Lot 39
  • 39

Dickens, Charles

Estimate
25,000 - 30,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People. London: John Macrone, 1836. With: Sketches ... Second Series. London: John Macrone, 1837
  • ink, paper
Sketches: 2 volumes, 8vo (7 7/8 x 4 3/4 in.; 199 x 120 mm, uncut). Two frontispieces and 14 etched plates by George Cruikshank tipped-in; lightly browned with a few small spots. Original embossed leaf-patterned green cloth, gilt-lettered inside a gilt cartouche on spine; extremities bumped, a few light stains. Second Series: 1 volume, 8vo (7 3/4 x 4 7/8 in.; 197 x 125 mm, uncut). Frontispiece, vignette title and 8 etched plates by George Cruikshank, 20-page publisher's advertisement dated December 1836 at end; lightly browned. Original pink beaded cloth, covers decorated with broad border of 4 blind fillets and central wreath, spine in compartments, lettered in gilt within gilt cartouche in one and "Second Series - Macrone 1837" at foot, yellow coated endpapers by Remnant & Edmonds; extremities bumped, spine faded and chipped at foot. The 3 vols together in a green quarter morocco gilt slipcase.

Provenance

E.R. (penciled note dated 17 April 1851 at end of volume one) — E. Hubert Litchfield (bookplates) — Winston Henry Hagen (bookplates) — Kenyon Starling (bookplates) — William E. Self (bookplates, sale Christie's NY, 2 April 2008, lot 3)

Literature

Sketches: Eckel, p. 11; Sadleir 699; Smith I:1; Second Series: Eckel, pp. 12-13; Smith I:2; Sadleir 700

Condition

see cataloguing
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

First edition of Dickens' first work appearing in book form, the preface dated February 1836, along with the first edition first issue of the Second Series. These sketches appeared earlier in magazines, save for "A Visit to Newgate," "The Black Veil," and "The Great Winglebury Duel," (and in the Second Series) "Our Next-Door Neighbours" and "The Drunkard's Death," which appear here first.

Points in the Second Series, such as no list of illustrations, the "Vauxhall Gardens" frontispiece,  legible commas in the imprint on "The Free and Easy," first page of "Contents" having 13 lines rather than 17, and with "Vol. III" unerased from the foot of each plate, suggest (according to Sadleir) an earlier, and perhaps suppressed, issue of the book, planned as a three-volume work.

The Litchfield-Starling-Self copy