BENTLEY'S MISCELLANY 34 VOLS 1837-1854

[ N Y]: Richard Bentley. Very Good with no dust jacket. 1837-54. First Edition. Hardcover. B&W Illustrations; 6" x 9"; This is a run of the first 33 volumes of this important 19th-century literary journal, plus volume 35. Here many works by famous authors, such as Oliver Twist [which sold at auction for $3,625- for a Bentley's copy], Joseph Grimaldi and others, appear in print for the first time. Poe's Duc Dd L'Omelette appears as a first appearance but Fall of the House of Usher is not, however, a first appearance and indeed may be a pirated edition. Bentley's Miscellany was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868. Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens to be its first editor. Dickens serialized his second novel "Oliver Twist" but soon fell out with Bentley over editorial control, calling him a "Burlington Street Brigand". He quit as editor in 1839 and William Harrison Ainsworth took over. Ainsworth would also only stay in the job for three years, but bought the magazine from Bentley a decade later. In 1868 Ainsworth sold the magazine back to Bentley, who merged it with the Temple Bar Magazine. Aside from the works of Dickens and Ainsworth other significant authors published in the magazine included: Wilkie Collins, Catharine Sedgwick, Richard Brinsley Peake, Thomas Moore, Thomas Love Peacock, William Mudford, Mrs Henry Wood, Charles Robert Forrester (sometimes under the pseudonym Hal Willis) , Frances Minto Elliot, Isabella Frances Romer, The Ingoldsby Legends and some of Edgar Allan Poe's short stories. It was also the first place to publish cartoons by John Leech, who became a prominent Punch cartoonist. Editors: Albert Richard Smith - Albert Richard Smith was an English author, entertainer, and mountaineer. , Charles Dickens - Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic novels and characters. Many of his writings were originally published serially, in monthly installments or parts, a format of publication which Dickens himself helped popularize at that time. Unlike other authors who completed entire novels before serialization, Dickens often created the episodes as they were being serialized. The practice lent his stories a particular rhythm, punctuated by cliffhangers to keep the public looking forward to the next installment. The continuing popularity of his novels and short stories is such that they have never gone out of print. Dickens' work has been highly praised for its realism, comedy, mastery of prose, unique personalities and concern for social reform by writers such as Leo Tolstoy, George Gissing and G. K. Chesterton; though others, such as Henry James and Virginia Woolf, have criticised it for sentimentality and implausibility. , William Harrison Ainsworth - William Harrison Ainsworth was an English historical novelist born in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in London he met the publisher John Ebers, at that time manager of the King's Theatre, Haymarket. Ebers introduced Ainsworth to literary and dramatic circles, and to his daughter, who became Ainsworth's wife. Ainsworth briefly tried the publishing business, but soon gave it up and devoted himself to journalism and literature. His first success as a writer came with "Rookwood" in 1834, which features Dick Turpin as its leading character. A stream of 39 novels followed, the last of which appeared in 1881. Ainsworth died in Reigate on 3 January 1882. An approximately 100 pound treasure trove of famous authors and artists. INCLUDES [Dickens, Charles. ] Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress by Boz, With Other Tales and Sketches, from Bentley's Miscellany, and the Library of Fiction. Philadelphia: Carey, Lea and Blanchard, 1837.1st appearance of of Oliver Twist in America .