Dickens, Old Curiosity Shop, 1841, presentation copy in presentation binding inscribed to Macready

DICKENS, CHARLES

The Old Curiosity Shop. London: Chapman and Hall, 1841.

8vo (251 x 167mm.), FIRST SEPARATE EDITION, A CHRISTMAS PRESENTATION COPY, INSCRIBED BY DICKENS TO WILLIAM CHARLES MACREADY on the title ("W.C. Macready | from his affectionate friend | Charles Dickens | Christmas 1841"), dedication leaf to Samuel Rogers (not called for by Smith, but that in volume 1 of Master Humphrey's Clock from which this is separately issued), illustrations by George Cattermole and Hablot K. Browne, PUBLISHER'S PRESENTATION BINDING, full polished calf gilt rule, spine gilt with green and red morocco lettering pieces, edges gilt, ink stamp of Chapman and Hall on front free endpaper and binder Hayday on rear free endpaper, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, collector's red cloth chemise and slipcase, some minor occasional spotting, light soiling to boards, some slight scuffing and wear at hinges, rubbed

A REMARKABLE ASSOSIATION COPY inscribed by Dickens to his close friend, the actor William Charles Macready on Christmas 1841, prior to Dickens's departure for America. The Old Curiosity Shop had only been published 10 days earlier. For a fuller note on Macready see lot 50. This separate issue of The Old Curiosity Shop was created from portions of Master Humphrey's Clock, accounting for the irregularities of its bibliographic composition. 

REFERENCE:

Smith I:6A

PROVENANCE:

William Charles Macready (1793-1873), presentation inscription from the author; A. Edward Newton, bookplate, his sale at Parke Bernet, 18 April 1941, lot 508; Col. John Bancker Gribbel, his sale at Parke-Bernet, 8 December 1947, lot 146; Lewis A. Hird, bookplate, his sale at Parke-Bernet, 17 November 1953, lot 90; The Rosenbach Collection, slip laid-in; Kenyon Starling, bookplate; William E. Self, bookplate, the sale of the family collection at Christie's New York 4 February, 2009, Lot 77