Master Humphrey's Clock by Charles Dickens. With illustrations by George Cattermole and Hablot Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1840-41.
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Master Humphrey's Clock is a collection of short stories and sketches written by Charles Dickens, published in 1840-41. The book is presented as a framing narrative, with the eponymous character Master Humphrey inviting friends to gather around his clock and share stories with each other. The collection includes a range of stories, from humorous sketches to poignant tales of human suffering and redemption. Some of the most famous stories from the collection include The Old Curiosity Shop, which tells the story of a young girl and her grandfather who fall on hard times and are pursued by a villainous loan shark, and Barnaby Rudge, a historical novel set against the backdrop of the Gordon Riots of 1780. The stories in Master Humphrey's Clock showcase Dickens' mastery of character and his ability to weave together multiple plotlines to create a rich and engaging narrative.
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Size: 177 x 261 mm (approx., each)
Condition:
[frontis, t.p., i-iv, 306pp.]; [frontis, t.p., v-vi, 306pp.]; [frontis, t.p., v-vi, 426pp.].
Bound in the original publisher's cloth bindings with a gilt clock to the front boards and gilt titles to the decorative spines. Bindings lightly rubbed and scuffed with some discolouration and few marks. All boards attached with minor wear to joints and hinges, some starting. Shelf and edge wear. Minor shelf lean. Very small parts of the backstrips lacking from the heads and bottoms of the spines. Corners lightly turned-in. Foxing to endpapers. Text block cracked in volume three between vi and pp.1, with the a gathering of pp.1-12 mostly detached. No attached bookplates or ownership inscriptions. Gilt on the spine of volume one somewhat dulled.
[Smith I.].
