Dickens, Charles | illustrated by Robert Seymour, Robert William Buss, Hablot Knight Browne, and Thomas Onwhyn

[Extra Illustrated] The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club; with Forty-Three Illustrations by R. Seymour and Phiz

London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. Half Leather. Good binding. Item #10746

Octavo. xiv, [2], 609, [1] pp. Early issue of the volume edition. In later 19th century morocco spine and corners. 39 of the 43 illustrations are present as well as 26 of the 32 illustrations done by Thomas Onwhyn for E. Grattan. The binding is rubbed at the extremities; front joint is starting to separate but the board is holding fairly well; wear at the head of the spine; scattered foxing; early ink note on the front free endpaper incorrectly tallies the plate-count. Early owner name of Malcolm MacLaren / March 1898 on a preliminary blank, penciled underneath with a London address in perhaps a different hand.

An interesting extra-illustrated edition with a mixture of issue points and states of plates. This copy is lacking plates 22, 33, 35, and 37. Present are the earlier versions of plate 10 and 11 etched by Buss. Dickens didn't care for the plates and they were redone by Browne fairly early. In addition to the plates that were done for the edition, this copy includes nearly all of the plates engraved by Onwhyn and brought out by E. Grattan in a "pirated" edition. An interesting copy of one of Dickens's most popular books. Eckel writes: "It is quite probable that only Shakespeare's Works, the Bible and perhaps the English Prayer Book, exceed 'Pickwick Papers' in circulation" Eckel, p. 17. Smith I, 3; Hatton & Cleaver, p. 3-22; Yale/Gimbel H1120.

Price: $375.00