The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club by Charles Dickens.
With Illustrations by R. Seymour and Phiz. London; Chapman and Hall; MDCCCXXXVII (1837), 8vo.
FIRST EDITION of Dickens' first published work in book form, with the uncorrected misprints of "S. Veller" on line 5 of pp.342 and the 'F' in 'OF' imperfect in the headline of pp.342. Also with the very scarce suppressed Buss plates to the verso of pp.69 and pp.74 which only appeared in the earliest printings of the first edition of this title (not after November 1836).
The first edition of the Pickwick Papers is very rare with the plates and text in such excellent clean condition, usually beset by significant foxing and oxidation because of the type of paper used. The binding is also particularly remarkable for being early and in such lovely condition. One of the nicest obtainable copies of this first edition.
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Condition:
[(2), frontis, t.p., t.p., (v)-xiv, 2pp, pp.(1)-609, (2)]
Near contemporary half black morocco, spine tooled in gilt in compartments between raised bands. Spine a little rubbed, but shows very attractively on the shelf. Externally very good to near fine, light shelf & edge wear, commensurate wear. Joints without fault, hinges a little cracked as often, with both boards securely attached, the binding secure, and without shelf lean. Without any attached bookplates, with the very faint pencil ownership inscription (illegible) to front blank verso, else without writing throughout. Internally significantly better than typically found, but with the plates still a little foxed and oxidised, the text block very good to near fine. Internally excellent, especially with comparable copies. Overall an excellent example.
