Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$1500.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Hard Cover. Good. 12mo - over 6_" - 7_" tall. 3 vols. only. The first American edition of Pickwick, and the first edition in book form. Title-page to Vol. I is first issue, dated 1836, without the line, 'Part First', which was added in later impressions. Title-page to Vol. II is first issue, dated 1837, with a line break mid-word instead of after 'Sporting' as in later issues, to be uniform with the other volumes. Vol. III is first issue dated 1837, with the publishers statement on the new editions of Vol. I and vol. II being 'now ready'. Original quarter calico textured reddish cloth over original brown boards, with white paper spine labels and white endpapers. The first of Dickens' novels to be published in America, this edition of Pickwick was published between November 1836 and December 1837 in five twelvemo volumes, and preceeds the first English edition in book form. Each volume reprints four of the original monthly parts, without illustrations. Even though only three of the five volumes are here present, they are all first issue. Boards and cloth are well worn, spine labels much worn. A bit of foxing throughout. Advertisement page of Vol. I has been apparently tipped back in with rice paper. [Loc.Rare]
Seller: ReREAD Books & Bindery, Little Rock, AR, U.S.A.
Price: US$3206.90 + shipping
Description: First US editions, first states. Parts 1 to 4 (appearing between 5 November 1836 and 20 September 1837) precede the first book edition in London, which was published by Chapman and Hall on 17 November 1837. The fifth part of the American edition appeared on 29 December. Part I is particularly scarce in first state, being issued in only 1,500 copies as the author was entirely unknown, and reissued as sales increased of the later parts. The edition was a piracy, part of a number of publications by American firms of British authors, taking advantage of the lack of international copyright agreements. Henry Charles Carey did offer the author £25 for the parts of Pickwick which they had already printed in June 1837, but Dickens declined on principle, instead only requesting a copy of the edition. Smith First American Editions 2; Gimbel A19. 5 volumes, duodecimo. Uncut in the original pink quarter cloth and boards, printed paper labels. Housed in custom red folding chemises within red cloth solander box. Incomplete: part III lacking pp. 105-108, part IV lacking pp. 201-204. Early pencil and ink ownership inscription to front endpapers, bookseller's label to part I. Hinges weak or cracked, boards slightly discoloured, spines faded and slightly chipped at head and foot, labels slightly rubbed and chipped with some loss of text, contents foxed, part II with flaw at fore-edge p. 101 and pp. 139-146 loose. A somewhat defective, but entirely unsophisticated copy, in the rare original boards which are overall in a very good state of preservation.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Price: US$5680.53 + shipping
Description: Five volumes, small octavo; original quarter pink cloth and plain boards, printed spine labels; preserved in separate folders contained together in a quarter morocco bookform slipcase. Pickwick in its earliest book form: Dickens' first great work, completed when he was just 24. This very scarce first American edition predated the English book edition, at a time before any international forms of copyright, a practice that was to cause its author great annoyance. The first four volumes of this Philadelphia edition were published between November 1836 and September 1837. The one-volume book edition in England was not issued until November 1837, with the fifth volume of this American edition appearing in December. Only about 1500 copies of the first volume were issued, but as Dickens' popularity grew, later volumes appeared in greater quantities and volumes 1 and 2 were re-issued. In this set, once in the famous Suzannet collection of Dickens, volume 1 is in its rare first state, while volume 2 is in its second issue form. With this set is the letter from the Rosenbach Company offering it to Count de Suzannet, the Dickens collector, for the very substantial 1932 price of $585 (citing the $600 made by a copy at Jerome Kern's 1929 sale). For the relationship between Rosenbach and Suzannet, see Frank A. GIbson, "A Great Bookseller", in The Dickensian Vol.57,Issue334(1 May 1961). Detailed summary: first issue of volume one (no mention of 'part first' on title or spine label, verso of title with note "Dickinson & Ward, Printers", 2pp. advertisements at front listing only "Watkins Tottle" and two sections of 8pp. and 4pp. at end with advertisement for two further works by Boz on verso of final leaf of text p.[220]), second issue of volume two with 'part second' on title and spine label and 'sporting' on sixth line only, volumes 3-5 each with advertisements (3: 4 pp. at front and 4 pp. at end, 4: 4 pp. at front, 5: 4 pp. at front and 14 pp. at end). . Provenance: Rosenbach Company, New York; sold in 1932 to Count Alain de Suzannet, Lausanne (his bookplates and original Rosenbach offer letter); Sotheby's, 22 November 1971, lot 26; Frank Fletcher (decorative bookplate); Sotheby's, 11 July 2002, lot 183; private collection (Sydney). Some spotting or staining; joints to vols 2, 3 and 5 neatly repaired and strengthened at top and tail; new endpapers to vol. 5; boards a bit worn and spine labels rubbed with some loss of lettering.
Seller: Hordern House Rare Books, Surry Hills, NSW, Australia
Price: US$6500.00 + shipping
Description: Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Blanchard, 1836-37. First edition (Precedes the first English edition in book form and precedes the New York edition in parts by 2 years). Volume I, 1st issue with no 'Part First' on title or spine label. Volume II, 2nd issue with 'sporting' on one line on title-page. All other volumes 1st issue. Five twelvemo volumes (7 7/16 x 4 5/16 inches; 188 x 111 mm). [2, blank], [5-6, publisher's ads], vii-xii, [13]-219, [1, publisher's ads], [4, publisher's catalog]; iv, [5]-228; [4, publisher's ads], iv, [5]-232, [4, publisher's ads], [2, blank]; [2, blank], [4, publisher's ads], iv, [5]-223, [3, blank]; [2, blank], [4, publisher's ads], viii, [5]-205, [1, blank], [3, publisher's ads], [11, table of contents for v. I and v. II.], [2, blank] pp. Volume I with the final 4-page advertisements entitled "new novels", not the 12 page publisher ads. Regarding this Smith notes, "Some copies of Part First may have only four pages of numbered advertisements bound in at the end headed "New Novels, &C." Original quarter pink cloth over brown drab boards. Printed paper spine labels. Boards with wear and spines sunned. Labels are rubbed and occasionally chipped, but are mostly still legible. Leaves foxed and toned, as usual for American sheets. Volume I with previous owner's old ink signature on front free endpaper. Some mild marginal damp staining to Volume I, only touching text in the back advertisements. Volume III with pages 129-132 sprung. Volume IV slightly skewed. Occasion signatures printed on darker brownish-pink paper, including Volume II, signatures 1-7 and 9, and Volume IV, signatures 11 and 13. All volumes housed in a red cloth clamshell with printed paper label. Overall a very good set. "This rare american edition preceded the English book edition by several months. The volumes were issued between November 1836 and December 1837. After the initial publication of volume I the volumes were issued simultaneously with the parts in England. Only about 1500 copies of the first volume were issued and this is now hard to find in the first issue state. As Dickens' popularity grew, so the print run for subsequent parts increased and volumes I and II were reissued." (Sotheby's). Smith, 2. HBS 68503. $6,500.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.