Charles Dickens, Signed (278 results)

First edition, first printing of Dickens' rarest novel. Octavo, three volumes bound in full royal blue crushed levant morocco by Bayntun Bindery with gilt titles and tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and wide gilt inner dentelles stamp-signed by Bayntun, all edges gilt. This copy agrees in all points with Margaret Caldwell's analysis of the differing impressions in the Clarendon edition of GreatÂExpectations. The third volume contains the numeral "3" in the pagination on p. 103, and the initial "i" in "inflexible" on p. 193, both errors that appear in the first impression. In near fine condition. An exceptional example in a very attractive binding. Dickens' penultimate novel, Great Expectations, was written in "the afternoon of [his] life and fame" (G.K. Chesterton). The novel contains some of Dickens' most memorable scenes, including its opening, set in a graveyard, when the young orphan Pip is accosted by escaped convict Abel Magwitch. Upon its release, the novel received near universal acclaim. Although Dickens' contemporary Thomas Carlyle referred to it disparagingly as "that Pip nonsense," he nevertheless reacted to each fresh instalment with "roars of laughter." Later, George Bernard Shaw praised the novel, as "all of one piece and consistently truthful." During the serial publication, Dickens was pleased with public response to Great Expectations and its sales; when the plot first formed in his mind, he called it "a very fine, new and grotesque idea.".

Signed "Charles Dickens (with a large flourish) Washington, D.C. Seventh February 1868." Large oval portrait photograph measures 13 inches by 13 inches. Matted in a walnut frame which measures 24Âinches by 27 inches. ÂOn his Washington tour Dickens met President Andrew Johnson and signed this photograph on the date of that meeting, February 7, which also happened to be Dickens' birthday. HeÂdiscussed in a letter to his friend and agent John Foster regarding that day, "This scrambling scribblement is resumed this morning, because I have just seen the President: who had sent to me very courteously asking me to make my own appointment. He is a man with a remarkable face." From the Library of The Cosmos Club in Washington, D.C. Portrait photographs of this size signed by Dickens are exceptionally rare, especially with such noted provenance. Charles Dickens was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius.

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 'Believe me, my Lord, that I am deeply sensible of this high token, and that I shall ever regard the title with a pride and pleasure much too deep for words.' A letter in which a young Charles Dickens writes from the Royal Hotel, Edinburgh, expressing his gratitude to the Lord Provost of Edinburgh (Sir James Forrest) for the distinguished honour of granting the young novelist the freedom of the city in June 1841. Claire Tomalin writes 'He left an unseasonably cold London to travel north with Catherine, to a warm and enthusiastic welcome. Crowds gathered round their hotel, and over 250 gentlemen attended the public dinner in his honour' ( Charles Dickens, A Life - Viking 2011) 1 page, 7 x 4.5 inches, in excellent, near fine condition, with a main crease through the centre and the remains of a small area of guard to the reverse where it was formerly mounted in a Victorian album. A unique letter displayed in a removable leather frame which is itself housed in a custom full morocco solander box. The box is complete with gilt lettering and a gilt Scottish thistle motif. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing. This book has the First issue point with the 'Fireside' plate and the author credited as 'Boz' to the title page. This copy is SIGNED by Charles Dickens on a laid in envelope. An attractive copy with light wear to the spine and edges. The bindings in all three books are tight, bound in the ORIGINAL publisher's cloth. The pages are clean with light discoloration. There is NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy of this (3) Volume First Edition SIGNED by the author. We buy Charles Dickens First Editions. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First Edition, First Printing. This is the TRUE FIRST EDITION with the First issue point with page 213 miss-paginated. The publisher's catalog is present and dated November 1859. This copy is SIGNED by Charles Dickens on a laid in check dated 1859, the same year this book was published. A wonderful UNRESTORED copy bound in the ORIGINAL publisher's Red Cloth. The binding is tight with light wear to the boards. The pages are clean with minor discoloration to the endpapers. There is NO writing, marks or bookplates in the book. Overall, a lovely copy of this First Edition SIGNED by the author. We buy Charles Dickens First Editions. Signed by Author(s).

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Editions, First Printings in the ORIGINAL MONTHLY PARTS SIGNED by Charles Dickens on a laid in check. A superb set in the publisher's green pictorial wrappers with minor wear to the spines and edges. These ORIGINAL wrappers include 27 additional plates with the rare suppressed plates by R. W. Buss in part 3. A total of 70 plates present, with the 27 additions showing different versions of the original 43, some plates being variants not mentioned in Hatton and Cleaver. "These three artists (Seymour, Buss, "Phiz") etched, in all, 92 plates for the completed work; of which 43 are the "Originals" as they appeared in the first issue of the monthly parts, 4 are "Replacements," 2 are "Substitutes," and 24 are "Duplicates" of the originals: total 73. The remaining 19 are not dealt with in this bibliography" (Hatton and Cleaver pp 17). Fourteen of the front wrappers and twelve of the back wrappers are first issue (the wrappers, like the plates, can be found in a number of variants). The text has issue points in twelve of the nineteen books, in this set two of the parts show first issue text and ten show later issue text. The Pickwick advertiser is present and complete in eleven of the sixteen parts which call for it. The set also retains five of the seven "addresses" that were issued in the course of publication. Back ads present are Parts IX, one ad;, part X, one ad; Part XIII, two ads; Part XIV, one ad; Part XV, seven ads; Part XVII, three ads; Part XVIII, four ads; and Part XIX-XX, four ads. This shows twenty-three of the thirty-four ads called for in Hatton and Cleaver. Not complete as for the advertisements, but still with many more ads here than most copies in recent years. An overall excellent set documenting the progression and development of the illustrated plates and their variations housed in a custom clamshell slipcase for preservation SIGNED by the author. Signed by Author(s).

Half title, plates. With the original green variant cloth casing, bound into full green crushed morocco by Rivière & Son, spine gilt in compartments, triple-ruled borders & dentelles in gilt; spine very sl. faded. A very handsome copy. In cloth slipcase. A beautiful copy of the first one-volume edition, EXTRA ILLUSTRATED with George Cruikshank's original watercolour design of Fagin in the Condemned Cell. This constitutes one of Cruikshank's finest and most recognisable Dickens illustration, portraying the wretched Fagin seated in his cell at Newgate, anxiously awaiting the day of his execution, and contemplating his demise. Bound in opposite the plate at p.304, the watercolour is signed by Cruikshank, and also adorned, in the lower margin, with a small self-portrait in pencil, and three further unidentified sketched portraits.

A fine portrait boldly signed by Dickens at the foot; Edward Goodwyn Lewis's portrait of 1869 was the last major portrait of Dickens, executed a year before his death. The existence of similar examples indicates Dickens signed a small number for presentation. Lewis (1827-1891) was known for his portraits of prominent Victorians, as well as Biblical and Shakespearean subjects, with works in many collections including the British Museum,the National Portrait Gallery and the Folger Shakespeare Library. The original artwork for this portrait is now in Princeton. Hand-finished lithograph, 25.5 x 34 cm, in original mount 58 x 45.5 cm. Overmounted and presented in late 20th-century gilt frame with conservation acrylic glazing. A few spots to front of original mount, lithograph taped into original mount on verso. In good condition.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Editions, First Printings of this two volume set. A wonderful copy SIGNED by Charles Dickens on a handwritten letter by Dickens laid into the book. The books are bound in the publisher's original green cloth. The bindings are tight with NO cocking or leaning with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with NO writing, marks or bookplates in the books. A superb copy SIGNED by the author. We buy Dickens in the original parts. Signed by Author(s).

62 : 102 mm. Nice Carte de visite of Dickens, his head turned to his left. Photograph by John & Charles Watkins, London. Signed and dated by Dickens Charles Dickens | To Dr. Muspratt / January 1865". Signed photographs of Dickens are of the utmost rarity. - Together with a signed carte de visite of the recipient, Dr Muspratt. A remarkable pair of signed photographs. Very rare. Dr James Sheridan Muspratt (1821-1871), Irish born research chemist, lived in Liverpool where his father had an industrial chemical company. He organised a visit to Liverpool by Dickens's amateur theatre company in 1847.

4 x 5 inches laid down to 4 1/4 by 6 1/2 inch printed board. Rare 4.25 x 6.5 cabinet photo of Charles Dickens in a regal full-length pose, published by J. Gurney & Son in 1867, boldly signed on the reverse in blue ink, "Charles Dickens, First May 1868." Reverse is imprinted: "Carte Impériale by J. Gurney & Son, 707 Broadway, N.Y." In very good to fine condition, with scattered light foxing and soiling to the signed side, and mottling to the image itself. After an initial 1842 visit to the USA, Dickens returned in December 1867 for a second tour. Shuttling between Boston and New York, he conducted over 70 readings of his works and netted approximately £19,000 in royalties.

A superb memento of Dickens's theatrical high-water mark, his bravura performance as the "craven and boastful" Captain Bobadil in his own "strictly private" production of Ben Jonson's comedy Every Man in his Humour. The invitation card - in effect a ticket to the performance - carries his characteristic flourished signature on the verso and a holograph entry in his hand, requesting the pleasure of Miss Holskamp's company at the first night, seating her in number 44 in the "Boxes, Second Circle". The success of Dickens's performance is attested by a portrait of him in the role, painted by C. R. Leslie in 1846 and lithographed by Thomas Maguire. The playbill is annotated to give a virtually complete cast list and in this regard may well be unique. "Stimulated after giving a reading of The Chimes to a small audience of friends [at Christmas 1844], [Dickens] resolved to organize some amateur theatricals of his own. Returning from a spell of residence in Italy, 'he flung himself with the passionate fullness of his nature into' gathering a cast and choosing a play. On 20 September 1845, Ben Jonson's Every Man in his Humour was played to a private audience at Miss Kelly's Theatre, 'with a success that out-ran the wildest expectation', as Forster recalled, 'and turned our little enterprise into one of the small sensations of the day'" (V&A Dickens centenary catalogue 1970). The attendee, a Miss Holskamp, was one of four sisters, all born in the Somers Town area of London, near St Pancras. The most likely to have been invited to this performance would be Margaret Holskamp (1827 1908), cited as a correspondent of Kate Dickens by Lillian Nayder in her biography of Dickens's wife: "In May [1846], Catherine's description of their trip [to Italy] was more definitive, particularly in regard to its southern boundary, a line that she herself drew [the Dickenses disagreed about the ultimate destination of their year abroad]. 'We are on the move again,' she wrote Margaret Holskamp, who knew the de la Rues and had discouraged the advances of Augusta [de la Rue]'s brother William" (The Other Dickens: A Life of Catherine Hogarth, 2011, p. 139). The friendship with the de la Rues is a minor but intriguing episode in Dickens's life: "In Genoa [in 1845] and elsewhere he became intensely involved in using, either directly or long-distance, the power of mesmeric healing he discovered in himself to alleviate the condition of Mme de la Rue, an Englishwoman who suffered great distress from hallucinations. This strange intimacy with Mme de la Rue caused Catherine considerable uneasiness, not surprisingly. Dickens's response was righteous indignation (eight years later, when he again met the de la Rues abroad, he wrote home to Catherine admonishing her that he thought it would become her now to write Mme de la Rue a friendly letter, which she obediently did). The Dickens family were back in London in July 1845 and Dickens energetically set about organizing a production of Jonson's Every Man in his Humour to be given by a band of his literary and artistic friends, the Amateur Players. This took place on 21 September [sic] in a private theatre in Dean Street, Dickens's own virtuoso performance as Captain Bobadil winning many plaudits" (ODNB). The playbill is annotated in another hand, listing all performers (bar two minor parts), and this is important as it sheds light on the roles taken by Dickens's siblings and friends: Henry Mayhew as Knowell, Fred Dickens as Edward Knowell, Mark Lemon as Brainworm, Dudley Costello as George Downright, T. J. Thompson as Wellbred, Forster as Kitely, Dickens as Bobadil, Douglas Jerrold as Master Stephen, "Leach" (John Leech) as Master Mathew, Augustus Dickens as Thomas Cash, Percival Leigh as Oliver Cob, Marcus Stone as Justice Clement, Frederick Evans as Roger Formal, "Charles" as William, "Jerrold Jun[io]r" (Blanchard Jerrold) as James, Miss Fortescue as Dame Kitely. "It is important to note that the rest of the cast - Mark Lemon, John Leech, Henry Mayhew, Douglas Jerrold, Gilbert a'Beckett [who appears not to have performed on this first night but is named on the ticket] - came from a specific group, a little band of journalists known as the 'Punch brotherhood' to themselves and as 'those Punch people' to outsiders" (Peter Ackroyd, Dickens, 1990, p. 470). It was an extraordinarily lavish evening at Miss Kelly's Theatre: Jonson's comedy was to be preceded by the overture to Rossini's William Tell and followed by silver-fork novelist Catherine Gore's one-act farce, A Good Night's Rest; or, Two O'Clock in the Morning (a two-hander, the characters being "Mr. Snobbington" and "The Stranger"), which itself was to be preceded by the overture to another Rossini opera, La Gazza Ladra - better known as The Thieving Magpie. Dickens had recently returned from Italy and in Pictures from Italy (published in May 1846) notes several visits to the Carlo Felice theatre in Genoa, where a "second-rate opera company" was performing. It is interesting to speculate that this may have given him the idea of punctuating the theatrical proceedings with Rossini's irresistible music. Both ticket and playbill are from the collection of celebrated bibliophile William E. Self, who formed a fine Dickens library; he recorded that the names of the players was "filled in by Mrs. Charles Dickens" (the items once appearing in the market with a copy of the note, since lost). The fact that Catherine Dickens contributed to the production in some small measure is attested by Lillian Nayder: "Catherine had seen the first performance, at Frances ('Fanny') Kelly's Royalty Theatre, in September, writing many of the invitations herself" (ibid.). In fact, in September 1850 Catherine appeared as Bridget in Jonson's comedy during rehearsals for another performance by Dickens's troupe, scheduled for November at Knebworth House, the home of Edward Bulwer Lytton (an onstage accident prevented her appearance). It is not wholly fanciful.

62 : 102 mm. Nice Carte de visite of Dickens, his head turned to his left. Photograph by John & Charles Watkins, London. Signed and dated by Dickens Charles Dickens | Christmas 1863". Signed photographs of Dickens are of the utmost rarity. One small impression to the upper border of the image. From the collection of Dr. James Sheridan Muspratt (1821-1871), Irish born research chemist, who lived in Liverpool, where his father had an industrial chemical company. He organised a visit to Liverpool by Dickens's amateur theatre company in 1847.

Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Thick 8vo., bound in three quarter dark blue levant morocco, raised bands, lettered in gilt; top edge gilt. Early printing of the trade edition, without date in Roman numerals on copyright page. A stunning copy of a classic of American literature, awarded the Pulitzer Prize posthumously ----- Extra illustrated edition -- Inserted within the text are approximately 80 portrait engravings and 50 documents signed by Henry Adams s circle of associates, including: (page i) Henry Adams, 4-page autograph letter signed (ALS) to C.W. Ernst, April 24, 1894, critiquing HA's "History of the United States"; (viii) Henry Cabot Lodge (HA's close friend), affixed signature; (5) James K. Polk, 1-page document signed; August 7, 1845, regarding a land transaction; (10) Louisa Catherine Adams (HA's grandmother), 1-page ALS, July 8, 1845, regarding a fire at the Adams home; (19) Joshua Johnson (HA's great-grandfather), 3-page document signed, July 1, 1799, regarding a dispute between neighbors; (20) William P. Hunt (JQA's pastor), 1-page ALS to N. Hale, May 9, 1842, regarding a possible story publication; (22) John Quincy Adams II (HA's brother), 1-page ALS to President Andrew Johnson, November 2, 1867, requesting assistance for a friend; (26) Charles Francis Adams (HA's father), 1-page ALS to R. B. Clark, July 10, 1856, demanding payment for services rendered; (34) Horace Mann (HA's hero ), 21-page ALS to G. B. Upton, December 20, 1844, regarding a visit to a school; (41) Charles Francis Adams, Jr. (HA's brother), 2-page ALS, no date (nd), declining a speaking engagement; (50) Caleb Cushing (CFA s diplomatic colleague), 1-page ALS, nd, regarding a lecture; (60) Louis Agassiz (HA's Harvard teacher), 1-page ALS to Franklin B. Sanborn, nd, requesting assistance; (72) Charles Dickens (English novelist whom HA admired), 1-page document signed, June 12, 1866, check; (86) Clarence King (HA's close friend), 1-page ALS, nd, defending a friend against slanderous charges; (90) Giuseppe Garibaldi (HA's hero ), 1-page ALS to George N. Sanders, April 11, 1854, regarding the destiny of Italy and his role; (100) Henry Winter Davis (CFA's political colleague), 1 ½ page ALS, nd, regarding his home, along with a sketch of his garden; (104) Richard Hildreth (CFA's colleague), 1 ½ page ALS to his publisher, March 9, 1855, regarding his "History of the United States"; (108) Horace Gray (HA's law mentor), 1-page ALS, nd, accepting a dinner invitation; (124) Richard Monckton Milnes (HA's English political friend), 1-page ALS, nd, regarding poetry; (136) Benjamin F. Butler (Massachusetts politician disliked by the Adams family), 1-page TLS to O. D. Barrett, August 12, 1887, regarding a weekend visit; (148) William M. Evarts, (secretary of state and HA's friend), 2-page ALS, April 11, 1862, discussing a recent court case; (158) Lord Lyons (British minister to US and CFA's colleague), 3-page ALS to J. Carlisle, March 1961, regarding patents and citizenship; (164) Benjamin F. Butler (Massachusetts politician), 1-page ALS to O. D. Barrett, January 24, 1884, regarding litigation of a paving company; (184) James Mason (Confederate Trent commissioner; CFA's adversary), 1-page ALS, August 29, 1848, regarding a financial settlement; (192) George Grote (Classical historian whom HA admired), 1-page ALS, August 6, 1831, regarding life insurance; (200) Samuel Wilberforce (English bishop with whom HA socialized), 2-page ALS, October 25, 1845, regarding sales of his "History of the Protestant Episcopal Church"; (206) George Canning (British statesman included in HA's "History of the United States"), 2-page ALS; January 6, 1853, regarding a misunderstanding; (210) Francis Barlow (Lawyer-politician in HA's circle), 2-page ALS, nd, regarding a book; (214) Thomas Woolner (HA's English sculptor friend), 1-page ALS to William Gladstone, June 4, 1864, regarding a statue at his studio; (244) (Continued at # ABE-12664270773.). Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Good. 1st Edition. London: Richard Bentley, 1838. First Edition, First Issue with Boz on the title pages (replaced with Charles Dickens in later states) and with the Fireside plate (later replaced with the Church plate). WITH AN AUTHENTICATED SIGNED LETTER bound in a folder in the same style as the volumes from Dickens to Mrs [Georgiana] Morson, Matron of Uriana Cottage; AUTHENTICATED BY Dr Leon Litvack, THE Principal Editor of "THE CHARLES DICKENS LETTERS PROJECT" and Reader in Victorian Studies at The School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen's University, Belfast. The letter is unrelated to the volumes. Autograph letter signed ("Charles Dickens"), to Mrs [Georgiana] Morson, responding: "Yes, to both of your enquiries", 1 page, folded, very light dust-staining, 8vo, Tavistock House, 20 January 1853. From DICKENS TO THE MATRON OF URANIA COTTAGE, the home for 'fallen women' that he had established with Angela Burdett-Coutts at Shepherd's Bush, just outside London, and in which he took an active interest, often visiting several times a week. Georgiana Collin was born in Merton. She married James Morson, a doctor for St George's Hospital, in 1838. Shortly after their marriage, James Morson was appointed as Chief Medical Officer for the Brazilian National Mining Association. He died in 1848, leaving Georgiana with three children to provide for by her own efforts. In 1854, Morson would resign from her post as matron of Urania Cottage in order to marry George Wade Harrison, a printer and bookseller, and they settled in Sevenoaks. On 26 May 1846, Dickens wrote Burdett-Coutts a lengthy letter stating his desire to open an asylum for girls and women working in London's streets as prostitutes. The letter included planning for the asylum ranging from finding a property in London to a detailed process of rehabilitating fallen women. For example, Dickens suggests introducing a marks system and probationary period for asylum residents. Dickens located a home for the asylum originally named Urania Cottage in Shepherd's Bush, Middlesex in 1847. Georgiana Morson served as a dedicated matron of Urania Cottage from 1849 to 1854. In her book, Charles Dickens and the House of Fallen Women, Jenny Hartley describes how, "Georgiana Morson proved herself the best matron Urania ever had. she taught the girls to read and write, as well as all the household skills a servant needed. She presided over the dining table, and made mealtimes a social occasion the girls had not known before. They ate the good food she had taught them to cook and chattered about their future prospects." Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress. By "Boz." In Three Volumes. Vol. I. [II. III.] London: Richard Bentley, 1838. Rebound in three half leather volumes with a slipcase bound in the same style containing the letter. First edition, first issue, with the title-page author stated as "Boz" instead of Dickens and with the "Fireside" version of the final plate. Three octavo volumes (approximately 7 ¾ x 5 inches; 19.7 x 12.5 cm.). Volumes I and III in twelves (gathering of twelve pages), volume II in eights (gathering of 8 pages). Walter E Smith wrote an authoritative bibliography on all of Dickens works and these volumes have been compared to his collation: Vol I [ii Smith states iv this volume lacks the half title], [1], 2-331, [lacking 4 pages of advertisements as is often the case when books are rebound], all other first edition points are present save the Bentley imprint at the base of the 10 illustrations which have been trimmed historically; colophon Printed by Samuel Bentley to the final printed page; Vol II [ii Smith states iv this volume lacks the half title], [1], 2-307, [308]; all other first edition points are present (including for example, on page 151, line 3, a gap between the r and unning , and Chapter XXIX printed XXVIX) save 2 points and the Bentley imprint at the base of the illustrations which have been trimmed historically, 7 p. Signed by Author(s).

Original pen, ink and wash on card. Signed by the artist in the lower right hand corner and below the painting in Rackham's hand is the caption, "Mrs Cratchit brings in the Christmas Pudding, Dickens' A Christmas Carol" and a further full signature. 22.8cm x 17.8cm. The image in very good condition indeed, with a little browning to some sections of the background. Arthur Rackham and Charles Dickens are perfect companions to provide a Christmas cheer. LITERATURE: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens (Heinemann, 1915) p.88. Also used as the dustwrapper artwork for an American edition of the same title.

The original playbill, and a ticket signed by Dickens, for the amateur performance of Ben Jonson's Every Man In His Humour in which Dickens starred. The playbill (250 x 200mm) attractively printed in green, red and gold. The ticket (95 x 130mm), titled "Strictly Private" and inscribed in Dickens's hand for "Miss M. Holskamp", and offering her seat no. "40" in "Boxes. Second Circle". The ticket is also signed by Dickens to verso. In excellent condition, the playbill once lightly folded. Now both items mounted, framed and glazed, with a window mount to verso showing Dickens's signature. An excellent relic of a extravagant evening of amateur dramatics, both organised by and starring Charles Dickens. Dickens had warmed to the idea of himself as a performer after giving a small reading of The Chimes in 1844. By the following September he had organised and cast the evening's entertainment remembered here, the highlight of which was Dickens's own performance as Jonson's Captain Bobadil. Jonson's play was both preceded by and followed by the performance of Rossini overtures, with the evening concluded by Catherine Gore's one act farce A Good Night's Rest. Attendance at the private performance at Miss Kelly's Theatre was by invitation only, with both the playbill and ticket titled "strictly private". The "Miss M. Holskamp" of Dickens's inscription is Margaret Holskamp (1827-1908), a correspondent of Dickens's favourite child Kate.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition 1839, with most first issue points, Smith 5, p.41/42. Rare and early signature, Faithfully Yours Charles Dickens, signed two days after publication  in October 25th, 1839 tipped in between plate and title page. Dickens signatures are scarce but this early is scarcer still. Contemporary half-calf binding, rubbed, with slight bumping to corners and extremities. Internally clean, some spotting to plates, occasional tears or marginal loss, most repaired and not affecting illustrations. Final leaf pp.623-624 torn with loss affecting text, otherwise complete. 8vo. Signed by Author(s).

Soft cover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. First Editions, First Printings of All 20 original parts bound in 19 wrappers SIGNED by Charles Dickens on a check laid into volume 1. A wonderful set in the publisher's green printed wrappers with minor wear to the spines and edges. The pages are clean with minor wear. Otherwise, a beautiful set housed in a custom clamshell slipcase for preservation SIGNED by the author. We buy SIGNED Dickens First Editions. Signed by Author(s).

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. SIGNED on a laid in paper bearing only Dickens' clear signature, First Edition of his immortal Oliver Twist, the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist. First published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and released as a three-volume book on November 9, 1838 before the serialization ended. 3 vols. Volume one with the plate list inserted after title (not found in all copies); Bound in later 19th century 1/2 calf over marbled boards, with marbled page ends. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE in book form, meeting all points as per Eckel and Smith, including the later canceled "Fireside" plate in volume 3. Smith 1, 4; Eckel 59. Ownership inscription of Grace Pfeifer to front endpapers. In 2008, Christie's sold a signed first of Oliver Twist, inscribed directly to the book for $229,000. Book #Cv2105. $10,000. We specialize in Rare Ayn Rand, history, and science. Signed by Author(s).

23 vols and etched steel plate in box, 8vo (255 x 158 mm), without the Nonesuch Dickensiana; uncut, volumes and box bound in original coloured full buckram by the Leighton-Straker Bookbinding Co., Ltd., gilt morocco lettering-pieces on spines, top edges gilt; a little light wear and occasional soiling, spines of a few volumes lightly sunned; a very good set, from the library of Laurence Olivier.Limited edition of 877, of which 66 sets were destroyed when a bomb hit the bindery in September 1940, so at most 811 complete sets survive (Dreyfus, Nonesuch Press, 108). The steel plate included with this set is number 605, "Solemn reference is made to Mr. Bunsby" from Dombey and Son (Chapter 23, facing p.458), engraved by H. K. Browne ('Phiz'), with the typed letter of authenticity on Chapman & Hall headed paper, signed by Arthur Waugh.Intended as a definitive edition of Dickens' works the Nonesuch Press edition was printed using the original steel plates and woodblocks created by Chapman & Hall for the illustrations in the first editions of the books. Each set of the works was accompanied by one of the original engraved plates or woodblocks, of which there were 877. The original steel-engraved plate in this set is by 'Phiz' (Hablot Knight Browne), who was Dickens' friend and the most highly regarded illustrator of his works. G. K. Chesterton once remarked, "no other illustrator ever created the true Dickens characters with the precise and correct quantum of exaggeration. No other illustrator ever breathed the true Dickens atmosphere, in which clerks are clerks and yet at the same time elves" (from ODNB). Dreyfus 108. Language: English.

First Thus. The National Edition. Limited to 750 sets printed for England and America, this set unnumbered. Forty large octavo volumes. With approximately 1,000 illustrations, with plates by Cruikshank, Browne, Leech, et al. Title-pages printed in red and black. With many reproductions or the original parts wrappers on colored paper. Volume I with an envelope signed by Dickens and an ALS by John Foster, Dickens' biographer. On the first blank of volume I is a mounted small envelope addressed by Dickens to Edward Chapman (his publisher), and signed by Dickens on the lower left corner. Facing that page is a mounted autograph letter signed by John Foster (Dickens' friend and biographer) addressed to George Cattermole, the artist who illustrated The Old Curiosity Shop. Foster letter is on stationery and is dated 21 September, 1860. Two sixteenmo pages on one octavo sheet, folded. Set is uniformly bound by Riviere & Son in half brown levant morocco over brown cloth. Morocco double ruled in gilt. Spines lettered in gilt and compartments triple-ruled in gilt. Top edges gilt, others uncut. Spines slightly sunned and some occasional minor rubbing and shelfwear. Overall a very attractive and near fine set.

First Edition. First Edition. 8vo, (9 x 6 inches). David Ogle: OB-003-96, pictured full-page and color, on pg. 201. THE ONLY KNOWN SIGNED KINDER BINDING, with Kinder's monogram "LK," stamped to inside back cover on the lower dentelle, as well as Roycroft's "orb and cross mark" to side dentelle. The signature is a sort of cuneiform mark, "made from four sequential impressions of the same binder's tool, shaped like the parenthesis symbol. impressed in the order to form an approximation of the initials "LHK. This mark was first discovered in an inlaid full leather specimen of 'The Holly Tree,' (i.e. our copy) and no other examples of the mark are presently known. David Ogle ("On a High Shelf", pg 59). A striking Kinder binding in full light green crushed morocco with repeating gilt-tooled circle design motif highlighted by inlaid circles and squares (on end) in ochre and dark green morocco on both covers. Spine with similar, though linear, gilt and inlaid motif. #17 of 100 copies on Japan Vellum, Signed and Numbered by Hubbard. Colored title page and full-page border designs by Samuel Warner, prominent early Roycroft artist who designed Elbert Hubbard's first personal bookplate. Decidedly, a great rarity, and certainly a cornerstone to any serious Roycroft collection. Fine condition.

One volume expanded to two. A UNIQUE COPY, EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED AND WITH AUTOGRAPH LETTERS. With the eleven engraved original portraits featuring handwriting facsimiles and OVER ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY extra engraved portraits and views from various sources, AND WITH SEVEN ORIGINAL MANUSCRIPT NOTES OR LETTERS BOUND IN. Crown 8vo, in very fine and luxurious full chocolate crushed morocco by the Monastery Hill Bindery, the covers with double-frames composed of 5 gilt ruled lines, the four corners with large gilt tooled decorations in a vine, leaves and berries motif, the spines with six double-gilt framed compartments separated by gilt-ruled raised bands, four tooled with gilt leaves in the corners, two compartments lettered in gilt, additional gilt rule at the heads and tails of the spine, gilt stippled board edges, the turn-ins with wide gilt panels gilt decorated in a geometric motif surrounding a all-over green morocco inlay with geometric frame featuring elaborate gilt floral corners, fine dark-green silk end-leaves, top edges gilt. The bindings protected by felt-backed cloth covered chemises and encased in matching felt lined, morocco backed slipcases with raised bands and lettering in gilt in two of the compartments. 250; [2] 253-419 pp. A beautiful set in very fine condition, the slipcases only with some trivial rubbing. A UNIQUE AND EXQUISITE COPY, WITH OVER A HUNDRED EXTRA-ILLUSTRATIONS AND FINE MANUSCRIPT MATERIAL INCLUDED. The author's literary portraits of his friends is here greatly enhanced with the seven bound in notes and letters. There is a four page signed and dated letter by the author, James T. Fields, a one page note on printed stationery, dated and signed by Dickens' longtime friend and biographer John Forster; a two page literary letter on blue paper dated and initialed by Charles Dickens in 1856; a clipped dated signature by English writer Mary Russell Mitford; a three page letter in the hand of Miss M. R. Mitford; a one page signed and dated note by English Poet Bryan Waller Procter; and a signed manuscript note by poet, author and activist Walter Savage Landor. James T. Fields was a prolific American writer and contemporary and friend of the Transcendentalists and other important New England authors as well. Here he gives us literary biographies and commentaries on Thackeray, Hawthorne, Dickens, Wordsworth, Miss Mitford, and Bryan Proctor (who wrote under the pseudonym of 'Barry Cornwall'. There is within these pages much commentary on other writers and famous persons, such as Alexander Pope, Shakespeare, and others. Added to all of this in the way of extra-illustrations are portraits of noted individuals ranging from Harriet Beecher Stowe to Abraham Lincoln, Charles Dickens, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and contemporaries and subjects of the writers from Andrew Jackson to Napoleon Bonaparte.

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. LIMITED SIGNED EDITION. 1 vol., 11-9/16" x 9-3/8", limited to 525 copies illustrated and signed by Arthur Rackham this being copy #226, bound in the original gilt stamped vellum, pictorial pastedowns and endpapers, top edge gilt others uncut and unopened as issued, the vellum is clean and bright as well as the pastedowns and endpapers, yellow silk ties have been replaced, slight bowing to covers, no previous ownership markings, inscriptions, or bookplate, overall a VERY GOOD+ copy often when found in shabby condition. Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed. Signed by Illustrator(s).

With a Fine Original Watercolor on Calf Doublure By Helen R. Haywood Granddaughter of Master Binder Robert Riviere [DICKENS, Charles]. HAYWOOD, Helen R., artist. Little Dorrit. With Illustrations by H.K. Browne. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857. First edition, first issue with all twenty-one internal text flaws as noted by Smith. Octavo. (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 in; 216 x 138 mm). xii, 625, [1, blank] pp. Forty engraved plates by "Phiz" (H.K. Brown), including frontispiece and engraved vignette title page. With an inserted preliminary leaf printed "With Water Colour Drawing on Calf Doublure by" [signed] Helen R. Haywood. Bound ca. 1930 by Rivière and Son (stamp signed to upper doublure) in full wine crushed morocco. Gilt French fillets. Gilt vignette to upper board. Five gilt ruled raised bands. Gilt lettered and decorated compartments. Original watercolor painting by Helen R. Haywood on calf to upper doublure (signed "HRH" at lower left corner) with gilt rolled decorative borders. Red moire silk endpapers. Red moire silk to lower doublure with gilt rolled borders. All edges gilt. Neat ink inscription on front blank "Louise Dalton Kirk./from/Mother and Dad-/1936-". A unique and fine copy. Housed in the binder's original fleece-lined red cloth slipcase. The exquisite ca. 1930 original watercolor on calf and signed by Helen R. Haywood elegantly reproduces in color the Phiz plate "Flora's Tour of inspection" found opposite to page 519. Helen R. Haywood (1908-1995), English painter and children's book illustrator Helen R[iviere]. Haywood was the granddaughter Robert Riviere, founder of the great bindery which executed this lovely binding. Her mother, Mabel, was Riviere's ninth and last child. She was born in England in 1908 but was taken as a child to Chile, where her father, an engineer, worked on the trans-Andean railway. She remained in Chile until she was approximately 15 years old. Her experiences were recounted in an unpublished novel,"Childhood in Chile." Miss Haywood was a keen student of science and an amateur naturalist and anthropologist. Many of the books she illustrated for the publisher Hutchinson & Co., London, were keenly observed and scrupulously accurate depictions of plants, birds and animals. When commissioned to do illustrations for a children's book on dinosaurs, her research into the skin colors she subsequently chose for her dinosaur illustrations was cited by the Royal Academy of Sciences. Haywood was also a practitioner of the art of fore-edge painting. She became acquainted with the art form through an uncle who was associated with the Bayntun-Riviere Bindery of Bath. She did several fore-edge and double fore-edge paintings on commission every year from the 1930s to the 1970s for Inman's Books, an antiquarian book dealer in New York City. She died in Bournemouth, England in 1995. "Little Dorrit originally appeared in twenty numbers, bound in nineteen monthly parts, the last part forming a double number, from December 1855 - June 1857. It was published in book form on May 30, 1857" (Smith). Provenance: Louise Dalton Kirk 1936; Purchased by David Brass Rare Books from a private California collection 2007; sold to Randal Moscovitz 2008. Smith I, 12. Eckel pp. 82-85.

First edition, presentation copy from the publisher, inscribed on the front wrapper "with the publisher's compliments". This is one of only two presentation copies we have traced. The other, inscribed by Dickens to Thomas Mitton, was sold in the Edward Newton sale (lot 491), the catalogue noting "there does not seem to be a record of the sale of any other presentation copy", and was afterwards in the Suzannet sale. The young Dickens's pseudonymous political pamphlet defends the right of the poor man to a free Sabbath, in opposition to a proposed law prohibiting all work and all recreation on a Sunday. "Dickens saw the bill as a piece of class legislation, cynically designed to forbid innocent amusements to the poor on their one day of rest, without interfering with the pleasures of the well-to-do. the pamphlet, which displays Dickens's characteristic sympathy for ordinary people, close observation of actual lives, and vigourous rhetoric, was still at press when [the] Bill was rejected by the House on 18 May, but it received favourable notice in the press and articulates convictions which he held passionately throughout his life" (Schlicke, p. 557). Eckel p. 102; Gimbel B30. Paul Schlicke, ed., The Oxford Companion to Charles Dickens, 2011. Small octavo. Original brown wrappers printed in black, neatly rebacked. Housed in blue cloth chemise within blue morocco slipcase. With 3 illustrations by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz), who also designed the heads on the front cover and title page. Slight tape residue to front endpapers. A very good copy.

Half Polished Calf. Condition: Very Good Plus. First Edition. Engraved frontispiece and engraved title page, followed by printed title page, and 38 full-page engravings (40 total). by Hablot K. Browne (Phiz), xvi, 624 pages. First Edition, First Issue, in book format with part I, page 19, line 6 with "elgble" - part VII, page 209, line 23 with "chair" - part IX, page 275, line 22 with "counsinship." Bound in contemporary half polished calf over brown buckram, ornate gilt back with red morocco label, marbled end papers and edges, WITH CHECK SIGNED BY DICKENS inserted at verso of front end page via four slits in the page. The check is drawn on Messrs. Coutts & Company and made out in Dickens holograph to Wimbledon School in the amount of one hundred fifteen pounds, thirteen shillings, and six pence and dated Second September, 1862, embossed revenue stamp right. Likely the tuition for Henry Fielding Dickens, the eighth of Dicken's ten children, who would have been 13 in 1862 and attended Wimbledon School. The book is Near Fine, with recent professional restoration re-attaching front cover and refreshing boards, in new custom clamshell case 3/4 faux leather with spine lettered in gilt, small ink spot front end page, internally clean and bright. A Haycraft-Queen cornerstone, basis for a 1920 British film and at least three TV mini series. A quite handsome copy, gift quality. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. SIGNED.

Rackham, Arthur. First edition, Deluxe Issue, one of 525 copies signed by Rackham. 12 full page mounted illustrations in color and 20 drawings in black and white by Arthur Rackham. 4to. Fine Dickens Christmas Carol Illustrated by Rackham. Notes Hudson: "[Rackham] is not usually remembered as an illustrator of Dickens, but A Christmas Carol was decidedly successful, for he contrived to adapt the tradition of 'Phiz' and Cruikshank to his own characteristic style in the pictures of Victorian London and at the same time found scope for his fantasy in the ghost scenes. We also find him here developing his special talent for silhouette, rare among illustrators.He was well qualified by sympathy to interpret Dickens in certain of his moods." Latimore and Haskell p. 44; Riall, p. 124; Hudson p. 106 Original full gilt-decorated vellum, t.e.g. Silk ties renewed. Housed in custom vellum backed box with chemise 12 full page mounted illustrations in color and 20 drawings in black and white by Arthur Rackham. 4to First edition, Deluxe Issue, one of 525 copies signed by Rackham.

Published by Robson & Kerslake within their 1885 edition of Dickens's Oliver Twist, and later published as Twenty-one illustrations to Oliver Twist the following year by the same publishers. In 1899, George Somes Layard wrote that Pailthorpe was "the last illustrator to carry on the tradition of Cruikshank and H. K. Browne". Frederick W. Pailthorpe (1838-1914), the etcher and illustrator, also published illustrations for The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club in 1882 and Great Expectations in 1885. The artist noted that, of his Dickens illustrations, "I don't think the Oliver Twist is the worst of the three". Simon Houfe states that the artist's watercolours "are very Georgian in spirit and reminiscent of the work of H. K. Browne" (p. 250). The 20 watercolours, presented here, are titled: 1. "Oliver is taken to the workhouse", 2. "Goodness gracious! is that you, Mr Bumble, Sir?", 3. "Did you want a coffin, Sir?", 4. "Noah Claypole running for Mr Bumble", 5. "Good-bye, dear! God bless you!", 6. "Hullo! my covey, what's the row?", 7. "The merry old gentleman's pretty little game", 8. "The return of the boys without Oliver", 9. "Look here! do you see this?", 10. "The horse whose health had been drunk", 11. "Inexplicable conduct of Mr Bumble", 12. "The Free and Easy", 13. "Master O-li-ver!", 14. "Bumble Triumphant", 15. "Mr Crackit's good natur'", 16. "Has it long gone the half-hour?", 17. "A foul deed", 18. "The antic fellow and Sikes", 19. "The inconvenience of having long legs", 20. "Don't come near me, you monster!" This set lacks the final illustration ("Mr Claypole earning a genteel subsistence") and an autograph letter signed from the illustrator to an early owner, which are noted in previous auction records. Nevertheless, original artwork for Dickens novels is rare and this is a very attractive group. Provenance: C. E. Lauriat (c. 1913); Seth E. Thomas, Jr. (sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, 10/11 January 1949); Saul Cohn (sold Parke-Bernet Galleries, 18/19 October 1955). Layard, "Suppressed Plates", The Pall Mall Magazine, March 1899, pp. 341-8; Houfe, The Dictionary of 19th Century British Book Illustrators and Caricaturists, 1998. 20 original drawings (average 100 x 80 mm) on tissue paper (average 135 x 100 mm), each laid down to boards (216 x 137mm), pencil and watercolour, each captioned and signed ("F.W. Pailthorpe"), first board inscribed "These 21 sketches to Oliver Twist are by me - F.W. Pailthorpe". Housed in a custom full green morocco folding case by Riviere. Watercolours bright and unfaded, some consistent browning, closed tears to tissue paper for nine watercolours (numbers 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, 10, 17, 18 and 20); folding case sunned at spine with losses to watered silk lining. A very good set.