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The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club

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The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club

by DICKENS, Charles

  • Used
Condition
Spine and joints worn at head and tail; inner stitching a bit weak. Some occasional browning to plates, but generally good.
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Surry Hills, New South Wales, Australia
Item Price
£4,365.08
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About This Item

London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. Spine and joints worn at head and tail; inner stitching a bit weak. Some occasional browning to plates, but generally good.. Octavo, with the half-title; 43 plates in first state; publisher's brown blind-stamped cloth binding, spine lettered in gilt, pale yellow endpapers.

First English edition, first issue, of the great novel, preceded only by the publication in original parts, and the unauthorised Philadelphia printing.

This copy has a charming if rather boisterous bibliophile association, having been given to A. Edward Newton by R. B. Adam, who has written on the front free endpaper 'Dear A E N, I do not remember who Pickwick was; but I think you told me he was a relation of yours so this must be yr book. R. B. May 30 1927'. Beneath this he has added 'Sam [Weller] why don't you answer?' Tipped in on the same leaf is a slip of paper in Adam's hand: 'Dr N, I have read a book or 2 but I be d... d if I do not think this is one of the greatest books in the World. R. B.'

This first issue of the first edition has the Phiz plates in first impressions. The relevant bibliographical points are:-

Page 43, second paragraph below Chapter V line 1 has "ruined wall" in the singular

Signature "E" on p. 25 & "X2" on p. 261

P. 10 last line has no mark between "r" & "u" in rum

P. 17 the last "e" appears broken

Vignette on title has "Veller'

. Provenance: W.P. Watson (Edinburgh bookseller, with label); R.B. Adam (leather booklabel, and inscription dated 1927 presenting the copy to:) A. Edward Newton (with his Oak Knoll bookplate); Newton's sale (1940, lot 498): private collection (Australia).

Synopsis

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club  (commonly known as  The Pickwick Papers ) is the first novel published by Charles Dickens.  The Posthumous Papers Of The Pickwick Club  catapulted the 24-year-old author to immediate fame. Readers were captivated by the adventures of the poet Snodgrass, the lover Tupman, the sportsman Winkle &, above all, by that quintessentially English Quixote, Mr. Pickwick, & his cockney Sancho Panza, Sam Weller. From the hallowed turf of Dingley Dell Cricket Club to the unholy fracas of the Eatanswill election, via the Fleet debtor’s prison, characters & incidents sprang to life from Dickens’s pen, to form an enduringly popular work of ebullient humor & literary invention The novel was published in 19 issues over 20 months by Chapman and Hall, London in 1836.  After the publication the widow of illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any specific input, writing that "Mr. Seymour never originated or suggested an incident, a phrase, or a word, to be found in the book.

Read More: Identifying first editions of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club

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Details

Bookseller
Hordern House Rare Books AU (AU)
Bookseller's Inventory #
5000779
Title
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
Author
DICKENS, Charles
Book Condition
Used - Spine and joints worn at head and tail; inner stitching a bit weak. Some occasional browning to plates, but generally good.
Quantity Available
1
Publisher
Chapman and Hall
Place of Publication
London
Date Published
1837

Terms of Sale

Hordern House Rare Books

14 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 14 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged. For full terms please visit our website.

About the Seller

Hordern House Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2009
Surry Hills, New South Wales

About Hordern House Rare Books

Hordern House, founded by Anne McCormick and Derek McDonnell in 1985 and named for our original building in Sydney's Potts Point, is an internationally renowned dealership, specialising in rare books, manuscripts and paintings.Nowadays we conduct our business in the heart of Surry Hills, five minutes from the centre of Sydney. We occupy an entire floor of a converted warehouse where we have created a customised environment for our work and the display of rare books, manuscripts & paintings.Always reflected in our extensive stock of rare and select material is our specialization in voyages and travels (with a special interest in the Pacific & Australia), natural history and colour-plate material, paintings and voyage art, historical maps and manuscripts.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Octavo
Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Tipped In
Tipped In is used to describe something which has been glued into a book. Tipped-in items can include photos, book plates,...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...

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