The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens.
With Forty-Three Illustrations by R. Seymour and Phiz. London; Chapman and Hall; MDCCCXXXVII (1837).
FIRST EDITION of Dickens' first published work in book form.
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Provenance:
Ex-library bookplate of Julius Franke.
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No copies of the first edition of the Pickwick Papers will have all of the first issue points as they were bound up from the original parts. A generally comprehensive list of the key first impression points is listed below.
This copy has [5] of the 7 Smith points.
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Edition Points:
The 7 'unequivocal' first issue points as defined by Walter E. Smith:
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pp.260 line 29 "hodling" for "holding" (Present)
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pp.276 figure "7" in page number slightly above other figures.
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pp.341 line 1 correct reading of "inde-licate"; line 5 correct reading of "inscription". (Present)
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pp.342 line 5: "S. Veller" uncorrected (Present)
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pp.400 line 21 "this friends" for "his friends" (Present)
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pp.432 headline "F" in "OF" imperfect (Present)
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"E" signature to pp.25 lacking
Other important early impression points include:
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2 suppressed Buss plates to versos of pp.69 & pp.74 (didn't appear after November 1836) (Present)
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'Veller' for 'Weller' on vignette title with 'Phiz fecit' rather than 'Phi fec't (both issued simultaneously, but Veller less common).
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6 line errata page to verso of directions to the binder (pp.xv-xvi) (Present)
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'E' signature to pp.25 and pp.27 (Present)
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Frontispiece chair with 4 stripes (Present)
Size: 138 x 217 mm (approx.)
Condition:
[(3), 1ff. (original cover), h.t., frontis, engraved title, t.p., v-xiv, 2pp. (xv-xvi), 1ff. (address), 609pp., (3)].
c.1900 red half calf over marbled paper backed boards with green tooled labels in compartments to the spine between raised bands. Binding lightly tubbed and scuffed. Shelf and edge wear. Both boards attached with rubbing along joints, front hinge cracked, rear hinge starting. Shelf and edge wear. Page edges toned. Top page edge gilt. Bookplate attached to front pastedown. Ink inscription to the head of the engraved title page. Text block very clean with light toning and occasional foxing. Plates somewhat oxidised. Some corners dog-eared. Lacking the plates facing pp.17, 358, & 579, however there is an uncalled for plate facing pp.369.
[Smith I., 3].
