Pictures from Italy: Genoa, Venice, Rome, Naples, Florence by Dickens, Charles - 1982

Greenbrae, California: The Allen Press, 1982. Limited Edition. Hardcover. Fine/near fine. One of 140 copies, quarto size, 121 pp. The forty-seventh limited edition from The Allen Press, being Charles Dickens' classic in travel literature. Written during a year-long sojourn in Italy, 1844-45, after Dickens had already become famous as a result of his first three novels and "A Christmas Carol." Dickens leased a spacious villa in Genoa for his family in 1844, and from there began his travels, writing detailed letters of his memorable experiences, collected later for this book. The Allens rediscovered their own first edition of "Pictures from Italy" and decided it fit the qualifications they looked for in a text, being a well known author, an appropriate length text, prose, and not having been published lately in a de luxe edition.

___DESCRIPTION: Full Venetian "Canestrelli" cloth, hand-blocked by Fortuny at Venice, Italy, with a printed paper label to the backstrip, fore- and tail-edges uncut, early decorative Venetian title-page border, title-page printed in black and red, text printed in black and red, running headings in brown, green and violet, decorative Venetian headpieces; Italian Old Style Monotype, re-set by hand, and Deepdene italic for display, all-rag paper handmade and watermarked especially for The Allen Press by the Richard de Bas mill in France, quarto size (10" by 6.75"), limited edition, one of 140 copies. In the publisher's clear acetate dust jacket.

___CONDITION: A fine copy, the cloth covers clean and unrubbed, the binding tight with solid hinges, the interior bright, and free of prior owner markings; clean, crisp, as new. The acetate jacket is near fine, still clear, with only two very small chips out of the top edge where the panels meet the flaps, and exceedingly minor exterior surface wear.

___CITATION: The Allen Press Bibliography, no. 47.

___POSTAGE: International customers, please note that additional postage may apply as the standard shipping charge does not always cover costs; please inquire for details.

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