Dickens, Charles

8vo (6 1/2 x 4 in.; 165 x 102 mm). Half-title printed in blue, frontispiece, title printed in red and blue, 3 etched plates hand colored, 4 etched text illustrations; title soiled, some mostly marginal spotting. Publisher's reddish brown vertically-ribbed cloth, decorated in gilt and blind, gilt-stamped title on spine, edges gilt; joints, corners and tips of spine mended, small inkstain on upper cover, a few small spots on lower cover.

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

title soiled, some mostly marginal spotting. Publisher's reddish brown vertically-ribbed cloth, decorated in gilt and blind, gilt-stamped title on spine, edges gilt; joints, corners and tips of spine mended, small inkstain on upper cover, a few small spots on lower cover.
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First edition, first impression (according to Todd), with "Stave I" as the first chapter heading, balance of text uncorrected, red and blue title-page dated 1843, green endpapers, with the first state of the binding (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).

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