Browse classic works by Charles Dickens. Discover signed, rare, and first editions of titles like A Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and more.

Charles Dickens

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, second issue of A Christmas Carol by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles+Dickens&amp;pfilters.dateRange=upcoming" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Chapter heading reading "Stave One", illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in fine full red morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, covers ruled and paneled in gilt, front cover with gilt portrait of Dickens, rear cover with Dickens signature in gilt, gilt dentelles, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt, original cloth covers and 1 yellow endpaper bound in, by Bayntun.</li></ul> Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" selling more than 6000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed.

A Christmas Carol First Edition

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first issue of the <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles%20Dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a> classic, <a href="sothebys.com/en/search?query=A%20Christmas%20Carol&amp;tab=objects" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Christmas Carol</a>.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.&nbsp;</li><li>Chapter heading reading "Stave I."</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt and blind stamped mauve cloth, back corners square, front cover has a perfect 'D' in 'Dickens', green pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul> Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language."

A Christmas Carol First Edition First Issue

Charles Dickens | Marcus Stone, R.A.

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a> of Our Mutual Friend by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles%20Dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Marcus Stone.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Chapman and Hall,&nbsp;1865.</li><li>Bound in full red Morocco, all edges gilt, gilt borders on interior and exterior covers, ornate gilt panels on spine, raised bands.</li></ul>

Our Mutual Friend First Edition

The seventh edition of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=A%20Christmas%20Carol&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">A Christmas Carol</a> by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles%20Dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Chapter heading reading "Stave One." </li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, yellow pastedowns and endpapers, neat gift inscription to front endpaper dated 1844, all edges gilt.</li></ul> Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed.

A Christmas Carol

The scarce 11th edition of A Christmas Carol by <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Charles%20Dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).&nbsp;</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in contemporary half maroon morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spine, marbled pastedowns, and endpapers, marbled edges.</li></ul> Dickens had argued with Chapman and Hall about shrinking financial returns, and instructed Bradbury and Evans to publish separate issues of the "Eleventh" and "Twelfth" editions. Regarded as Dicken's most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840's, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated, and repressed.

An attractive set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=Great%20Expectations&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Great Expectations</a>, the most popular of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?query=charles%20dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Dickens</a>’ novels, in a contemporary binding.&nbsp;<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London: Chapman &amp; Hall, 1861.&nbsp;</li><li>Octavos.</li><li>Second, second, and third ‘editions’ [impressions].</li><li>Contemporary half calf gilt over marbled boards, morocco labels. </li></ul>&nbsp;&nbsp;Although the title-pages states ‘Second and third editions’, in fact the first five editions are really only different impressions of the same edition. Apart from the title-pages the only differences are in the text where the type in the earliest impressions shows fewer signs of wear and damage. The title-pages were altered to encourage sales.&nbsp;

Great Expectations

Charles Dickens | George Cruikshank | Joseph Grimaldi

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Fine%2520bindings" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">finely bound</a> edition of The Memoirs Of Grimaldi.<ul><li>Joseph Grimaldi (English).</li><li>Edited by "Boz" [Charles Dickens].</li><li>Illustrated by George Cruikshank.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Richard Bentley,&nbsp;1846.</li><li>Portrait frontispiece with illustrations throughout by George Cruikshank.</li><li>Bound in full red morocco with colored inlay on front cover, gilt-tooling on the covers and raised band spine, top edges gilt, dentelles with watered silk endpapers.&nbsp;</li></ul>

Memoirs of Grimaldi

A finely bound <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Sets" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">set</a> of the works of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/search?locale=en&amp;Book%20Subject=Sets&amp;query=Charles%20Dickens&amp;tab=objects&amp;sortBy=bsp_dotcom_prod_en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens</a>.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 36 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Introduction and notes by Andrew Lang.</li><li>New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1902.</li><li>All illustrations after the originals.</li><li>Includes the 2 volumes of Forster's Life Of Dickens.</li><li>Bound in half green morocco, ribbed gilt decorated spines, top edges gilt, by Lauriat Of Boston.</li></ul>

The Complete Works Of Charles Dickens

A first edition, second state copy of A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English, 1812-1870).</li><li>London: Chapman &amp; Hall, 1843.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>166 pages.</li><li>Bound in publisher's original raw sienna cloth, stamped in blind and gilt with gilt title and wreath to spine and front cover, all edges gilt, pale yellow endpapers.</li></ul>

A second edition copy of the holiday classic&nbsp;A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English, 1812-1870).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand-colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose-colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, yellow pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul> Regarded as Dickens' most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6,000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated and repressed.

A first edition, second issue copy of the holiday classic A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English, 1812-1870).</li><li>A Christmas Carol In Prose Being A Ghost Story of Christmas.</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1843.</li><li>Illustrated with 4 hand-colored engraved plates by John Leech and 4 black and white illustrations by W.J. Linton.</li><li>Bound in the original straight grained rose-colored cloth, gilt tile and wreath to spine and front cover, yellow pastedowns and endpapers, all edges gilt.</li></ul> Regarded as Dickens' most widely read novel and considered to be "the greatest Christmas book ever written in any language" (Eckel p. 116) selling more than 6,000 copies in the few days leading up to Christmas. The work was extravagantly costly as Dickens for the first time (and incidentally his last) used color in the title-page and etchings, as he wanted to make the book a beautiful gift and to be a celebration of the Christmas spirit. After the initial success, Dickens continued the series throughout the 1840s, maintaining "the Carol" philosophy to "strike a sledgehammer blow" for the poor, uneducated and repressed.

A collection of the First Edition, in the original parts, of Our Mutual Friend.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 20 issues bound into 19 parts.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Chapman and Hall,&nbsp;December, 1864 - Nov. 1865.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 40 plates engraved on wood by Dalziel and W.T. Green after designs by Marcus Stone. </li><li>Bound in original wrappers, in a half green morocco slipcase.</li></ul>

Our Mutual Friend

A reprint of the extremely rare privately printed edition of Mr. Nightingale's Diary: A Farce in One Act of 1851.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Boston:&nbsp;James R. Osgood &amp; Company,&nbsp;1877.</li><li>96 pages.</li><li>Bound in full olive-green morocco, gilt corner pieces of three-leaf clover, gilt spine, raised bands, gilt turn-ins with floral sprays, by WOSFORD.</li></ul>

Mr. Nightingale's Diary: A Farce in One Act

A first edition copy of Dickens' Dombey And Son.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by H.K. Browne.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Bradbury &amp; Evans,&nbsp;1848.</li><li>624 pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 39 plates.</li><li>Bound in full brown straight grained calf, spine gilt, with contrasting title labels. </li></ul>

Dombey And Son

A first edition copy of Dickens' Little Dorrit.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by H.K. Browne.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Bradbury &amp; Evans,&nbsp;1857.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 40 etched plates.</li><li>Bound in original cloth, publisher's green cloth stamped in blind and lettered in gilt.</li></ul>

Little Dorrit

A first edition copy of Dickens' Little Dorrit.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by H.K. Browne.</li><li>London:&nbsp;Bradbury &amp; Evans,&nbsp;1857.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 40 etched plates.</li><li>Bound in 19th-century tan polished calf, rebacked with gilt spine and contrasting red and green leather labels, new endpapers.</li></ul>

A first edition, second issue copy of The Pic-Nic Papers.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 3 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Henry Colburn,&nbsp;1841.</li><li>With illustrations by George Cruikshank, Phiz and others.</li><li>Volume I with frontispiece and another plate by Cruikshank, two plates by Phiz.</li><li>Volume II has a frontis and three plates by Phiz.</li><li>Volume III has a frontis and five plates by Robert J. Hamerton.</li><li>Bound in original olive-green cloth, uncut.</li></ul>

The Pic-Nic Papers

Charles Dickens | Arthur Rackham

A first edition, Deluxe Issue copy of A Christmas Carol.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Arthur Rackham.</li><li>London:&nbsp;William Heinemann,&nbsp;1915.</li><li>Quarto.</li><li>Includes 12 full-page mounted illustrations in color and 20 drawings in black and white by Arthur Rackham.</li><li>One of 525 copies signed by Rackham.&nbsp;</li><li>Bound in original full gilt-decorated vellum, housed in custom vellum backed box with chemise.</li></ul>

A <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">first edition</a>, first issue copy of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?locale=en&amp;creators=Charles%2520Dickens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens'</a> Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2 volumes.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by George Cruikshank.</li><li>Edited by "Boz."</li><li>London: Richard Bentley, 1838.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 12 illustrations.</li><li>Bound in publisher's floral-patterned, embossed, pink cloth, spines gilt.</li></ul> From the library of Eric Quayle. The first issue of Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi by Charles Dickens is identifiable via the appearance of the plate at page 238 in volume two in its first state, without the grotesque border, which was added later. Grimaldi was one of the most renowned English actors of the Regency period. In the early 1800s, he greatly expanded the role of the clown in the Harlequinade and made it his own to such an extent that a clown became known as a "Joey" and his white-face makeup became standard for all types of clown. Eric Stanley Quayle (1921–2001) was a noted British bibliophile (with a collection of 16,000 volumes), collector, historian and author. His own work was mainly related to the themes of collecting books, but he also produced a noted biography of R. M. Ballantyne (1967) and two books of folktales: one of Cornish tales (The Magic Ointment) and one of Japanese tales (The Shining Princess).

Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi

Finely bound first edition, second state, copy of Dickens' The Chimes: A Goblin Story Of Some Bells That Rang An Old Year Out And A New Year In.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London: Chapman &amp; Hall, 1845.</li><li>Illustrated, second state of the additional engraved title page.</li><li>Bound in the publisher's original gilt and blind stamped red cloth, all edges gilt.</li></ul>

The Chimes (First Edition, Second State)

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?creators=Charles%2520Dickens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First edition</a> set of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?creators=Charles%2520Dickens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens'</a>&nbsp;The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby&nbsp;in the original 19 parts.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 19.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Phiz (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1838.</li><li>Incudes "Nickleby Advertiser" in each part.</li><li>Plates in parts 1 and 2 with publisher's imprint, parts 4 and 5 are first issues, part 14 with notice of postponement of the plates "in consequence of the sudden indisposition of the artist," plate 29 in part 15 in second state, "Hill's Seal Wafers" ad in part 19/20, lacking various rear ads in parts.</li><li>Bound in original pictorial blue paper wrappers.</li><li>Housed in a red morocco backed slipcase, raised bands and gilt lettered spine.</li></ul>

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

First edition set of Dickens' Our Mutual Friend in the original 19 parts.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 19.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Illustrated by Marcus Stone (English).</li><li>London: Chapman and Hall, 1865.</li><li>First issue of text with "pricipal" for "principal" in part 14.</li><li>Bound in original pictorial blue paper wrappers.</li><li>Housed in a red cloth clamshell box with gilt lettered spine.</li></ul>

Our Mutual Friend 

First edition in book form of Dickens' Our Mutual Friend.<ul><li>Sold as a set of 2.</li><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Chapman and Hall,&nbsp;1865.</li><li>320; 309, [1] pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Includes 40 engraved plates by the Dalziel Brothers or W. T. Green after illustrations by Marcus Stone.</li><li>Bound in contemporary half crimson morocco and marbled boards.</li></ul> Commencing with the supposed death of John Harmon, who's body is found in the Thames, Dickens' tale of hidden identities, greed and love is underpinned by the theme of wealth and its evils. Our Mutual Friend is considered one of Dicken's most sophisticated works, and first appeared in parts as it was written in 1864-65. Here we have it in book form published in the same year. Although Dickens lived until 1870, this is his last completed novel.

<a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book/first-edition?locale=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">First edition</a> of <a href="https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/luxury/books-&amp;-manuscripts/book?creators=Charles%2520Dickens" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Charles Dickens'</a> Hard Times. <ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>London:&nbsp;Bradbury &amp; Evans,&nbsp;1854.</li><li>viii, [2], 352 pages.</li><li>Octavo.</li><li>Bound in modern mottled half brown morocco and marbled boards.</li></ul>

Hard Times

Also known as The Pickwick Papers, The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is Charles Dickens's first novel.<ul><li>Charles Dickens (English).</li><li>Color plate illustrations by C.E. Brock.</li><li>London:&nbsp;George G. Harrap &amp; Co,&nbsp;[1930].</li><li>xx, 687 pp. 1 vols. 8vo.</li><li>‘Pickwick’ in fine onlaid binding.</li><li>Full brown morocco for Asprey of London, upper cover centered with large illustration in multi-color morocco onlay after a plate in the book.</li><li>Spine lettered in gilt with gilt device of Samuel Pickwick in four panels, a.e.g., gilt inner dentelles, marbled endpapers.</li></ul>

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Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, Marcus Stone, R.A.

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, George Cruikshank, Joseph Grimaldi

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens, Arthur Rackham

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens