Dickens, Charles

8vo (6 1/2 x 4 in.; 165 x 102 mm). Half-title printed in green, frontispiece, title printed in red and green, 3 etched plates hand colored, 4 etched text illustrations, 2-page publisher's advertisement at the end; title tipped-in to preface leaf, occasional mostly marginal spotting. Publisher's reddish brown vertically-ribbed cloth, decorated in gilt and blind, gilt-stamped title on spine, edges gilt; joints mended, a few tiny light stains, lower outer corner of upper cover with tiny tear.

W. E. Smith, Charles Dickens in the Original Cloth (1983) 2:4; Eckel, page 110

title tipped-in to preface leaf, occaional mostly marginal spotting. Publisher's reddish brown vertically-ribbed cloth, decorated in gilt and blind, gilt-stamped title on spine, edges gilt; joints mended, a few tiny light stains, lower outer corner of upper cover with tiny tear.
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First edition, the only copy known with its title-page printed in green and red inks and dated 1843, as all other known copies of the green/red title-pages (acknowledged to be a pre-publication state) are dated 1844. In this copy the binding is also in the earliest form and with yellow-coated endpapers.

Along with "Stave One" as the first chapter heading with the balance of text uncorrected, the points suggest this was probably issued within one week of production and comprised a scrapped trial proof of an hitherto unrecorded title-page, perhaps prepared for Dickens to select which green/red setting he preferred. The binding is in the first state  (the closest interval between blind decorative border on the left and the left extremity of the gilt cartouche measuring 14-15 mm and the "D" of Dickens unbroken).

Unique copy of a masterpiece of English literature and possibly the most widely read and best known of Dickens's works.