Dickens, Charles | Bleak House, in the original monthly parts

Property from the Workman Collection

Dickens, Charles

Bleak House. London: Bradbury and Evans, March 1852-September 1853

20 parts in 19, 8vo (225 x 144 mm). 40 plates by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz") including ten "dark plates", Part I, p. 19, line 6 with "elgble", Part VII, p. 209, line 23 with "chair," Part IX, p. 275, line 22 with "counsinship"; occasional spotting, faint browning primarily to plates, some marginal chips and closed tears to text and ads. Original printed blue pictorial wrappers; some relatively minor chipping and occasional staining. In custom navy morocco clamshell case.

First edition in the original monthly parts. 

"Fog everywhere. Fog up the river, where it flows among green aits and meadows; fog down the river, where it rolls defiled among the tiers of shipping and the waterside pollutions of a great (and dirty) city."

As Eckel notes: "two material innovations were present in the new novel. The author had wisely discarded the lengthy titles which burdened his previous books and accepted the sanity of short ones... The other change was from the 'green leaves' as he called his earlier books in parts. In Bleak House he used a distinctive blue cover." Bleak House also contains ten "Dark Plates," which required two distinct etchings, and "machine-tinting" of the steels, resulting in an effect similar mezzotinting. Phiz's other plates were largely produced by a new method of lithographic transfer from the steels. Both proved susceptible to browning. Bleak House also marked a shift away from humor for Dickens, and for this reason, it failed to garner entirely positive reviews. Forster, for example, felt that the book was "too real to be pleasant." The public took no notice, however, and it sold fantastically well in Britain and America.

"Dickens spoke to the people, and the people responded, and saw that Bleak House is among the greatest of his books" (Claire Tomalin).

(See following lot.)

REFERENCE:

Eckel 79-81; Hatton and Cleaver 275-304