CHARLES DICKENS FIRST EDITIONS AT
ASH RARE BOOKS
43 HURON ROAD
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London : Chapman & Hall, 1837. First edition in book form.
Demy 8vo. (xvi),(610)pp. Etched frontispiece, etched additional title, and forty-one etched plates by Robert Seymour and "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Brown). Bound, without half-title, in a smart recent half tan calf, gilt on broad bands, and with a gilt portrait of Dickens in the final compartment; top edge gilt; marbled endpapers; some marginal nicks, tears, and small repairs; one plate with two small holes repaired (not affecting image); some browning and spotting to plates, but the text generally clean; a good copy in an attractive binding.

£400

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1837. First edition, in book form, bound up from the original monthly parts published between April 1836 and November 1837. Etched frontispiece, etched additional title (the sought-after "Veller" variant), and forty-one etched plates by Robert Seymour and "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Brown) - but this copy with the complete additional series of "Thirty-Two Etchings by Mr. Samuel Weller", serially published by Edward Grattan from May 1837 onwards. These additional illustrations including a number of striking designs, well integrated with the text, are for the most part by Thomas Onwhyn (1814-1886). They were advertised in the later monthly parts of Pickwick itself (presumably with at least the tacit approval of Dickens and his publishers) and form an interesting counterpoint to the better-known Phiz plates, losing little if anything in comparison, and providing an unusual gloss on the contemporary reception of Dickens' first major success.
One volume, bound as two - the half-title, extra title, and directions to the binder being utilised to preface the second volume. Demy 8vo. (xvi),(610)pp. Seventy-five etched plates, etc. Bound in a smart recent half tan calf, banded and gilt; top edges gilt; red morocco labels; marbled sides; plates (although all noticeably sharp impressions throughout) to a greater or lesser extent spotted and browned, but mainly to outer edges; a few slight nicks and small flaws, but a handsome and unusual set.

£600

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London : E. Grattan, 1837. First edition. The series of thirty-two additional illustrations to The Pickwick Papers, ostensibly by "Sam Weller", but in fact produced by Thomas Onwhyn and others, and serially published in eight parts by Edward Grattan from May 1837 onwards. They were advertised in the later monthly parts of Pickwick itself (presumably with at least the tacit approval of Dickens and his publishers) and include a number of striking designs, well integrated with the text, and form an interesting counterpoint to the better-known Phiz plates, losing little if anything in comparison, and providing an unusual gloss on the contemporary reception of Dickens' first major success.
Demy 8vo. Thirty-two etched plates, with textual references, signed variously Sam Weller and T.O., and interleaved with tissue guards. Bound in a smart later (late nineteenth century) quarter roan, ruled, decorated and lettered in gilt; top edge gilt; very lightly rubbed; plates a little tanned, with a few marks and slight chips, but overall a very good copy of this scarce and interesting survival.

£200

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1839. First edition : bound from the original monthly parts published between April 1838 and October 1839. This copy with the early misprint "latter" for "letter" (p.160).
Demy 8vo. xvi,624pp. Portrait frontispiece after Daniel Maclise and thirty-nine etched plates by "Phiz" (Hablot Knight Browne). Bound up, complete with half-title, in a most attractive contemporary half chestnut calf, gilt on broad bands and tooled in blind in compartments; marbled sides, edges and endpapers; black label; sea-green ribbon; some very minor rubbing and wear, mainly to sides and edges; slight cracking of endpapers, but the construction firm and sound; occasional browning, spotting and offsetting, but overall a very good and rather cleaner than usual copy.

SOLD

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London : Household Words, 1851-1858. A bound collection of all eight of the special Extra Christmas issues of the Dickens magazine, Household Words. Dickens edited all eight and wrote fourteen of the pieces, stories, etc., himself, including "What Christmas is as We Grow Older", "The Poor Relation's Story", "The Schoolboy's Story", "Nobody's Story", "The Guest", "The Boots", "The Bill", "Going Into Society", etc. Four further pieces are by Wilkie Collins.
Demy 8vo. Eight issues bound together. 24; 36; 36; 36; 36; 36; 36; 36pp. Bound in a smart nineteenth-century half black roan, ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; sprinkled edges; just a hint of rubbing, a few edge spots, but a very good copy. With the contemporary ownership inscription and book-label of James Clifford.

£200

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London : Bradbury & Evans, 1854. First edition : in the primary binding of olive moiré cloth, priced at the foot of the spine. "Now, 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. viii,352pp. Original olive moiré cloth, ruled and blocked in blind on covers and spine, ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; spine a little darkened, with very minor wear at tips; a few slight external marks; endpapers with slight straining and separation at joints; a few slight marks, nicks and creases, but overall a very good copy of a relatively fragile production. With the contemporary armorial book-plate of Hodsock Priory, near Worksop, and the small blind-stamp of the unrecorded Worksop bookseller, W.White. Smith I.83-88.

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1859. First edition : the earlier state, with p.213 mis-numbered 113 and the signature 'b' at the foot of the list of plates. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom ...".
Demy 8vo. (x),254pp. Frontispiece, extra engraved title and fourteen plates by Hablot Knight Browne (1815-1882) - better known as "Phiz". Bound in a stylish recent half green morocco, banded and gilt in period style; drab endpapers; marbled edges; a few minor marks and spots; one plate very slightly frayed at outer margin, but otherwise a very good and cleaner than usual copy of an increasingly difficult title. No half-title called for. Smith 13 - but without the inserted catalogue found in some copies.

SOLD

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1863. First edition. A tale in seven chapters - the first and last by Dickens.
Royal 8vo. 48pp. Original blue wrappers, ruled and lettered in black; lightly worn and a little frayed; a touch dusty; text a little creased and tanned, but a good copy of a fragile production.

£40

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London : All the Year Round, 1864-1871. A bound collection of five of the extra Christmas numbers of Dickens' magazine, "All the Year Round" - comprising "Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy" (1864), "Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions" (1865), "Mugby Junction" (1866), "No Thoroughfare" (1867) and "Slaves of the Lamp" (1871). Dickens was responsible for writing the first and last chapters of the first, three chapters of the second and the first half of the third, while "No Thoroughfare" was entirely the result of a collaboration between Dickens and Wilkie Collins. The Christmas Numbers were discontinued after 1867, but revived by Charles Dickens Junior in 1871, with "Slaves of the Lamp" being the first of the new series.
Medium 8vo. Five issues bound together. 48; 48; 48; 48; 48pp. Bound in a smart nineteenth-century half black roan, ruled and lettered across spine in gilt; sprinkled edges; a little rubbed; upper joint just starting at extremities; a few spots, but otherwise a very good copy. With the contemporary ownership inscription and book-label of James Clifford.

£150

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1865. First edition, in book form, bound from the original monthly parts published between May 1864 and November 1865. Illustrated with forty plates by Marcus Stone (1840-1921).
Two volumes. Demy 8vo. (xii),320; (viii),(310)pp. Bound (without the half-titles, the rare explanatory slip, and the final advertisement leaf) in a handsome contemporary half green calf, banded and prettily gilt; red labels; marbled edges and endpapers; just a hint of rubbing; a few faint spots, but overall an exceptionally crisp and clean copy.

SOLD

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London : Chapman & Hall, 1866. First edition. A combined effort - four chapters on the fictional railway station and the Gentleman for Nowhere from Dickens, and four more from Andrew Halliday, Charles Collins, Hesba Stretton and Amelia B. Edwards.
Royal 8vo. 48pp. Original blue wrappers, ruled and lettered in black; lightly worn and a little frayed; a touch dusty; lower wrapper slightly torn, but a good copy of a fragile production.

£40

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London : W. H. Allen & Co., 1885. First edition : the second issue. The original 1882 issue was immediately suppressed on the grant of an injunction over copyright matters, with "only a very few copies getting into circulation" (Kitton). The present issue introduces the texts of Dickens's "Sketches of Young Gentlemen" (1838) and "Sketches of Young Couples" (1840) to replace the play "No Thoroughfare" (co-written with Dickens, but mainly the work of Wilkie Collins, who owned the copyright). As well as gathering together a great deal of previously uncollected, scattered and not otherwise obtainable material, the editor, Richard Herne Shepherd (1842-1895), also provides an extensive bibliography of Dickens's works - major, minor and secondary.
Two volumes. Demy 8vo. 406; vi,[2],420pp. Fly-title to "Sketches of Young Gentlemen" misbound at front of vol. ii. Bound in a handsome full (early twentieth century) crimson morocco, banded and gilt, by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, with their monogram on rear endpapers; top edges gilt; marbled endpapers; original cloth covers preserved at the rear of each volume; some very minor rubbing; hairline crack at head of upper joint of vol ii., but still a very good, clean, sound and handsome set.

£450

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London : Halton & Truscott Smith, 1927. First edition : limited to 525 numbered copies. Letters from Dickens to his great friend and Falstaffian fellow enthusiast for theatricals, Mark Lemon (1809-1870), playwright and editor of "Punch". Edited and introduced by Walter Dexter.
Crown 4to. (viii),(166),[ii]pp. Illustrations. Facsimiles. Original half vellum; top edge gilt; vellum a little darkened; some spotting of edges and endpapers, but overall a very good copy. With a neat 1945 ownership inscription.

£100

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