilt within panels between raised bands of the spine. viii, 526. A fine copy. This is the first book edition complete with the forty Cruikshank plates and the first one volume combined edition. This is also the first impression with the publishers address "186 Strand". Dickens took the pseudonym from a nickname he had given his younger brother Augustus, whom he called "Moses" after a character in Oliver Goldsmith's The Vicar of Wakefield. This, "being facetiously pronounced through the nose," became "Boses", which in turn was shortened to "Boz". The name remained coupled with "inimitable" until "Boz" eventually disappeared and Dickens became known as, simply, "The Inimitable". The popularity of Dickens's writings was enhanced by the regular inclusion of detailed illustrations to highlight key scenes and characters.
Seller: Buddenbrooks, Inc., Newburyport, MA, U.S.A.
Price: US$2497.68 + shipping
Description: A beautiful and very clean and bright set of first editions (one later) of works by renowned author Charles Dickens. In a tree calf Mansell binding. Five volumes. From the renowned English writer and social critic, Charles Dickens. This collection includes: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, first published 1839. First edition mixed state: issue points are as follows (those not included have been corrected): Page xiii Chapter XXXV, the last four letters not aligned in 'family'; page xiv, 'Chapter LXIII', comma after 'others' here; page xvi, entry nine, 'small-clothes' not hyphenated in the caption; page xvi, entry ten, 'mulberry' spelt with a single 'r' in the caption; page xvi, entry eleven, hyphen and apostrophe in 'hair-dresser's' here but not in caption; page thirteen, ten lines up, comma after 'what'; page one-hundred and sixty-five, line twenty-six, close spacing in line; page two-hundred and forty-five, line ten, 'flys' for 'flies'; page two-hundred and seventy, line fifteen, 'mercie'; page two-hundred and seventy-two, line two, 'visiters' instead of 'visitors'; page two-hundred and seventy-three, line one, hyphen in 'twenty-years'; page two-hundred and eighty-eight, line seven, no full stop after 'Ralph'; page two-hundred and ninety-seven, line twenty-two, 'incontestible', for 'incontestable'; page three-hundred and seventeen, line twenty-one, full stop after 'again'; page three-hundred and nineteen, line sixteen, capital T in 'Think'; page three-hundred and forty-two, line sixteen, 'conducter' for 'conductor'; page five-hundred and twelve, line three, capital H in 'How'; page five-hundred and eighty-six, line twenty-four, 'suprise' for 'surprise'; page six-hundred and eighteen line twenty-three and twenty-four, 'Grogswig' for 'Grogzwig'; page xv, frontispiece not listed; page xv, entry eleven, s is slightly high in 'friends'; page xv, the last entry, 'Kenwigs' here in 'Kengwig's' in the caption. Illustrated with a frontispiece and thirty-nine plates. Collated complete. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, first published 1844. Fist edition Second issue £100 to engraved title rather than 100£ on first issue; 14 line errata as in first. Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title page, and thirty-eight plates. Collated complete. Dombey and Son 1848. First Edition Early issue. The vignette title shows the hook on Captain Cuttle's left arm rather than his right; 'delight' rather than 'joy' to page 284 5 lines up from the bottom; no apostrophe in 'aint' on page 14 10 lines up from the bottom; and 'fidgetty' for 'fidgety' on page 26 on line 11. Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title page, and thirty-eight plates. Collated complete. Little Dorrit, 1857. First Edition Early issue. 'William' for 'Frederick on page 317 line 27; "Rigaud" mistakenly substituted for "Blandois" on pages 469-73. Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title page, and thirty-eight plates. Collated complete. Sketches by Boz, 1877. New edition, complete. Illustrated with a frontispiece, engraved title page, and thirty-eight plates. Collated complete. Illustrated by Phiz, or Hablot Knight Browne, an English artist and illustrator, and George Cruikshank, a British cartoonist and illustrator. Bound by Mansell. Bound in full tree calf. Externally, very smart with light shelf wear and minor rubbing to the extremities. Internally, firmly bound. Pages are very bright and clean with the odd handling mark. Bound by Mansell. Very Good Indeed
Seller: Rooke Books PBFA, Bath, United Kingdom
Price: US$9500.00 + shipping
Description: The First Complete Edition of 'Sketches by Boz' Extra-Illustrated by the Insertion of a Hand-Colored Duplicate Suite of the Plates In A Fine Bayntun (Rivière) Cosway-Style Binding [COSWAY-STYLE BINDING]. BAYNTUN-RIVIÈRE, binders. DICKENS, Charles. Sketches by Boz Illustrative of every-day life and every-day people. With forty illustrations by George Cruikshank. New Edition, Complete. London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. First book form edition of the first and second series complete in one volume with Chapman and Hall revised texts and re-engraved plates used in their Parts issue. Octavo (8 1/8 x 5 1/4 inches; 208 x 133 mm.). [iii-vii]viii, [1-3]4-526. Forty inserted steel engravings. Extra-illustrated by the insertion of a duplicate suite of the original engravings expertly hand-colored. Bound by Bayntun (Rivière) Bath ca. 1955 (stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in) in full wine red crushed levant morocco over beveled boards. Covers triple-ruled in gilt, front cover with an elaborate central gilt floral and thistle design surrounding a fine hand-painted portrait miniature (2 3/4 x 2 inches; 70 x 51 mm.) of a young Charles Dickens set under glass. Spine with five raised bands elaborately tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments. Decorative gilt board-edges, wide elaborate gilt turn-ins, marbled liners and endleaves, all edges gilt. Housed in the original felt-lined red cloth slipcase, spine with two black morocco labels lettered in gilt. A total of forty plates were drawn and etched by George Cruikshank for this octavo edition, of which twenty-seven are the original designs as they appeared in the First and Second Series of the Sketches published in volume form, 1836-37; these, however, were enlarged in size to match an additional thirteen etchings. "This collection of short pieces contains the earliest of Dickens's work. It is undoubtedly the most valuable from the antiquarian's point of view, containing references and descriptions of life in the 30's to be found nowhere else" (Hayward, The Dickens Encyclopedia, p. 141). "When Chapman and Hall obtained the copyright of Sketches in 1837, they published all of them in twenty monthly parts from November 1837 through June 1839. Cruikshank designed a cover, enlarged the plates (except 'The Free and Easy' which was discarded), and created 13 new illustrations for these monthly parts. In may 1839, Chapman and Hall published these parts complete in one volume with all 40 of Cruikshank's illustrations" (Smith, p. 16). Smith I: 2, note 4; Gimbel A7; Hatton and Cleaver, cf. pp. 91-128.
Seller: David Brass Rare Books, Inc., Calabasas, CA, U.S.A.