CHARLES DICKENS FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
LONDON SW17 8RE
UNITED KINGDOM

London : Chapman & Hall, 1840-1841. First edition, in book form, bound from the original parts, of both “The Old Curiosity Shop” and “Barnaby Rudge” – “Master Humphrey” was never reprinted, and even unsold copies were cannibalised (within weeks of issue) to make separate books of the two titles we know today. “I am conscious that my pen winces a little even while I write these words. But it was done, and wisely done; and ‘Master Humphrey’s Clock’, as originally constructed, became one of the lost books of the earth, – which, we all know, are far more precious than any that can be read for love or money” (Charles Dickens, in 1848). A specimen wrapper from both the weekly and monthly issue of the parts is preserved at the rear of each volume.
Three volumes, bound in two. Royal 8vo (252 x 164mm). [2],iv,306; vi,306; vi,426pp. Frontispieces and illustrations by George Cattermole, Hablot Knight Browne (“Phiz”), etc. Bound in an elegant mid-Victorian half tan polished calf, banded and gilt; marbled sides and edges; very faintly rubbed; a few very minor signs of age and use; rear hinge of the thicker volume with neat internal reinforcement; a very good, crisp and handsome set.

£750

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 40031 – or simply click on the button

London : for the Author, by Bradbury & Evans, 1846. First edition. With Dickens to Italy via Lyons and Avignon – Genoa, Parma, Modena, Bologna, Ferrara, Verona, Mantua, Milan, Rome via Pisa and Siena, Naples, Pompeii, and Florence. With charming illustrations by Samuel Palmer (1805-1881).
Foolscap 8vo (174 x 110mm). [viii],(270),[ii]pp. Illustrations. Bound, complete with half-title and advertisement leaves, in a very pleasant later (early twentieth-century) full tan polished calf by Morrell; banded and gilt; contrasting red and black labels; top edge gilt; inner gilt dentelles; a little spotting of prelims and edges, but otherwise a very good copy indeed. Modern bookplate of David M. Kirkby, the Chester bookbinder.

SOLD

London : Bradbury & Evans, 1848. First edition, in book form, bound from the original monthly parts published between October 1846 and April 1848. Dickens’ telling tale of father and son, father and daughter – when the fifth instalment appeared, Thackeray – himself in the middle of serialising “Vanity Fair” – exclaimed “There’s no writing against such power as this – no one has a chance! Read that chapter describing young Paul’s death: it is unsurpassed – it is stupendous”. This copy exhibits the dropped “if” on p.426 – a point of no proven significance, any more than all the other errors and minor variations said to indicate a mythical “first issue” – in particular the depiction of Captain Cuttle’s hook on the wrong arm in the title-page vignette. There are no copies depicting it on the correct arm. See the Not Peevish post of 20th December 2013, on the “Bookhunter on Safari” blog.
Demy 8vo (210 x 131mm). xvi,624pp. Etched frontispiece, extra-title and thirty-eight plates by “Phiz” (H. K. Browne). Bound up, without errata leaf or half-title, in a contemporary olive half calf, marbled sides, now neatly rebacked, retaining the original red label; endpapers replaced; some minor scuffing and wear; some browning and spotting to plates, mainly to margins, but overall a good and sound copy.

£250

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 40829 – or simply click on the button

London : Bradbury & Evans, 1854. First edition. “What I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts ...”. The book edition appeared a week before the completion of the serialisation in “Household Words”.
Crown 8vo (183 x 121mm). viii,352pp. Bound, complete with half-title, in an elegant late nineteenth-century half sealskin, banded and gilt; marbled sides, edges and endpapers; a few internal slight marks and spots, but overall a very good and attractive copy. With the attractive bookplate of A. Muriel Ritchie. Smith 11.

SOLD

London : Chapman & Hall, 1863. First edition. The recently widowed Mrs Lirriper looks after her assorted lodgers – a tale in seven chapters. Dickens wrote the opening and closing chapters, framing the five contributions from Elizabeth Gaskell (How the First-Floor Went to Crowley Castle), Andrew Halliday (How the Side-Room was Attended by a Doctor), Edmund Hodgson Yates (How the Second-Floor Kept a Dog), and Amelia Ann Blanford Edwards (How the Best Attic was Under a Cloud).
Royal 8vo (25cm). 48pp. Original blue stitched wrappers, ruled and lettered in black; slightly chipped at foot; small mark on upper wrapper; a few minor marks and creases, but overall a very good copy of a fragile survival.

£50

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 43677 – or simply click on the button

London : Chapman & Hall, 1865. First edition. “To be taken immediately” – a tale in eight chapters – the first, sixth and last by Dickens – “may take rank with his most delightful and felicitous masterpieces. The character of Doctor Marigold ... is a creation as complete and as perfectly inimitable in its way as any one among the most famous of the other creations of our novelist” (The London Sun, 6th December 1865). The additional chapters were provided by Rosa Mulholland, Charles Allson Collins, Hesba Stretton, George Walter Thornbury, and Mrs Gascoyne.
Royal 8vo (25cm). 48pp. With the advertising slip for the just-published “Our Mutual Friend”. Original blue wrappers, ruled and lettered in black; lightly worn and a little creased; the rear wrapper a little chipped and missing a corner; corners creased internally, but a good and bright copy of a fragile production.

£50

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 43678 – or simply click on the button

London : W. H. Allen & Co., 1887. First edition. An interesting study and possible solution to 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood', supplied by the prolific writer on astronomy, mathematics, etc.
Crown 8vo (19cm). viii,166,[ii] + (48)pp advertisements dated December 1887. Extra engraved title-page. Original decorative cloth gilt; spine slightly tanned; slight wear to tips; endpapers cracking; a little shaken and slack, but a clean and serviceable copy. With the ex-libris label of the well known doctor-cum-actor, Eric John Llewellyn Jones-Evans (1898-1989), and the earlier dated February 1888 ownership inscription of A. M. Heathcote of Winchester – Arthur Malcolm Heathcote (1847-1934), publisher, author of verse plays for children, reciter, entertainer, etc. Loosely inserted is a stamped and receipted 1935 invoice from the booksellers H. M. Gilbert & Son of Southampton to Dr. Jones-Evans.

£50

To purchase, call us or e-mail us at books@ashrare.com quoting stock number 39498 – or simply click on the button