Charles Dickens | The Christmas Books, 1843-88, first editions, red morocco gilt by Bayntun-Riviere

Charles Dickens

The Five Christmas Books, comprising:

i. A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. FIRST EDITION, SECOND STATE, 'Stave I' on p. 1, uncorrected text throughout, half-title, engraved frontispiece, 3 hand-coloured plates and 4 woodcuts in the text by John Leech

ii. The Chimes: A Goblin Story. London: Chapman and Hall, 1845. FIRST EDITION, etched frontispiece, vignette title-page (second state, with Chapman and Hall centred at foot of page), 11 further illustrations by Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle, John Leech, and Clarkson Stanfield

iii. The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846 [1845]. FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece, vignette title-page, 12 further illustrations by Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle, John Leech, Clarkson Stanfield, and Sir Edwin Landseer

iv. The Battle of Life. A Love Story. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846, FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece, vignette title-page, 11 further illustrations by Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield, and John Leech

v. The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1848. FIRST EDITION, engraved frontispiece, vignette title-page, 14 further illustrations by John Leech, Clarkson Stanfield, Frank Stone and John Tenniel, some browning to prelimsFive volumes, 12mo (161 x 101mm.), uniformly bound in modern red morocco gilt by Bayntun-Riviere, spines and upper covers decorated in gilt, gilt edges, marbled endpapers, original wrappers bound in at end of each volume, housed in red cloth box

LITERATURE

Smith II: 4, 5, 6, 8, 9; Eckel pp. 110-115, 116-118; 119-120; 121-123; 124-125