BIB I G F W I IN DI K

A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF THE WRITINGS OFCHARLES DICKENS AND THEIR VALUES

Of this Edition there w ere Printed 750 CopiesFor England and America.

This is No.

THE FIRST EDITIONS

O F THE W RITING S O F

CHARLES DICKEN S

AND THEIR VALUES

A BIBLIOGR XPHY

By JOHN C . ECKEL

WITH A PORTRAIT OF CHARLES DICKENS

AND 36 ILLUSTRAT IONS AND FAC-SIMILES

LONDON

CHAPMAN HALL , Lt efi ‘

1913

THE FIRST ED ITIONS

OF THE W RITING S O F

CHARLES D ICKEN S

AND THEIR VALUES

A BIBLIOGRAPHY

By JOHN C . ECKEL

WITH A PORTRAIT OF CHARLES DICKENS

AND 36 ILLUSTRAT IONS AND FAC-SIMILES

LONDON

CHAPMAN HALL , Ltd.

1913

DedicatedThose Collectors of Fine and Rare

BooksWho Include Charles Dickens

Among Their FavoriteAuthors.

880 5 88

CONTENTS

PART ITHE IMPORTANT NOVELS

Sketches by BozPickwick PapersOliver TwistNicholas NicklebyMaster Humphrey’ s Clock[Embracing The Old Curio sityShop and Barnaby

Mart in ChuzzlewitDombey and SonDavid CopperfieldBleak HouseLittle DorritA Tale of Two CitiesGreat ExpectationsOur Mutual FriendMystery of Edwin Drood

PART IITHE MINOR BOOKS

Sunday Under Three HeadsSketches of Young GentlemenSketches of Young CouplesAmerican NotesA Christmas CarolThe Chimes

CONTENTSTHE MINOR BOOKS

The Cricket on the HearthThe Battle o f LifeThe Haunted Man

Pictures From ItalyA Child’s History of EnglandHard TimesThe Uncommercial Traveller

PART IIIBOOKS IN WHI CH DI CKENS HAD ONLY A LIMITED

INTERESTThe Library of FictionMemo irs of Joseph GrimaldiThe Picnic PapersEvenings of a Working Man

Legends and LyricsReligious Opinions of the late ChauncyHare Townsend

PART IVPLAYS

The Strange GentlemanThe Village CoquettesIs She His WifeThe LamplighterPro logue to The Patrician’s DaughterMr. Nightingale’s DiaryThe Frozen Deep, and The LighthouseNo Thoroughfare

viii

CONTENTSPART V PAGE

CONTRIBUTION S To NEWSPAPERS AND

PERIODI CALS

The Mudfog PapersTo Be Read at DuskHousehold WordsA Child’s Dream o f a StarOld LeavesA Curious Dance Round a Curious TreeThe Lazy Tour of Two Idle ApprenticesOld Lamps For New OnesGone AstrayChristmas NumbersAll the Year RoundA Message from the SeaBetween the Cradle and the GraveHunted DownGeorge Silverman’s ExplanationA Holiday RomanceThe Gad’s Hill Gazette

PART VIWRITINGS ASCRI BED To DICKENS

More Hints on EtiquetteThe Loving Ballad of Lord BatemanSergeant Bell and His Raree ShowLizzie LeighA Suburban RomanceFortune Wildred, etc.Drooping Buds

ix

CONTENTSPART VII

SOME COSTLY DICKENSIANA PAGE

Leaflet on Thomas PowellDickens-Thackeray SpeechesMr. Thackeray,Mr. Yates and the GarrickClub

Albert Smith’ s Dramatisation of The

Cricket on the HearthThe Beadnell and Kolle Letters

PART VIIIMI SCELLANEOUS AND UNCLASSI FI ED

The Royal Literary FundMrs. Gamp and the Strolling PlayersThe Reading Editions

PART IXPRESENTATION COPI ES

PART X

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND

FAC-SIMILESPAGE

Portrait o f Charles Dickens by Gurney,New York, 1868. F ron tispiece

Title Page of the first printed book o f CharlesDickens.Wrapper o f the issue in parts of Sketchesby Boz.

”Exceedingly scarce and high in

price.The Rare Wrapper of Part III. o f The

Pickwick Papers,” for which a London firmoffered £100 .

Vignette Title Page o f The Pickwick Papersshowing the V instead of the W inWeller on the Sign-board.

Buss plate in Part III. o f The PickwickPapers,” cancelled by Dickens.

Second Buss plate in Part III. of The

Pickwick Papers, cancelled by Dickens.Title Page of the first issue of Oliver Twist.This was materially altered subsequently.

The cancelled Fireside Plate in OliverTwist.” Its presence indicates the first issueof the first edition.

Substituted plate drawn by Cruikshank totake the place of the Fireside plate.Vignette title page of the first issue of MartinChuzzlewit, Showing the transposedon the sign-post.Bleak House,” Part IX, showing the insertedslip whi ch explains an accident to a plate.

38

80

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND FAC-SIMILESPAGE

Fac-simile showing the Correction Slip inPart XVI. of Little Dorrit.”

The first issue of A Tale of Two Citiesshowing two pages numbered 1 13 . The lowerone was corrected to 213 in later printings.

Title Page of the first edition of GreatExpectations, the rarest of the largerbooks.Great Expectations. First appearance of thedate on the advertising pages.Great Expectations.” Second appearance ofthe date.Great Expectations. Final appearance ofthe date .

Fac-simile of the Slip explaining the meaningof the title of OurMutual Friend.”

Red and blue title-page of A ChristmasCarol. Real first issue of the first edition.

Red and green title-page. Another issuewhich is the scarcest.

Folding plate of the four Vignette Title Pagesof The Battle of Life, showing the alteration s made in the various issues.

OriginalWrapperof The Strange Gentleman.This is the most costly of the pamphlets.

Presentation copy of the musical score of The

Village Coquettes to Morris Bennett, whoplayed the part of George Edmunds in theopera. Inscription is the autograph ofDickens

Title Page of Is She His Wife Thi s is thevery rare edition supposed to have beenprinted in the early ’

70s.

X 11

88

1 16

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

INTRODUCTION0 produce a Dickens Bibliography which,because of its wideness of scope and defi niteness of treatment

,would appeal to all

interested in the subject, has been the purpose ofthe compiler of this work. Previous bibliographieshave omitted any intelligent attempt at collation,so that no guide has existed which gives a permanent idea of the physical side of a first edition.

Nearly every collector of fine and rare booksincludes Dickens among his list of esteemedauthors. As it has been written before, Dickensis essentially a collector’ s author, for the reasonthat his books in their original state make anirresistible appeal. To tell of the appearance ofthese is the purpo se of this Bibliography. Duenotice has been taken of the various issues of firsteditions, and the different po ints involved havebeen carefully assembled and explained. For thefirst time illustrations have been used in a Dickensbibliography to make clear such points asrequire them.

Another feature relates to presentation copies,treated separately for the first time in any Bibliography. It was impossible to make this subjecta complete on e , though enough has been given tofurnish a general idea of a number of asso ciationbooks and their extraordinary rise in prices.Every precaution has been adopted to insure

xv

INTRODUCTIONaccuracy. To attain approximate perfection andthoroughness

,nearly every book in its original

state has been under the personal observation o f

this bibliographer. When such contact was impossible

,the information required was obtained

by correspondence with men who are authorities.In fact

,nothing has been left to chance. Under

these arrangements, it is to be hoped that thepercentage of errors has been minimised.Prices are of prime importance in a modernbibliography, and with this in view the compilerhas been co llecting priced catalogues of big salesfor a number of years. Enough figures have beengiven to aid both the buyer and seller. It hasbeen the purpo se to fix a value for a book as clearlyas possible, and for that reason it has been thoughtbest to use many quotations from Americanauctions.Only sales were utilised which were rich inmaterial and which thus o ffered attractions to thegreatest number of bidders. In addition, earlierand recent English auctions have not beenneglected, and much attention has been paid toprices demanded by English and American dealerswhenever such prices would aid in getting atvalues. When prices are quoted, it will be ob

served that the money terms applied are tho seused in the country in which the sale o ccurred.Conditions of old books as described in auctionand dealers’ catalogues are largely matters of faithwhen it comes to deciding on purchases. Experiencein collecting has considerably to do in determiningthe fineness of copies, and no amplification

xv1

INTRODUCTIONin descriptions will be accepted as a finality.High-priced first editions in auctions should beseen and handled by experts, and their opinionsshould decide the question for the co llector.Re -bound and cut copies are usually avoided. The

tendency of modern collecting has steadily movedtowards books in their original state—books asthey were when created— and it is doubtful ifthere will be much deviation from this taste inthe future.A number of importan t discoveries will be notedwhich will tend to settle questions which heretoforehave induced controversy. The real first issueof The Battle of Life is a genuine find.”Next comes the discovery of the MS. which showsthe precise relation which Dickens bore to the littlepamphlet, A Curious Dance Round A CuriousTree.” As the Bibliography is more closelyscann ed there will be found many other interestingand fairly notable additions.For valuable assistance cheerqy rendered,many thanks are due to the fo llowing : ErnestMaggs and B . W. Matz, of London ; William S.

Spaulding, Boston ; Harry B. Smith and WalterGilliss, Secretary of the Grolier Club, New YorkCharles Sessler, Philadelphia. To these may beadded the Anderson Auction Company and theAmerican Art Association, both of New York.

Without the presence of the earlier bibliographies,the hardships encountered would have been greater.Much credit is therefore given to John F. Dexter’sHints to Dickens Co llectors,” 1870 ; Charles

Plumptre Johnson’s Hints to Collectors, 1885 ;

xvu

INTRODUCTIONJ. C. Thomson’s Bibliography, 1904, andKitton

’

s TheMinor Writings of Charles Dickens,1900.

JOHN C. ECKEL.

Philadelphia, Penn., U.S.A.

March 26th, 19 13.

CHARLES DICKENS


CHARLES DICKENSthis extremely valuable contribution to Dickensiana are two-fold : one the limited nature of thenumber of copies printed, these not exceeding500 ; and the other because the letters throw alight on several years of the great author’s lifewhich was unknown to John Forster, or to RobertLangton and James Payn, who devoted themselvesto the earlier life of the novelist. For it was atthis period that the young man began a literarycareer which from all standpoints has hardly beenequalled.John Forster in the Life of Charles Dickens,

first edition, page 76, committed rather an inexcusable error concern ing the name of the firstsketch which was written for publication. He saysIn the January number for 1834 of what wasthen called the Old Monthly Magazine his firstpublished piece of writing had seen the light.He has described himself dropping this paper (notMr. Minn s and his Cousin, as he thought, butMrs. Joseph Porter Over the Way ) as a referenceto the magazine shows

,

” etc. , etc. !One of the letters, a facsimile of which is a partofMr. Smith’ s book

,reverses the opinionofDickens’s

noted biographer. The letter is of such greatbibliographic importance that it is herewith givenverbatim. It reads

Bentinck Street,Tuesday Morn ing,

MY DEAR KOLLE,—I intend with the gracious

permission of yourself and spouse to look in uponyou some evening this week. I do not write you,

This was altered in the tenth edition to fi t the facts.

CHARLES DICKENShowever, for the purpose of ceremoniously makingthis important announcement

,but to beg Mrs. K.

’

s

criticism of a little paper o f mine (the first of aseries) in the Mon thly (not the N ew Mon thlyMagazine) of this month. I haven’t a copy to send,but if the number falls in your way

,look for the

article. It is the same you saw lying on my table,but the name is tran smogrifi ed from A Sunday outof Town to A Dinner at Poplar Walk.

’ Knowingthe interest (or thinking I know the interest) youare kind enough to take in my movements, I havethe vani ty to make this communication.Best remembrance to Mrs. K. No more atpresent from, my dear Kolle,

Yours sincerely,CHARLES DI CKENS .

I am so dreadqy nervous that my hand shakesto such an extent as to prevent my writing a wordlegibly.”

Here were still the feelings which had overcomehim and which earlier had caused him to turninto Westminster Hall because his eye s were notfit to be seen on the street. Dickens had foundhis life work and two years thereafter he was themost popular author in England.

A Dinner at Poplar Walk consequently wasDickens’ s first published writing. It appeared intheMon thlyMagazin e of December, 1833 , the samemonth in which was written the letter

,undoubtedly

the most important, interesting and valuable in allof the novelist’s voluminous correspondence. Inthe following month (January, 1834 ) there appearedhis second story, which Forster believed was hisfirst.

5

CHARLES DICKENSIn 1833 , according to Mr. Kitton , Dickens wrotethe burlesque O

’

Thello , (part of the GreatUnpaid. Strangely enough the amateurs in thesketch Mrs. Joseph Po rter Over the Wayproduced Othello . It will likewise be rememberedthat Mrs. Porter informs everybody that the playwas a failure. John Dickens saved the manuscriptof his son’s play, and after the latter had achievedfame and fortune he gave it away page by pageas souvenirs. The first page found its way intothe co llection of William Wright, and at Sotheby’sauction rooms in June, 1899 , it sold for £35. On

the margin the elder Dickens had written The

Great Unpaid was your humble servant,John

Dickens. Alphington, 6th June, Anotherpage of this manuscript fell into the possession ofS. Dyer Knott, of Alphington, near Exeter. Ithad the same endorsement.Mr. Thomson in his Bibliography says that there

I S In existence a playbill, dated April 27, 1833 , ofsome amateur theatricals in which Dickens tookpart. The letters to Kolle Show that Dickenswas utterly absorbed in the enterprise. The mainplay was entitled, Clari, or the Maid of Milan.”

HadW illiam R . Hughes, author of A Week'

s Trampin DickensLand

,

”shown more alertne ss, the Dicken s-Kolle correspondence

would have been publi shed twenty years earlier. I n the book re ferredto , on page 416, he just scratched arable 80 11 by writing :

“From a

valuable collection o f letters (more than a dozen , recently in the

possession of Messrs. Noel Conway and Co .,o f Martin eau Street,

B irmingham,and kindly shown to me by Mr. Charles F endelow ) ,

written by the novelist between 1832 and 1833 to a friend of his earlier

years—Mr.W . H .Kolle—and no t hitherto published, it appears that he

had not then acquired the precise habit o f Inscribing the place , day o f

the w eek, month and the year which marked his later correspond

ence very f ew o f the letters to Mr. Kolle bearing any record

whatever except the day of the week,occasionally preceded byF itzroy

Street or Bentinck Street, where he resided at the time .

6

CHARLES DICKENSFrom one letter, Mr. Smith deduces that Dickenswrote the prologue and in all probability was theauthor of the after-piece

, Amateurs and Actors.”The latter piece, however, was written by RichardBrinsley Peake. In addi tion Dickens was theorganiser and stage director

,and he played a

leading part in the three pieces.The Sketches were written as separate papersfor three publications, namely : The Mon thlyMagazin e, The Even ing Chron icle, and B ell’s Lifein London . As has been stated

,his original effort

appeared in the first mentioned periodical inDecember, 1833 , and the final one, The Streetsat Night,” in Bell’s Life on January 17, 1836 .

Dickens used the signatures of Boz,” Tibbs,and W.P. In their individual states or involumes of the mediums of publication they areconsidered very rare. Auction rooms have hadno record of sales for many years

,and it is there

fore impossible under such conditions to fix values.It may be said that a set of the Mon thly Magazin e

has been sold for £8 or £10, and the single partsfor £1 each.

THE MONTHLY MAGAZINE

The Mon thly Magazin e, or British Register ofPolitics, Literature, Art, Science and the BellesLettres, cost half a crown per month. It waspublished by A. Robertson

,Johnson’s Court,

Fleet Street ; then by Cochrane and Macrone

(the latter Dickens’s first publisher) and later byJas. Cochrane and Co Waterloo Place, S W.

The first five sketches which fo llow were printed

CHARLES DICKENSanonymously

,the first one bearing the name of

“ Boz was the second part of The BoardingHouse. These all appeared in Series I. exceptthe first sketch, which was printed in Series II.

1833 .

December, A Dinner at Poplar Walk, changedfrom A Sunday Out of Town ; when it appearedin book form it was re-christened to Mr. Minnsand his Cousin.

1834.

January, Mrs. Joseph Porter Over the Way.February, Horatio Sparkins.

April, The Bloomsbury Christening.May, The Boarding House.August, The Boarding House, Part II.October, The Steam Excursion (in book form, apart of a paragraph near the end of the story wassuppressed).

1835.

January, Passage in the Life of Mr. WatkinsTottle. This story was completed in the Februarynumber.

THE EVENING CHRON I CLEThe Even ing Chron icle, edited by John Black,was the evening edition of the Morn ing Chron icle,

and its first publication was January 3 1 , 1835 .

When the paper was under consideration it wasdecided to print something in addition to the newsof the day. Dickens

,when he was requested to

contribute to its columns,proposed that his articles

should be similar to those he was at that time8

CHARLES DICKENSwriting for the Old Monthly Magazine. He wason the staff of the Morn ing Chron icle, and for thisextra labour he asked for an increase of salary.He was receiving five guineas and to this was addedtwo more guin eas. His contributions to themagazine having been gratuitous, he severed hisconnection with that publication and devoted hi ssketch-writing to the new evening paper, his firstarticle appearing with the new paper’s birth.They were printed under the general headingSketches of London and all were signed Boz.”For some unknown reason more than a yearelapsed in the continuity of the articles in theChron icle, a resumption taking place in September,1836, after the final sketch printed August 20,the previous year. This, too, after the wordsTo be continued were attached to the end ofthe sketch then printed. During this lapse

,

however, he was contributing to Bell’s Life inLondon . The reason was not quite clear unlessit was a matter of compensation. That thearrangements were mutually satisfactory therecan be no doubt, because Dickens continued hisParliamentary work on the morning paper untilnear the end of 1836. On April 2 of this yearDickens was married to Miss Catherine Hogarth.This just after the issue of the first part of Pickwick Papers.”The chronological publication of the sketchesin the Even ing Chron icle was as follows

1835.

January 3 1 , Hackney Coach Stands.February 7 , Gin Shops.

9

CHARLES DICKENSFebruary 19 , Early Coaches.February 28, The Parish.March 7 , The House (SeriesMarch 17 , London Recreations.April 7, Public Dinners.April 1 1 , Bellamy’s, reprinted as A Parliamentary Sketch With a Few Portraits, in Series II.In the octavo edition, this was further shortenedto A Parliamentary Sketch.

April 16 , Greenwich Fair.April 23 , Thoughts About People.May 9 , Astley

’

s .

May 19 , Our Parish.

June 6 , The River.June 18

, Our Parish .

June 30, The Pawnbroker’s ShOp.

July 14, Our Parish.

July 21 , The Streets—Morning (SeriesJuly 28

, Our Parish—Mr. Bung’ s Narrative.August 1 1 , Private Theatres.August 20, Our Parish.

1836 .

September 26 , Meditations inMonmouth Streetalso printed in the Morn ing Chron icle of September 24.

October 5, Sco tland Yard, also in the Morn ing

Chron icle of October 4 .

October 12, Do ctors’ Commons in the Morn i ng

Chron icle of October 1 1 .

October 26 , Vauxhall Gardens by Day ; in theMorn ing Chron icle o f the same day.

All these appeared in Series II. of the Sketchesby Boz.

”

10


CHARLES DICKENS1836 .

January 3 , The New Year.January 17, The Streets at Night.The additional sketches written by Dickens for

Series I. were the followingShops and Their Tenants.A Visit to Newgate .

Brokers and Marine-Store Shops.The Black Veil.Shabby Genteel People.The Great Winglebury Duel.Omnibuses.Sentiment.For the second series the specially writtencontributions wereCriminal Courts.Our Next-Door Neighbours.The Hospital Patient.The Drunkard’s Death.Thi s leads to the physical aspects of the novelist’s

first published books and their values.

12

PART I. THE IMPORTANT NOVELSxSketches by Boz.The Pickwick Papers.Oliver Twist.Nicholas Nickleby.Master Humphrey’ s Clock (embracing

The Old Curiosity Shop andBarn aby

Martin ChuzzlewitDombey Son .

David Copperfield.Bleak House.Little Dorrit.A Tale of Two Cities.Great Expectations.Our Mutual Friend.The Mystery of Edwin Drood.

PART I

SKETCHES BY BOZ

FIRST SERIES.

HE first series consisted of two volumesbound in dark green cloth.TITLE PAGE : Sketches by “Boz, /Illustra

tive of Every-Day Life,/and/Every-Day People.[InTwo Volumes./Vol. I. (Vol. I I )/I llustrations byGeorge Cruikshank . /London :/John Macrone, St.

James Square. /MDCCCXXXVI.COLLATION . Vol. I. Frontispiece ; title pageas above, on reverse of which, Whiting, BeaufortHouse, Strand ; preface three pages, dated Furuival

’

s 1836 ; contents two pages+348 pages and eight illustrations. Vol. II.frontispiece, title page, imprint as in Vol. I . ,

contents one page, and 342 pages with eightillustrations.The price was one guinea.

SECOND SERIES.

The second series was issued in one volumebound in pink cloth.TITLE PAGE : Sketches By Boz :/Illustrative of

Every-Day Life,/and Every-Day People. /TheSecond Series. /Complete in one Volume./LondonJohn Macron e , St. James Square./MDCCCXXXVII.The price was 153 .

COLLATI ON : Half-title, Sketches By Boz.15 C

CHARLES DICKENSSecond Series. Then frontispiece, illustrated titlepage, title page on reverse of which T . C. Hansard,Printer, Paternoster-Row , St. Pauls prefacethree pages dated Furnival’s I nn /December 17,

1836 . One blank page ; contents and illustrationstwo pages on e page THE STREETS BY MORNING, reverse side blank. Pages 3 to 377, withten illustrations. Imprint on last page ThomasCurson Hansard, Paternoster Row advertisementsMr. Macron e

’

s Select List of New Works, datedDecember, 1836, altogether 20 pages, one ofwhich is blank. One of the books announced onpage 2 is of special interest in that it advertises thepublication of A novel by Boz, ’ Gabriel Vardon,by Charles Dickens, Esq. , author of Sketches byBoz and Pickwick Papers, in 3 volumes post 8vo .

This title five years later became BarnabyRudge.”All the illustrations bear the imprint London

,

John Macrone , 1836 , as well as the pagination forthe placing of the plates.The first series apparently was issued with somecare as to proof-reading and printing, but not sothe second series. A real first issue is full of erro rs,not alone in the pagin ations but also in the placingof the illustrations. Vauxhall Gardens by Dayis used as a frontispiece and likewise at page 216 .

At this page the plate Mr. Minn s and his Cousinshould have been inserted instead of facing page263 . These defects are the earmarks of a genuinefirst edition. In addition it should be noted thatthe illustrated title page is dated 1836 and theregular title page 1837 .

16

SKETCHES BY BOZ ,

ILLUSTRATWE OP

EVERY-DAY L I FE,

AND

E V E R Y-D A Y P E O P L E.

IN TWO VOLUMES.

VOL. I .

lLLUSTRATION S BY GEORGE CRUIKSHANK.

LO N D O N

J OHN MAGRONE, ST. JAMES’

S SQUARE.

MDCCCX X X V I .

Title page of the fi rst printed book of Charles Dickens.


CHARLES DICKENSSKETCHES BY Boz .” DEMY 8vo , 1837-1839 .

The first monthly number of the Sketchesappeared on the completion of Pickwick inNovember, 1837 . It was completed in 20 partsat a shilling each, in June 1839 . It was demy octavo in size and the plates were re -engraved in alarger size by Cruikshank, who made 13 additionalengravings for the serial issue. He also designedthe pink paper cover. One etching, The Freeand Easy,” was discarded. Upon completingthe issue the whole was published in one vo lume.This is generally known as the octavo edition.Two of the plates are interesting. One , theballoon etching, used as a vignette title page,is supposed to show the autho r and artist in thebasket of the balloon. The other, Public Dinn ersis drawn to represent Messrs. Chapman and Hall,as well as Dickens and Cruikshank.The collation of the issue in parts should correspond with that of the bound volume. A perfectissue of the latter is really the hitherto unsoldmonthly parts bound up. However, there are twofeatures in the advertisements with the monthlyparts which do n ot figure in the book. On e , anaddress to the public in Part II, December, 1837,apologizing because there was less printed matterin the parts than there was in Pickwick.” The

excuse was given that the repurchase of the copyright had to be calculated into the cost of production. In part V March, 1838, there was a 3 -pagepro clamation signed Boz, advertising NicholasNickleby

,

” and threatening dire vengeance againstthose pirates who were stealin g the author’s wares.

18

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSThe address and proclamation were priced in anEnglish dealer’ s catalogue at £3 108. in 19 12.

SKETCHES BY Boz I N PARTS AND THE

OCTAvo VOLUME.

TITLE PAGE : Sketches By Boz/I llustrative o i/Every-Day Life and Every-Day People. /WithForty Illustrations/by/George Cruikshank . /NewEdition, Complete. /London /Chapman and Hall,186 , Strand. /1839 . The pink covers are dated 1837COLLATION : Half title, frontispiece, vignettetitle (balloon Sketch) publishers’ name and address(but no date) a part of the etching ; title page,reverse side, Whiting, Beaufort House, Strand ;advertisement by the author, dated London, May

15, 1839 , but un signed, reverse side is blank ;contents two pages, sub -title one page and onepage blank ; plate The Parish Engine,”numbered page (3 ) to 526 . On the last pageWhiting, Beaufort House, Strand. There were40 plates.The price was one guinea.A good copy should be bound in brown clothwith no lettering but Sketches by Boz in thesecond of the five panels which fo rm the back.

Unless it is bound too closely the stab -holes of theparts should be visible. All the plates beforeGreenwich Fair at page 120 are without thepublishers’ name. All after are marked London,Chapman Hall, 186 , Strand.

Later issues bearing the same date ( 1839) havethe name erased. On the last page the wordsreeled before on the sixth line from the end

19

CHARLES DICKENSare run together. It is important that there beno deviation from these tests or from the collations.The octavo edition contains 56 sketches, dividedunder these headings Our Parish, 7 Scenes, 25Characters, 12 ; and Tales, 12. The Tuggses

at Ramsgate was added from The Library of

Fiction.

”

VALUES .

Good uncut Copies of Dickens’s first books in theorigin al bindings have greatly increased in pricesduring the past ten or twelve years. Re -boundcopies, unless they are in the most elaboratebindings, are, of course, much cheaper, the collectordesiring books as they were born. For instance,Charles Plumptre Johnson in his little bookentitled Hints to Collectors,” dated London,1885, fixes the value of the first series at £10 to £12the second series at £3 to £4 , and the octavo editionin parts at £15 and the cloth boun d volume at £8to £10. Nineteen years later, or to be exact, in1904, J. C. Thomson, in his admirable Bibliography of Dickens gave the first indications ofthe strides made in the values of first issues.The quotations were made at Sotheby’s, London,and are for both series June

, 1897, with the twoetchings appearing for the first time in the secondedition of the second series, £37 ; March, 1897£29 103 . May, 1900, £21 first series only, June,1897 £24 108. second series only, June, 1899 , £28.

Thi s was a presentation copy to J. P. Harley.A London dealer in 19 12 offered both series in theoriginal cloth for £40.

It may be said that the cloth issue 1s oftener20

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSfound in bookshops than in auction rooms. Itranges in price from £4 108. to £7 for re -boundcopies, and from £6 to £10 in the origin al state.In defining the prevalence of all the issues of theSketches, the first and second series might betermed very scarce

,the issue in parts extremely

scarce and the bound volume scarce.Recent auction sales in America have shown thefollowing prices for both series : At Anderson’s,New York, December, 1908, clean copy, $205 ;December, 1909 , fine and unique copy, series onehaving a set of the plates in proof state on Indiapaper inserted ; series two was in green cloth, inwhich state it is believed to be the only copy known.

The three books were enclosed in a Riviere solandercase and brought $220 ; December, 19 1 1 , firstseries only with 2 leaves loose, At

Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , fi n e Copy,

The octavo edi tion in pink wrappers, advertisements and the two proclamations, the set beingdesignated a fine one

, in June, 1899, sold for £46in a London auction ; another in a half-moroccocase by Riviere with Dickens’ crest on the back,in May, 1900, brought £56 at Christie’s. MaggsBrothers, of London, in 19 1 1 , offered a very fi necopy for £1 12. At Anderson’s, New York, inDecember, 19 12, a fine set brought $385.

The cloth bound octavo edition at auction inLondon, May, 1897 , brought £6 108 and in June1899 , £5. At the Hoe sale, Anderson s, New York,April, 19 1 1 , fetched the high price of $65. The

copy was partly unopened. At Anderson’s, New21

CHARLES DICKENSYork, March, 1909 , a copy embellished with anoriginal water-colour drawing by George Crn ikshank (signed) , and an autograph letter by Dickensto the foreman of Whiting, who printed the bookfor Chapman Hall. It asks for a proof of thestory which is to finish the volume with eclat.”The copy was re -bound and brought $16 1 .

22


THE IMPORTANT NOVELS

THE PICKWICK PAPERS

This is surely one of the books of the Victorianera which may justly be called a classic withoutstraining the meaning of that much-abused defi n ition of a great book. As a book it has been thesubject of several fair-sized volumes

,and in 1907 ,

in its honour, there was held an exhibition inLondon which lasted several months. To thebibliophile all these matters are known and more,too . He also knows that the book stands fourthand perhaps third among the English printedbooks, being exceeded in the point of circulationonly by the Bible, Shakespeare’s Works andsome say the English Prayer Book. Yet despiteits great vogue, even at the time of publication,so rare are fi rst-class copies of the early issue ofthe original edition that a record price of $1450was established for a set in parts at an Americanauction on December 1 , 1908. Still further, afirm of old book dealers in London offered £100for part III in order that a perfect set might bemade up. This part, dated Jun e, 1836, was issuedfor a shilling.Editions of this marvellous book have beenprinted in many languages. In English it has beenput out in penny editions and it has run the gamutof prices until it was printed in a two-volume edition whi ch sold for $1000 per vo lume. This wasknown as the Saint Dun stan edition, printedentirely on vellum and limited to 15 copies

,eight

23

CHARLES DICKENSfor America and seven for Europe. Illuminatedthroughout by hand and gorgeously bound, itmade a Splendid book. George D. Sproul, of Londonand New York, was the publisher. It fell into thehands of the auctioneer in Philadelphia, October,1903 , about one year after its publication, andbrought $ 1300 .

The intrinsic greatness of the book is surelymatched by the intricacy and difficulty of itsbibliography. Cradle books present numerouscomplications in this direction

,but this may be

ascribed to the lapse of time and the loss of anysubstantial records upon which sound knowledgemight be founded. Pickwick was printed only75 years ago and there are hardly ten copies inexistence which would meet the requirements ofthe tests demanded to make a perfect copy. Manyelements add to the confusion into which thecollector is plunged when attempting to satisfyhimself of the correctness of his collations.Of the parts which ante-dated the introductionof Sam Weller in the story, there were not morethan 400 copies printed. Then the increase incirculation became phenomenal. The older plateshad to be re -etched hurriedly

,so as to stand the

wear of increased press work. There was a mixingof original and substituted plate s. Earlier numbersof the parts had to be reprinted. Advertisementswere thrown out and others added. When Part IIwas on the stocks the artist blew out his brainsand the one engaged to take his place was un satisfactory to the author. Two of the latter’s plate swere cancelled and a third artist made substitute

24

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSplate s and fortunately finished a book, the publication of which up to thi s time had been full oftrials and tribulations. This is only a glimpse ofevents, but conveys some idea of the complicationswhich it caused to the bibliography.What constitutes a perfect first edition ofPickwick Papers is a question which hasbeen asked auctioneer and dealer alike. Thosehaving a special knowledge of the matter, agreeupon the presence of a certain number of basicpoints. These may be set down like this

( 1 ) All covers of the parts must bear the date1836.

(2) Parts I and II must carry the words,With four illustrations by Seymour.”

(3 ) Part III the words With illustrations byR. W. Buss.”

(4) Part I must have four plates by Seymourunsigned and not re -etched by Phiz.”

(5) Part II must have three plates by Seymour,signed.

(6) Part III must have the two plates signedDrawn and etched by R. W. Buss,” and thepage numbers on them.

(7) Part IV The two plates are indist inctlysigned Nemo and not Phiz.”

(8) Parts II, III, X and XV must have theaddresses by the author.

(9 ) Parts XVII, XVIII and XX addresses bythe publishers.

( 10) Plates in Parts I to XII must have nocaptions, only numerical references to the

25

CHARLES DICKENSpages where they fit parts XIII to XX haveneither titles nor numerical references.

( 1 1 ) On the vignette title page the nameWeller on the signboard over the door isspelt with a V.

”

Accepting, however, for a basis, a set of originalparts which have all the points enumeratedabove

,by a little patchin g here and there from

other sets, deficiencies may be supplied, and asfar as human knowledge goes, a set might beconstructed which would pass as correct with themost critical student.For instance, the copy which brought the world’srecord price of at the auction sale of thelibrary of Edwin N. Lapham, at the AndersonRooms in New York, ought to be considered afairly good foundation upon which to erect a perfectbook. It must have been one of the best andperhaps the very best ever under the auctioneer’shammer, because of the price. The cataloguestated that it is one of the finest Copies inexistence.” The description is herewith given with !

these explanations : That from a copy in thepossession of a collector in Glasgow, Scotland,Parts IV to IX inclusive, of the Lapham copyhave been improved very materially ; thatthe Lapham copy in its description of Part IVadmitted the absence of an advertisement appearing only on the first few copies that theimprovements in the parts mentioned were notmade to the prejudice of the Lapham Copy but tomake up a set which will stand the test of. a

26


CHARLES DICKENSback inside cover blank, reverse of whichcommences The Library of F iction . The fourillustrations are actually from the Seymourplates

,of which it is said that not more than

400 impressions were taken, the plates havingbeen so lightly etched that they would notstand the strain of further printing. When, onthe introduction of Sam Weller, the book wasassured a success, copies of these plates weremade with the following differences.

Plate 1 Mr. Pickwick addresses the Club.

Seymour plate, Mr. Pickwick’s buttons onhis vest are on the right side ; Phiz plate,the buttons are on the left side.

Plate 2 : The Pugnacious Cabman . The milkmaid is clearly defined in the original and notso in the Phiz copy.

Plate 3 : The Sagacious Dog. The gamekeeper’s gun has lock and trigger ; secondstate, both are omitted.

Plate 4 : Dr. Slammer’

s defi ance of J ingle.

There are 10 boards on floor, second statehas 1 1 . Page 26, the last page of this number,is headed Posthumous Papers, etc., insteadof Posthumous Papers of.

Part 11 . With four I llustrations by Seymour onfront cover, only three, however, wereissued, the third, The Dying Clown , theartist having scarcely finished when he blewhis brains dut, it being said on account ofDickens reaping all the benefit, and he onlya paid servant. Inside front cover blank ,

28

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSback inside cover blank, outside back coveradvertises The Library of F iction . Also

,the

Very Rare printed address announcing thedeath of Seymour.

Part III. With I llustration s by R. W. Buss, inwhich state it is of extreme rarity

,it

being afterwards altered to With I llustra

tion s. The illustrations The Cricket Match

and the Arbour Scene are famous on

accoun t of not being satisfactory to the author,

and which were changed in the second issues.Inside cover blank, back inside cover blank,reverse advertises No . 3 of The Library ofF iction ; the excessively rare first PickwickAdvertisement, pp. 4 , announcing SundayUnder Three Heads, also the famous Address,not usually found with the part, which relatespartly to the new illustrator of Pickwick.Also, at the end appears the first paid ad

vertisemen t headed The Toilet, and advertisingRowland and Sons Toilet Preparations. Of

this Advertisement it is said that only oneother copy is known to exist.

Part IV. On inside front cover advertisement ofNew Works published by Chapman Hall,etc. Then the Pickwick advertiser, 4 pages,dated on page 3 , 17 Albemarle Street, June 18.

On back cover inside, advertisements beginning Chapman Hall, etc. ; outside coverThe Library of F iction with a notice tothe subscribers of this work that arrangements

29 D

CHARLES DICKENShave been made by virtue of which it isconfidently hoped that its future numberswill present additional claims,” etc. , followedby contents of Nos. 1 , 2 and 3 . (Note : thisadvertisement appeared only in the firstfew copies, when it was superseded by TheP ictorial Album. ) To this part Hablot K.

Browne, Phiz, first submitted his illustration s, the earliest impressions of whichare known by these points The Break

down ,page 89 , has Nemo engraved on

the left-hand corner, but very indistinctlythe SamWeller plate, page 94, hason the right-hand corner. This was Browne’ssobriquet, and this was his last use of it.

Part V. Inside front cover advertisements byChapman Hall, ann ouncing Sunday UnderThree Heads, and then Pickwick Advertiser

of 4 pages dated 14 Chandos Street, WestStrand, August 1 , 1836. At the end anadvertisement of James’s Naval History anda large leaf twice folded of Rowland’sMacassarOil. These two advertisements went throughmany of the later issues. Inside of back cover

,

advertisements of works by Chapman Hall.Outside back cover advertises The Library ofF iction , No. 5, giving no contents but a noticeby the proprietor that the arrangementsannounced by them a month ago are nowbrought in full operation.” In the plateMrs. Bardell Faints, the ornaments on theshelf are different, and the second plate

30

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSElection at Eatan swill, the Beadle’s legsare straight ; in later issues they are howl egged.

Page VI. Front cover inside, advertisement of newworks of Chapman 85 Hall, ann oun cing Sunday Under Three Heads, and the rare slipPhrenology Made Easy, dated September,1836, followed by the Pickwick Advertiser

of 8pages, not dated, beginn ing Mr.Macrone’

s

last new publications.” Inside of back cover,advertisement of Chapman Hall, A Car

land of Love, etc. ; on the outside coveradvertisement of The Library of F iction

containing the following original tales, etc. ,and giving the contents of No. 5. The plate,Seminary for Young Ladies has a hell onthe door, showing the first state. In theother plate the birdcage should rest on theboughs. There is also an erroneous pagin gof the plates which was corrected laterpage 169 and page

Part VII. On the inside of both covers there is acontinuing advertisement of The Library ofFiction , ann ouncing : In the course ofOctober will be published the first volume ofThe Library of F iction ,

” and on outside backcover, the advertisement of The Pictorial

Album. The Pickwick Advertiser, 8 pages,not dated, announcing new and interestingworks recently published by Smith, ElderCo .

”The plate Mr. Pickwick in the Pound,

3 1

CHARLES DICKENShas tw o donkeys the other plate, Dodsonand F ogg

’

s Ofl‘ice, has SamWeller with his legs

together, both of which are first state marks.Part VIII. The Pickwick Advertiser is dated on

first page, 86 Fleet Street, October 1 , 1836 ,but on page 2 o f the same leaf an advertisement by W. Kidd is dated 14 Chando s Street,West Strand, November 1 st, 1836 . On theinside covers is an advertisement This dayis published the First vo lume of The Libraryof F iction , etc. In the Heyling plate the chairshave different tops from those in the secondstate.

Part IX. Inside of front wrapper BartholomewFair by George Cruikshank ; The PickwickAdvertiser and advertisements at end commen cing Chapman and Hall and containingadvertisement of Library of F iction , No. 9 , 14pages in all, and with the illustrated advertisement from Effi ngham Wilson, Jr. , pp . 4. PlateMr. Weller attacks, the attendant at back ofSedan chair is difi eren t ; also, the kitten onthe stool is different in the plate at page 265,both of which are in first state.

Part X. Inside front cover advertising PopularWorks J ust Published also, with The Pickwick Advertiser, with plate The Goblin and the

S exton in first state, the bone being awayfrom the skull and the face in the tree ; also,with the address dated Dec. 1836, and withthe advertisements at end commencingLiterary Announcements.

32

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSPart XI. Front inside cover commencing N ew

Engravings recen tly published by Ackerman d’

c

Co . Also, with The P ickwick Advertiser ad

vertising the works of Charles Dickens, Esq. ,the first of these advertisers to mention theauthor’s name. Plate Mr. Pickwick Slides containing Arabella with left foo t forward and theblack and white dog. Back cover advertisesWeeds of Witchery, etc.

Part XII. Front inside cover advertises N ew Works,

etc. ; also , with The Pickwick Advertiser,

with mention of Dickens (as in Part XI) ;back inside cover announces Importan t I nven tion also

,with Mechi

’

s catalogue. PlateThe Trial Scen e with the hat.

Part XIII. Inside front cover commences Importan t I nven tion ,

etc . also, with advertisements at end commencing This day is published ; also, with The Pickwick Advertiser,plates in first state ( 1 ) with the cards plain lyseen, and (2) the point of the pole on the groundis in a line with the pole

,and the shadow

below the hat is separate with a clear spacebetween.

Part XIV. Front inside cover advertises Lodge’sPortraits also, with The Pickwick Advertiser,No. XIV, the first time the Advertiser bearsa number. Plates in first state : ( 1 ) plateConviviality at Bob Sawyer

’

s having books laiddown and (2) plate Mr. Pickwick sits for his

portrait, in which is no star in middle pane attop row in window.

33

CHARLES DICKENSPart XV. Front inside cover advertising Samuel

Weller’

s I llustrations, with The Pickwick Advertiser, No. XV. Plate in first state : ( 1 )The Warden

’

s Room, there is no loop at end ofclothes-line ; and (2) The Warden

’

s Room,by

Phiz, del. also, with the address, dated June30, 1837, in which Charles Dickens announcesthe resumption of the work, which had beeninterrupted by a severe domestic afi’lictionof no o rdinary kind [the death of Miss MaryHogarth, Dickens’ sister-in -law, who diedsuddenly on May 7th, 1837, just afte r theappearance of No. XIV of the work] ; also,with advertisements at end.

Part XVI. Front inside cover commencing AnImportan t Addition . Plates in first state( 1 ) plate The Red-nosed Man discourseth,

the legs of Sam’s chair are turned, in the secondthey are square (2) plate Mrs. Bardell

encoun ters Mr. Pickwick in Prison , with railingon the steps and cockade in Sam’s hat, bothof which were omitted in the later issues.

Part XVII. Front inside cover commencing Chubb’sNew Paten t, etc. also, with The PickwickAdvertiser, No. XVII. Plates in first state( 1 ) With the top shelf at the right empty,and with dishes on the second Shelf of closet,both of which are reversed in the second state

,

and (2) with the uncorded hamper ; also, withthe address, dated August 26, 1837 announc

ing a new work by Boz, and with adver

tisements at end.34


CHARLES DICKENSset which has the points required

,and in

addition, has some unique features. From Part Xto the end o f the book it has impressions of boththe first and second plates. It also has the unpublished Buss plate. It is said there are only twoother copies so made up.

Maggs Bros. , in 19 1 I , offered a very early issue for£185. The wrappers were all dated 1836 and theplates met all the demands . The advertisementsalone showed that it was not of the earliest publication . In the same catalogue this firm had acopy in parts with the addresses in Parts II and IIImissing and most of the plates showing early states ,for which was asked 18 guineas. A copy withthe wrappers dated 1836 and 1837, with the Bussplates and the V in the Weller of the vignettetitle page, sold in a Philadelphia auction inFebruary

,191 1 , for $130 . The advertisements

indicated that it was a much later issue of the firstedition, and though it maintained some of thepoints of the o riginal issue it had none of theaddresses. This made it a rather queercopy.A census of perfect copies is not at hand

,but of

the 400 sets originally published there are notmore than ten in existence. In some of these

,

making up has been resorted to, so that composite copies are the result. With an admittedcondition of this character, it will be seen thatfi rst-class copies are beyond the reach of theaverage collector. This brings the propositiondown to copies of the second or third grade.The first feature to disappear is the name of the

36

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSillustrator printed on the wrappers. The collectoris forced to be satisfied with the words, WithIllustrations and the date 1837 in place of theearlier year. The V Shows up as a W inthe Weller of the signboard, and the first twoaddresses are seen no more. Buss plates graduallybegin to lose their authenticity and are printed onordinary paper instead of plate paper. OriginalSeymour etchings have long since been replacedby the Phiz re -drawings

,and finally there

appear on all the plates the letterpress. The

presence or absence of all or some of these marks,

of course, shades the price of the book.

To the beginner the fact that a real first issue ofa famous book like Pickwick canno t be obtainedseems like a great hardship . It must be remembered that there are many books of other authorswhich have become practically unprocurable. Butthe true collector always does the best he can.Ever a philosopher he wisely turns to the nextbest specimen which will, at any rate, give him arepresentation of a book required to complete hiscollection. There are many good sets in parts ofPickwick which answer the purposes of a firstedition, because they actually are first editionsbut of later issues. It is not a broad statementto say that any copy bearing the 1837 date is afirst edition.

Many sets of the parts are in the market whichlack the addresses in parts 11 and 111 , but whichhave some of the other points.” These may bebought for prices ranging from $75 to $200.

Then there are 0 0 pies which have been neatly3 7

CHARLES DICKENSbound up. The writer has one of these which iseminently satisfactory in lieu of a better copy.It is uncut and of the second printing. A secondissue has a fairly infallible mark in the first line ofpage 18, where the words “ loud knocking areslightly mutilated. There is a green wrapper

,a

first and a corrected illustrated title page with theV changed to a W in Weller the originalBuss plates and the first Phiz plates signedNemo and about one-half of the o ther platesin their first states. This copy cost $50, six yearsago .When a bound copy is purchased, it should beseen that it is composed of the parts. The regularcloth bound copy has no great value either from abibliographic or a commercial standpoint. Inmany instances, in fact, in most cases, the platesare the ones which have the captions and consequently are very late ones. If the Buss platesare in a copy bound up from the parts, thegenuineness of the Arbour plate can be determined by this test, which though not infallible isfairly reliable. It is known that Part I contained26 pages and Part II

,24. That would make the

Arbour plate face page 51 , the first page ofPart III on which begins Chapter VI. In numerousinvestigations it was found that a portion of theprinting was set-off on the plate paper. Usuallywhen the Arbour plate is good the other Bussplate may be relied upon, provided the paper issimilar. It is useless to expect original Seymoursin the first four plates, though it is not unusual tofind the origin als in Part II.

38

wm w rz {563 /c (yNULL”

Se cond Buss plate in Part I I I . of The Pickwick Papers .

ca nce lled by Dickens .


CHARLES DICKENSby R. Seymour and/Phiz./London :/Chapman 85Hall, 186 , Strand. /MDCCCXXXVII.COLLATION WHEN BOUND : Half title, reverseblank ; frontispiece by Phiz del illustratedor vignette title page by Phiz fecit,” (showingTony Weller in the act of ducking Stiggin s in thewater trough in front of the Marquis of Granby)title page

,on reverse of which London :/Bradbury

Evans, Printers,/Whitefriars ; dedication to

Mr. Serjeant Talfourd,M.P. , tw o pages signed with

the author’s name in full and dated 48, DoughtyStreet,/September 27, 1837 ; preface three pages,reverse blank ; contents four pages ; directionsto the binder

,on reverse errata ; 609 pages and

43 etchings.Pickwick was the first of Dickens’ s green

leaves to which he referred in the preface toDavid COpperfi eld and also in several of hisletters. It has been stated once before this thatthe first part contained 26 pages and four platesby Seymour. This make-up of the book wasunsatisfactory from the start

,so when the artist

committed suicide on April 20, a decision wasreached. An address was issued with part II.Seymour had etched only three plates and thenumber of pages was cut to 24. The addresswas printed on a leaf by itself and read asfollowsBefo re this number reaches the hands of our readers

,

they will have become acquainted with themelancho ly death of Mr. Seymour, undercircumstances of a very distressing nature.Some time must elapse before the void which

40

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSthe deceased gentleman has left in his profession can be filled up —the blank his deathhas o ccasioned in the Society which hisamiable nature won, and his talents ado rned,we can hardly hope to see supplied.

We do not allude to this distressing event in the vainhope of adding, by any eulogium o f ours, tothe respect in which the memory the late Mr.

Seymour is held by all who ever knew him.

Some apology is due to our readers for theappearance of the present number with onlythree plates. When we state that they comprise Mr. Seymour’s last efforts, and that onone of them, in particular, (the embellishmentto the Stroller’s Tale) , he was engaged up to alate hour of the night precedin g his death,we feel confident that the excuse will be deemeda sufficient one.

Arrangements are in progress whi ch will enable usto present the ensuing numbers of the PickwickPapers on an improved plan, which we trustwill give entire satisfaction to our numerousreaders.

April 27th, 1836.

R. W. Buss had sent in a drawing for Part IIwhich was so close in style to Seymour’s picturesthat he was engaged as the latter’s successor. Ithad been decided to increase the letterpress to32 pages and to limit the illustrations to two .In Part III there was published an Address fromthePublishers” which had been written byDickens.This said

We announced in our last that the ensuing numbersof the Pickwick Papers

,would appear in an

41

CHARLES DICKENSimproved form : and we now beg to call theattention of our readers to the fulfilment ofour promise.

Acting upon a suggestion which has been made tothem from various influential quarters, thePublishers have determined to increase thequantity of Letter-Press in everymonthly part

,and to diminish the number of Plates. It willbe seen that the present number contains eightadditional pages of closely printed matter,and two engravings in steel, from designs byMr. Buss -a gentleman already well knownto the public as a very humorous and talentedartist.

This alteration in the plan of the work entails uponthe Publishers a considerable expense, whichnothing but a large circulation would justifythem in incurring. They are happy to have itin their power to state that the rapid sale ofthe two first numbers, and the daily increasingdemand for thi s Periodical, enables them toacknowledge the patronage of the Public,in the way which they hope will be deemedmost acceptable.

May 3oth, 1836 .

Dickens also wrote the following, which appearedin the same part

POSTSCRI PT FROM THE EDI TOR.

Always anxious to amuse our readers by everymeans in our power, we beg to present themwith the following verbatim Copy of a letteractually addressed and sent by an anonymouscorrespondent to the Editor of the PickwickPapers, a fortnight since. Our correspondent’s

42

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSnotions of pun ctuation are peculiar to himself,and we have not ventured to interfere withthem.

Sir—In times when the great. and thegood are. largely associating for. the amelioration of the An imal Kingdom, it seemsremarkable. that any writer should. counteract their. intentions. by. such carelessparagraphs as. the one. I. incloseif it is carlessness. only, it may be correctedif it is. bad taste. I am afraid it. will be moredifi icult. but perhaps you could. in anotherpaper. point out, to the obtuse, like myself,the wit or humour, of depicting. the noblestof animals faint, weary, and over driven,When the Knees quiver and the Pulsesbeat. ’

Subjected to a. Brute ; only to be. toleratedbecause he at. least is ignorant, of. theCreature and his Creator. to whom he isresponsible, and whose. admirable frolicand fun consists in giving. hi s brutalhistory of hi s horse. in bad English

And then follows an extract from a newspaper,containing the Cabman’s description of his Horse,from page 6 of our first number.This is evidently a very pleasant person—a fellowof infi nite fancy. We shall be happy toreceive other communications from the samesource—and on the same terms ; that is tosay, post paid.Buss was dismissed after having been paid £6 10s.for the two plateswhi ch were cancelled by Dickens.

43

CHARLES DICKENSThackeray became an applicant for the positionof illustrator, but Hablot K. Browne was cho sen.

Under the pseudonym of Phiz his connectionwith Dickens’ s work did not end until A Tale ofTw o Cities was published in 1859 . With on e

exception all the plates after Part IV were signedPhiz del, that exception being Pickwick’sMeeting in the Fleet with Jingle. In addition toillustrating the current numbers, the new artist redrew all the Seymour plates, and in do ing this hecommitted several peculiar errors. In the firstplate he placed Pickwick’s buttons on the wrongside of his vest. The third picture shows a sho tgun without a hammer or trigger, although in theoriginal Seymour both were drawn.

!

It may be of interest to note here that on March20, 1907, at Sotheby’s, was sold the Phizorigin al drawing of the trial scene and that itbrought £50.

In Part X there was printed as follows this

ADDRESS .

Ten months have now elapsed since the appearanceof the first number of the PICKW I CK PAPERS .

At the close of the year, and the conclusion ofhalf his task, their Author may perhaps,without any unwarrantable intrusion on thenotice of the Public, venture to say a few wordsfor himself.

He has long been desirous to embrace the firstA good D ickensian , who made an investigation of the drawing

me thods of both Seymour and Brown e, reports that he has never found

that Seymour drew a gun with a trigger and a hammer excepting in

Pickw ick, and that Brown e always had these on his guns, but that he

forgot them in the book under discussion .

44

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSopportunity of announcing that it is hisintention to adhere to hi s original pledge o fconfin ing this work to twenty numbers. Hehas every temptation to exceed the limits hefirst assigned to himself, that brilliant success,an enormous and increasing sale, the kindestnotice, and the most extensive popularity,can hold out. They are, one and all, sadtemptations to an author, but he has determined to resist them firstly, because he wishesto keep the strictest faith with his readers ;and secondly, because he is most anxious thatwhen the POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PI CKW I CK CLUB form a complete work, the bookmay not have to contend against the heavydi sadvantage of bein g prolonged beyond hisoriginal plan.

For ten months longer, then, if the Author bepermitted to retain his health and spirits,the PI CKWI CK PAPERS will be issued in theirpresent form, and will then be completed.By what fresh adventures they may besucceeded is no matter for present consideration. The Author merely hints that he hasstrong reason to believe that a great varietyof other documents still lie hidden in therepository from which these were taken, andthat they may one day see the light.

With this short speech, Mr. Pickwick’s stagemanager makes his most grateful bow, addingon behalf of himself and publishers, whatthe lateMr. John Richardson, of HorsemongerLane, Southwark, and the Yellow Caravanwith the Brass Knocker, always said onbehalf of himself and company, at the closeof every performance

Ladies and gentlemen, for these marks45 E

CHARLES DICKENSof your favour, we beg to return you oursincere thanks, and allow us to inform youthat we shall keep perpetually going onbeginn ing again, regularly, until the end ofthe fair.”

December, 1836.

The final address of the author appeared inPart XV. It was in the nature of an apology forthe delay in the issue due to the death of his sisterin -law, Mary Hogarth, of whom he was evidentlyvery fond. This is the

ADDRESS

186 , Strand, June 30, 1837.

The Author is desirous to take the opportunityafforded him by his resumption of this work,to state once again what he thought had beenstated sufficiently emphatically before, namelythat its publication was interrupted by asevere domestic affl iction of no ordinary kindthat thi s was the so le cause of the nonappearance of the present number in the usualcourse and that henceforth it will continueto be published with its accustomed regularity.

However superfluous this second notice may appearto many, it is rendered necessary by variousidle speculations and absurdities which havebeen industriously propagated during thepast month ; which have reached the Author’sears from many quarters, and have painedhim exceedingly. By one set of intimateacquaintances, especially well informed, hehas been killed outright by another, drivenmad ; by a third, imprisoned for debt ; by afourth, sent per steamer to the United Statesby a fifth, rendered in capable of mental

46


CHARLES DICKENSThe stranger’s anecdote is not one quarter sowonderful as some ofMr. Jesse’s Gleanings.”Ponto Sink s into utter in sign ifi cance beforethe dogs whose actions he records—Ed.

Thi s was suppressed in the later issues,whereas

ano ther marginal note referring to Jingle’s anecdoteof the revolution of July runs

, A remarkableinstance of the prophetic force of Mr. Jingle’ simagination ; this dialogue o ccurring in the year1827, and the revo lution in which did notappear in the original issue.On page 375 the heading The Pickwick Clubhas a slight mixture in the position of the types

,

making the second word read Picwkick.

”The

erro r arrived early and remained fairly late.The dedi cation in subsequent editions seems tohave melted away. That of 1847 printed itcondensed to three or four personal lines. To

Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, with much regards, etc.”In the Library Edition of 1858 it disappearedaltogether, and it did not appear again in theeditions which followed until the National andCentenary editions were published recently.

There were also various alterations made in thepreface.In the earlier numbers of the parts there were

fifty lines to a page this was reduced to forty-ninelines later.When the volume edition was issued after thecompletion of the parts, the title page credited thework to Boz. It will be remembered that thetitle page to the parts had it by Charles Dickens.”The pen name was retained in three more of his

48

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSsubsequent works and the novelist’s real name didnot appear again until the second edi tion ofOliver Twist was published.

VALUES .

Some idea has already been given of presentday prices. When Mr. Dexter wrote his Hintsto Dickens Collectors,” about 1870, he could hardlyforesee what was to become of the figures he fixed.It is worth while quoting him in order to indicatethe marvellous jumps made since that time.He wrote A complete Copy in parts and in finestate is worth £10, but a fi ne copy in parts, withthe four addresses, the advertisements to each part,(which are of great rarity) , and all the plates in thefirst state, has not been sold by auction for thelast fifteen years. It would doubtless realise £15to What would thi s commentator say ofthe record price of £290 ‘

2 It is interesting alsoto note that Mr. Johnson in 1885 put the price ofa fi rst-class copy at from £10 to £15.

Mr. Thomson in his Bibliography says £34 wasa poor price for a set whi ch was enclosed in twohalf-morocco cases with Dickens’ s crest on theback, and sold at Christies, May, 1900 ; Sothebysold a set in parts with I and III only first issue,in May, 1898, for £24 lOs. ,

and a Similar set for£22 in March

,1899 . On May 18, 1903 , Sotheby

sold a copy which was described as follows :Contains the four scarce addresses in Nos. 11 ,

111 , X and XV ; first two wrappers have Seymour’s name and the third that of R. W. Buss,and first issues of the Phiz plates. Advertise

49

CHARLES DICKENSments were lacking in first, second and fourth parts.Every number was dated It was sold for£142. Auction records show that sets in parts withthe addresses only in No. X and XV have sold since1904 for prices ranging from £9 to £20. In manyinstances the lower prices were due to defects,such as missing wrappers

,spotted plates or im

paired backs. Parts bound up, usually withmarbled or gilt edges

,went much cheaper at £3

to £8. In the original cloth the range is from £3to £7 when in good clean state.

50

THE IMPORTANT NOVELS

OLIVER TWISTLong before Dickens had fi nished Pickwickhe had entered into an arrangement with RichardBentley to edit the Miscellany for a salary of £20a month. This included a serial and an agreementon the part of Bentley to buy two other storiesfor publication in the future. Three years laterthe contract was cancelled and Bentley never gotthe two stories. Publication of the Miscellanybegan January

,1837 , and in the following number

was begun the printing of Oliver Twist.” Thiswas continued monthly until March, 1839 , withthe lapse of the month of June, 1837, owing to thedeath of Mary Hogarth. In the magazine theopening of the story was laid in Mudfog thiswas altered in book-form to a certain townwhich for many reasons it will be prudent to refrainfrom mentioning,” etc.Six months before the completion of the storyin the periodical it was issued in a 3 -volume edition.Frederic G. Kitton is the authority for the statement that the 35 London booksellers contractedfor only 528 copies.George Cruikshank, who had been the illustratorof Dickens’ s first published book, was selected todo the pictures for the Miscellany, and these wereafterwards utilised in the book. They were of thehighest grade with the exception of the last plate,which was cancelled by the author and a substituteplate drawn.

51

CHARLES DICKENSThe first edition comprises two issues, both,however, having the same title page . The firstissue carries the suppressed Fireside plate

,and

the second issue has the substituted plate, RoseMaylie and Oliver.” Both were dated 1838, andthe title page attributed the authorship to Boz .The second edition contains the later plate and theshortened title Oliver Twist, By Charles Dickens,Author o f The Pickwi ck Papers.”The following year saw two issues of Oliver

Twist, one of them bearing 2nd editionon the title page. In 1840 another edition wasprinted, and this has the same title page as thefirst edition, but with a different date. The thirdedition

,printed 1841 , has the same title page as

the second edition with the change in date. Thereis also a long preface dated Devonshire Terrace,April

,1841 . With the drawings touched up,”

enlarged and with different backgrounds, anedition in ten monthly parts was issued in 1846 ,by Bradbury Evans. This in volume form wasbound in slate-coloured cloth.

COLLATION OF THE FIRST ISSUEVol. I. Half title, on reverse, New Work byBoz. /Barnaby Rudge :/by willbe published forthwith in BENTLEY ’

SMI SCELLANYErnest Maggs, o f London ,

is of opin ion that the fi rst

Edition con sists o f three issue s,and should be described thus fi rst

issue w ith Boz,

”title -

page and F ireside plate second issue with

same title -

page and the substituted plate ; third issue w ith the sub

stituted plate , but with the shorten ed title -

page ; all o f which he

believes to be of the same printing, differing only in the changed plate

in the second issue,and in the changed title and plate in the third issue .

The real second edition would therefore be that of 1839,bearing the

words “Second Edition on the title-page .

52

OL I V ER TW I S T

on, THE

PAR I SH -B OY’

S PRO GRES S.

BY BOZ .

”

I N THREE VOLUMES.

VOL. I .

Lo N D O N t

RICHARD BENTLEY, new BURLINGTON 5mm .

T itle page of the first issue of Oliver Twist.”This was

materially altered subsequently.


CHARLES DICKENSand his pupil recovering Nancy.” which is datedAug. 1 , 1838, and The Jew and Morris Bolterbegin to understand each other

,

” dated Nov. 1 ,1838. The remaining plates are altered to readLondon, Published by Richard Bentley, 1838.

With a few exceptions all the plates are signedGeorge Cruikshank, the exceptions being in theabbreviations of the artist’s given name.The three volumes were bound in brown clothhaving stamped in gilt on the back the wordsOliver Twist and underneath Boz ; (Vol. I, II,

At the bottom London, Bentley. The

price was 258.

Collectors under whose observations have comecopies with the list of illustrations following thetitle page will be justified in a protest against theelimination of this feature from the collation.This was done because experts now agree that thelist was an interpo lation on the part of Dickenssuggested by the utter absence of Cruikshank’sname in any part of the book. It will be noticedin all instances that the paper upon which it wasprinted was lighter in colour from that used inthe body of the book and also that it was cutshorter. The impression is not to be created,however, that copies having the list are not firsteditions. With and without the list both aregenuine first issues.A genuine first issue in the original cloth covers,uncut, and with clean, unfoxed plates and leaves isvery rare. Second issues have often been offeredas makeshifts with the argument that both wereissued during the same year.

54

The cancelled F i reside plate in Oliver Tw ist.

pre sence indicates the first issue of the first edition .

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSTHE ISSUE I N PARTS , 1846 .

This is generally known as the first octavo editionand was published in ten monthly parts with agreen wrapper designed by Cruikshank. It islooked upon with favour by collectors, and as aconsequence is the most valuable o f the OliverTwists. The first part was issued in January, themonth during which Dickens took editorial chargeof the Daily News. Many of the advertising pagesof the parts were taken up in announcements forthis paper. Af terwards a vo lume was issued boundin slate-coloured cloth and this also is extremelyscarce. A number of Copies of the parts have beennoticed in which the first number was in bluewrappers. It is believed that this was a Dickensexperiment to differentiate in colour betweenoriginal issues and re -publications. It evidentlydid not please because the green wrappers werefinally adopted after a few of the others had beenprinted. One of these copies came up at Sotheby’sin February

, 19 1 1 . It had a duplicate Part Iin blue and belonged to Capt. R. J. H. Douglas,the most eminent of the Cruikshank authorities.It was not what might be designated a fine copy,but it fetched £23 10s. Later it sold for $ 175 inAmerica. An immaculate copy was o ffered in19 12 by Charles Sessler, a Philadelphia dealer,for $200 .

The TI TLE PAGE reads as follows : The[Adventures/of/Oliver Twist Parish Boy’s Progress./By/Charles Dickens. [With twenty fourIllustrations on Steel, by/George Cruikshank .[Anew Edition, Revised and Corrected /London

55

CHARLES DICKENSPublished for the Author,[By Bradbury Evans,Whitefriars.[MDCCCX LVLCOLLATION : Half title, reverse blank ; on reverse

o f title page,Bradbury 85 Evans, printers, White

friars contents 3 pages list o f illustrations1 page ; preface to 3rd edition 4 pages, datedDevonshire Terrace, April, 1841 pp. 3 1 1 , and24 illustrations.Price 10 shillings.The bound volume was issued at 1 1 shillings.

VALUESFirst issue with cancelled and substituted plates,June

,1897 at Sotheby’s, £9 108. November

,1899 ,

£3 188. in a moro cco case without substitutedplate, Sotheby’s, June, 1903 , £6 28. 6d atAnderson’ s,N .Y. ,December, 1908, with substitutedplate, $40 at Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February,19 1 1 , without substituted plate, $42. Dealers’prices range from £6 to £1 1 . Quaritch, of London,in 19 13 asked 12 guineas for a copy having thelist of illustrations. Second editions range from£1 108. to £3 the later editions somewhatcheaper.The re -issue in parts, all at Sotheby’s, June, 1897

£7 58. June,1899 , 1 1 guineas ; very fine set, at

Christie’s, May,1900, £23 ; in cloth case, good

copy, £13 108. parts rebound in cloth, February,1900, £8 128. In slate-coloured cloth, Sotheby’s,March

,1897, £3 at Puttick’

s, July, 1902, £2 78. 6d.

A dealer, in 191 1 , £4 108.

56


CHARLES DICKENSby Phiz./London [Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand./MDCCCXXXIX.

COLLATION : Half title ; frontispiece, consistingof the portrait of the author by Daniel Maclise

and engraved by Finden. (The picture bears afacsimile of Dickens’s signature—Faithfully yoursCharles Dickens, with the many flourishes whichaccompanied the signature of that period. At

the bottom of the plate—London. PublishedOct. 1 , 1839 , by Chapman Hall, 186, Strand. )Title page, on reverse, London [Bradbury andEvans, Printers, Whitefriars dedication to W. C.

Macready, Esq. , blank on the reverse ; prefacefour pages unsigned ; contents four pages ; listof plates two pages 624 pages and 39 platesby Phiz on the last page another imprint.

Phiz etched several series of plates forNickleby, one of which Mr. Mantalini in reducedCircumstances,” has been subjected to somecriticism because o f the meagreness of the garmentswith which the woman was gowned.There was also issued a bound volume, the priceof which was one guinea in cloth, 24s. 6d. bound inhalf morocco, and 268. 6d. in full morocco .To the collector, Nicholas Nickleby in theparts is not an interesting book. Its immenseoriginal circulation makes it rather common.

The points are likewise few and un important.The first etched plates up to page 45 carry thepublishers’ imprint in later impressions this wasomitted.

At Anderson’s, N .Y. , March 18, 1909, a mostattractive copy of Nicholas Nickleby came

58

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSunder the hammer. It was full bound and hadall the front wrappers. It must have been a veryearly issue, because it had an error which israrely seen. Inserted was a letter which Dickenshad written to Mr. Hicks, a reader in the offi ce ofBradbury 85 Evans, who printed the book for thepublishers. It readsMy dear Mr. Hicks,—Ou looking hastily over theproof, I see no mistake except page 123 ,where at line 17 the word sister shouldbe substituted for visitor,” etc.

The address bears the post offi ce stamp Ju. 23 ,1838. It was in part IV. dated July

,1838, that

the mistake was made, and how it ever got intothe book is almost unexplainable when it is notedthat Dickens discovered the error in the proof.This book brought $141 at the sale.A month before the first part was issued it wasadvertised in the current magazines in the shapeof a mock proclamation. It was a separate leafletand collectors have frequently made it a part ofNickleby,” thus adding to its value and interest.

VALUESFifteen years ago £3 was a fair price at Englishauctions for copies in parts. American auctionsat the present time have raised the price untilit has reached an average of £7 108. Quotationsfo llow : At Sotheby’s, February, 1896, £2 10s. ;

at Puttick’

s, May,1897, in a half moro cco case,

£3 188. At Sotheby’s, June, 1902, fine copy in clothcase, £6 ; at Anderson’s, N.Y., December, 1908,

59

CHARLES DICKENSin a slip case, $3 1 ; March, 1909, $37 ; December,1909, an interesting copy, having inserted twooriginal pencil drawings by Phiz of Mr. andMrs. Mantalini in Ralph Nickleby’s office (whichdiffers from the published etching in having sevenfigures instead of four) Mysterious Appearanceof the gentleman in the small clothes,” both beingsigned. Enclosed in a fine levant solander caseit brought $255 ; at Freeman’s, February, 19 1 1 ,very clean Copy, Bound volumes inoriginal cloth range from £2 in 1896 to £4 in 1910.

60


CHARLES DICKENSfell so quickly that the o riginal pro ject was abandoued and a serial was begun in the fourth numberunder the well-known title of The Old CuriosityShop.

From the time of the first issue until the end ofBarnaby Rudge,” there were actually four forms

o f publication, namely In 88 weekly parts20 monthly parts ; the three-volume edition, and theissue in separately bound vo lumes of the two stories.The weekly issue appeared in a white wrapperwith a woodcut by George Cattermole . Each issuewas dated Saturday with the day of the monthand contained 12 pages. A green wrapper heldthe monthly issue, and, of course, it included fourweekly numbers of 48pages or more. The monthlyparts bore the dates of the weekly issues on thefirst two wrappers. On the third wrapper andthereafter the dates were changed to the numbersof the weekly parts. In the weekly issues therewere addresses in No s. 9 , 80, 81 , 82, 83 and 87 .

In the last number a postscript was added. Ex

cepting in No . 9 the other notices were repetitionsin the nature of a farewell in V iew of the author’ scontemplated departure for America. A promisewas also made that in November, 1842, he wouldpublish a novel of English life, etc. This referredto the story afterwards christened Martin Chuzzlew it.

”The addresses were dated September,

1841 , and the po stscript November, 1841 .

Of the four issues the weekly one is hard to obtain in a clean condition, and is therefore the mostcostly the monthly parts are next, while the3 -volume edition and the single volumes are fairly

62

THE IMPORTANT NOVELScommon and command no great price. In thelatter all of the extraneous Clock matter hadbeen eliminated, but was retained in the o therforms of publication. Weekly and monthly partsare of

“

the same dimensions, measuring 1015 by 7inches, thus making a large-sized octavo. The

3 -volume form is marbled on all edges (with the endpapers similarly marbled) , and this, together withthe binding, has reduced the size to 10 by

WRAPPERS .

The design on the white and green wrapperswas identical and the wordin g was as followsTop line the number and price.Inside the woodcut and a part o f it, Master]

type) Byand numbers as explained above) . With illustration s/By/G . Cattermole and H. K. Browne.In small type under the woodcut on the leftand right bottoms, respectively, Bradbury andEvans, Printers, Whitefriars. Beneath all inlarger type, London : Chapman and Hall, 186 ,

Strand. Then follows a list of agents in theUnited Kingdom, which gradually increased untilthe names and addresses of 32 were printed. Inthe white wrappers the price per number was 3d.

in the green it was 18. and 18. 3d. , fixed by thequantity of the matter in the part.COLLATION OF THE 3 -VOLUME EDITION . Vol. I.Frontispiece by George Cattermole ; title page,Master Humphrey’ s Clock. [By Charles Dickens.With Illustrations[By/George Cattermole andHablot Browne. [Vol. I. [London [Chapman and

63

CHARLES DICKENSHall, 186 , Strand.[MDCCCXL on reverse

, Lon

don [Bradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriarsdedication to Samuel Rogers, Esquire, reverseblank ; preface two pages, dated DevonshireTerrace, York Gate,/September, 1840. pp. 306.

Vol. II. Frontispiece by Phiz title pagesame, excepting vo lume number, and dateMDCCCXLI, on reverse same imprint as in Vol. Ipreface, two pages, dated Devonshire Terrace,London ,[March, 1841 . pp. 306 .

Vol. III. Frontispiece by Phiz title pageno change except as to volume number, sameimprint on reverse ; preface to Barnaby Rudgetwo pages, dated Devonshire Terrace, York Gate,[November, 1841 pp. 426. Imprint on last pageBradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriars.The binding was a brown embossed clo th. On

the front side there was a neat device, consistingof a gold clock, the hands of which pointed to I,II or 111 , as the volume number demanded it.On the back there was much gilding with thetitle of the book and the Roman numerals for thevolumes.Daniel Maclise drew one of the illustrations,which appeared in part XXXV. of the weeklynumbers, and on p. 108 of the second book o f the3 -volume edition. Of the 194 illustrations, Phiz”drew 154 and Cattermole 39. For the first timewoodcuts were used and most of them were placedin the text. Many of Browne’s designs aresigned H.K.B .

VALUESTHE EIGHTY -EIGHT WEEKLY NUMBERS. In 1885

64


CHARLES DICKENS

MARTIN CHUZZLEWITIn accordance with the addresses in the weeklyand monthly parts of the Clock,” and the advertisemen t in American Notes

,

” to write a storyof English life and mann ers

,in January, 1843 ,

there was begun in twenty monthly parts thepublication of Martin Chuzzlewit.” Dickenshad tired of weekly issues and he returned to theold monthly plan. Under the guidance of Fo rsteran agreement w as made under which Chapman andHall bound themselves to pay £200 monthly andthree-fourths of the profits for a new story. A

further arrangement was to the effect that Dickensshould receive £150 monthly until the new serialshould begin, with an additional stipulation thatif the profits were insuffi cient to cover this amountit was to be deducted from the £200 to be paidmonthly. With a guaranteed income Dickenswas enabled to make his visit to America. Furtherreference to the contract shows that in case of thefailure of the new publication the £200 monthlyfor the parts was to be reduced to £50. WhenNo. 7 was published, Mr. Hall suggested that thi sclause be made effectual and Dickens rebelled.He had made arrangements with his old publishersfor A Christmas Carol,” but he insisted thatForster should terminate all agreements

,and

open negotiations with Bradbury 85 Evans. Thisfirm advanced him £2800 for one -fourth share ofwhatever he should write in eight years, and after

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSthe publication of The Chimes,” business re

lation s with Chapman Hall were not resumeduntil 1858, when the firm published ReprintedPieces.”

GREEN WRAPPERS .

As has been stated,the twenty monthly parts

began with No . I in January, 1843 , and No s. XIXand XX ended the serial in July

,1844. They had

the usual green wrappers,the design of which

was by Phiz .” The full wording on the paperwrapper was as follows Top line No s. and price18. The/Life and Adven tures/of[Martin Chuzzlew it/His Relatives

,Friends and Enemies. [Com

prising/All His Wills and His Ways,[With anHistoric Reco rd of What He Did,[and What He

Didn ’t ;[Showing, Moreover,[Who Inherited theFamily Plate, Who Came in For the Silver Spoons,and Who For the Wooden Ladles.[The WholeFormin g a Complete Key to the/House of ChuzzleWit.[Edi ted by Boz. [With Illustrations ByPhiz .

” Below the woodcut,London : Chapman

St Hall, 186, Strand.[(The month of issue) , 1843 .

The TI TLE PAGE was Simplified to this : The/Life andAdventures o f Martin Chuzzlewit. By CharlesDickens. [With Illustrations by Phiz.[LondonChapman Hall, 186, Strand.[MDCCCXLIV.

COLLATION . Half-title, reverse blank ; frontispiece, illustrated title page, reverse blank ; titlepage, reverse London [Bradbury and Evans,Printers, Whitefriars dedi cation to Miss BurdettCoutts, reverse blank preface two pages, the firstunnumbered, the second VIII, dated London,/Twenty-fi f th June

, 1844 ; Contents four pages,67

CHARLES DICKENSthe first unnumbered and the others X,XI andXIIlist of plates two pages, one not numbered, theother XIV errata one page, fourteen lines, reverseblank

,pp. 624, and forty illustrations, including

the vignette title page.In volume form it w as bound in a rather brightblue cloth

,with the title Martin Chuzzlewit in a

gilt stamp in the second panel, By/Chas. Dickens,in the fourth panel, and London, 1844 at thebottom. A few copies have been found in browncloth, but in no instance were they of the earlyissues. The price of the cloth volume was oneguinea ; half bound moro cco 24s. 6d. , moroccogilt

, 26s. 6d.

The first issue of the first edition had a testgrowing out of a peculiar error by the artist. On

the vignette title page in a reward notice on thesign-post he transposed the offer so as to readThis was not altered until a number of copies hadbeen printed. The corrected copies thus becamesecond or later issues of the first edition. The

collector would suppose that these early printingswould be used exclusively in the parts, but quitea number of the cloth-bound volumes have thiserror. In all instances, however, unless boundtoo closely, the stab -holes of the original partscan be discovered, showing the origin of the volume.Copies with the error are scarce.

VALUES.

Though good copies of the parts are not commonthe book does not seem to enjoy great popularitywith collectors. In 1885 Johnson said that good

68


THE IMPORTANT NOVELScopies were worth from £3 to £5. Auction recordsare rather indefinite in stating whether a copy hasthe transposed The presumption would bethat where there is no mention of this importantpoint it is absent

,and that the Copy must be of the

second issue. In February,1896, 20 parts brought

£3 188. at Sotheby’ s three years later a very finecopy was so ld for £9 158. First issue in originalcloth in June

, 1899, fetched £6, the second issuein February

, 1897, yielding only £3 4s. , and inMay, 1900, two shillings less. In parts designatedas fine

,

” May, 1903 , sold for seven guineas ;Copy rebound with wrappers and advertisementspreserved and the transposed brought £3at Sotheby’ s in May, 1904 . In American auctionssince then quotations follow At Anderson’s,New York, December, 1908, original parts in clothslip case

,probably second issue, realised $30 ;

a very notable copy was sold by this house fromthe Hermann collection, March 18, 1909, which isworthy of a description. It was extra-illustratedby a very rare set of 4 plates by Wall, theexistence of which is quite un known to manyDickens collectors.” In addition and possiblyof more importance was the presence of five of theo riginal drawings by Phiz, one of which was awater-colour drawing. The subjects were thosewhich were placed in the original edition at pages24, 268, 296, 385 and 563 . The whole was boundin one volume by Riviere in full crushed levantextra with a green wrapper preserved. It brought$625. In December, 1909 , a fine copy in the partswith a leaf of errata but no reference to the error

69

CHARLES DICKENSon the title page, brought $43 , including twosolander cases by Riviere. A clean copy, February,19 1 1 , at Freeman’s, Philadelphia, undoubtedly asecond issue, sold for $22 ; December, 19 1 1 , atAnderson’ s, wrappers repaired, in tw o slip-casesby Zaehnsdorf, $37 at the same sale, with onewrapper bound in, by Sangorski and Sutcliffe,and two original drawings by Phiz,” Signed

,at

pages 24 and 528, brought $85. A London dealerin a catalogue dated November, 19 12, asked nineguineas for a first issue of the original parts withthe transposed At the present time thelatter quotation running up to £10 may be acceptedas the average price for the copy described

,and

from £6 to £8 for the first issue in the originalclo th.

70


CHARLES DICKENSExportation ,[By/Charles Dickens.[With illustra-ftions by/H. K. Browne. (Of this title the wordsbeginning with Wholesale and ending withBrown e only were in type

,the others were a

part of the cover design . ) At the bottom—London : Bradbury Evans, Whitefriars,[Agen tsJ. Menzies, Edinburgh ; J. Macleod, Glasgow ;J. M’

Glashan , Dublin .[1846 (7 The illustratedtitle page had the same wording with all referencesto the illustrations omitted and a change in theimprint which read : London [Bradbury St Evans,Bouverie Street.[1848. This title page has thepicture of Captain Cuttle in which the artist placedthe famous hook on the left instead of the rightarm. It is signed Phiz. The regular titlepage was condensed to read : Dombey and , Son .[By/Charles Dickens.[With Illustrations by H. K.

Browne.[London [Bradbury and Evans, 1 1 , Bouverie Street.[1848.

COLLATION . Errata, eight lines ; half title,reverse blank frontispiece signed Phiz illustrated title page ; title page, reverse imprintLondon [Bradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriars ; dedication to theMarchioness ofNormanby,reverse blank ; preface, one unnumbered page,dated Devonshire Terrace,[Twenty-fourth March,1848, unsigned, reverse blank contents one unnumbered page and three pages, XII, XIII, XIVlist of plates, one unnumbered page and XVI ;pp. 624 and 40 illustrations last page Bradburyand Evans imprint. The binding in cloth wasa dark green, the gilt stamp on the back of whichwas Dombey/and Son /C. Dickens.[London, 1848.

72

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSThe circulation of thi s book was so great thatPhiz had to etch two sets of plates. Somehad to be lithographed and it is necessary to watchfor these. Usually the captions on the latte r weresmudgy and black, aside from the appearanceof the designs. They appeared in the parts aswell as in the bound volume.Mr. Thomson in his Life of Phiz says thatif the plate at page 547, On the Dark Road, isgood, the other plates are sure to be likewise.That is not always the case. A number of Copieshave been examined in which Mr. Thomson’ s testplate was perfect, but one-third of the o ther plateswere lithographs.With the sanction of the author, Phiz inconn ection with Robert Young, etched fourextra illustrations for this work. They were

fi n e portraits of Little Paul, Edith, Florence andAlice, and much praise has been bestowed uponthem. The artist also made eight addi tional fulllength portraits of other characters in the novel.Each set was published in green wrappers—thefirst series sellin g for one and the other for twoshillin gs. The first four were undated

,but the

eight, besides the imprint of Chapman Hall,bear the date 1848. In the wrappers they areworth about £2 108.

One mistake by the Author was n ot included inthe errata. On page 285 in the fi f th and sixthlines from the bottom he confounded the name ofMr. Toot’s boat with the suggestion made by theChicken. Twice he called the little cutter Delightwhen it should have been called Joy.”

73

CHARLES DICKENSVALUES.

In fifteen years prices have almost doubled,

although the book is far from being a rarity. InFebruary

,1897, at Sotheby’s, original parts with

the wrappers, £2 88. May, 1900, very fine copy,£5 ; January, 1904, rebound with the wrappers,£1 48. American prices are as fo llows : Anderson’s, March, 1909 , fine set in cloth case, $28 ;December, 1909 , un ique copy with two originaldrawings signed by Phiz inserted. They wereA Chance Meeting,” Part XIII, and Abstrac

tion and Recognition, Part XV, enclo sed in twofull levant so lander cases by Riviere. $260 wasrealised. Another copy with two original Phizplates, but bound up from the parts, brought $ 105at a sale, December, 19 1 1 . A London dealer in 19 12o ffered a Dutch translation printed at the Haguein numbers

,coincident with the first issue in

London. The reproduction o f the plates were bya Dutch artist, the 39 illustrations being on 20plates. Forster evidently knew nothing of thisedition as he referred only to a Russian translation.The price was fixed at £7 108.

74


CHARLES DICKENSIllustrations ByH. K. Browne. Above the woodcutwere the number of the part, the name of the monthof issue and the price. Below, London BradburyEvans,Whitefriars, and the agents in Edinburgh,Glasgow and Dublin. The title page read : ThePersonal History/of/David Copperfield. [By CharlesDickens. [With Illustrations by H. K. Browne.London [Bradbury Evans, 1 1 , Bouverie Street.1850 .

COLLATION . Half-title, reverse blank ; frontispiece

,vignette or illustrated title page with the

Peggotty boat home, drawn contrary to the description s in the story, and with the date 1850 underthe publishers’ imprint title page, reverse,London /Bradbury Evans, Printers, Whitefriarsdedication to the Hon . Mr. and Mrs. Richard Watson

,[of/Rockingham, Northamptonshire, reverseblank ; preface two pages, the first unn umbered,the second VI II, dated London ,[October, 1850 ;four pages of contents, first page unnumbered,remaining three X, XI, XII list of plates, twopages, one unn umbered, the other XIV ; one unnumbered page of errata of six lines, reverse blank ;pp. 624 and 40 illustrations ; on the last pagepublishers’ imprint as on the back of the title page.Collectors should see to it that the date on theillustrated title page is 1850. This is a mark ofthe first edition. Later editions printed duringthe same year omitted the date.With a comparatively small printing, and becausethe issues in parts were much read and roughlyhandled

,it is a matter of some difficulty to procure

fine,clean and unrepaired sets.

76

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSVALUES.

John son in 1885 fixed prices from £3 to £4, butsince then they have gone upward and a desirablecopy in parts is easily worth from £9 to £10 fromdealers and slightly less in auctions. As far backas February, 1896, at Sotheby’s, a set in a moroccocase brought four guineas ; May, 1903 , also atSotheby’s, a copy fetched £6 108. 6d. At Anderson’s, New York, December, 1908, described as afi ne copy in a cloth case, reached $51 . A yearlate r, under the same hammer, what was called aunique copy, was sold for $205. Two drawingsin two colours by and signed by Phiz werein serted. On e was the etchin g bearin g the caption,I am hospitably received by Mr. Peggotty,”and the other, Somebody turns up.” In March,1909 , a fairly interesting copy was sold forThe description went on to say that it contained8 advertisements which are thought to be unique.A fine clean copy at Freeman’s, Philadelphia,February, 19 1 1 , brought $42. At Anderson’s,December, 19 1 1 , enclosed in two Zaehn sdorf slipcases, a copy with names written on several ofthe covers, brought $42 ; at the same sale $125w as realised for a bound copy o f the parts with awrapper preserved. There were inserted at pp.263 and 6 14 two original drawings by Phiz,signed by him and the initials C. D. in theAuthor’s autograph. A London dealer in 19 1 1

asked £6 108. for a copy bound up from the partswith all the wrappers and advertisements.Cloth copies are frequent and they bring about

£2 108. to £4 108.

77

CHARLES DICKENS

BLEAK HOUSE

Between the publication of David Copperfieldand the writing of Bleak House, Dickens hadestablished a weekly journal which, after muchdiscussion, he called Household Words. He hadbeen writing largely for his new venture, thisincluding his Child’s History of England,”which ran as a serial. The result was that, whenhe fairly got started with Bleak House,” he fellill several times. In a letter he confessed thathe was over-worked.

The new novel was an attack on the abuses inChancery, and his idea began with an article whichappeared in Household Words entitled, Martyrsin Chancery,” which was rather fl ippantly answeredby Sir Edward Sugden in The Times .

Thirty thousand were sold of the first number,

subsequent parts leaping to more than forty thousand. Harper paid Dickens £400 for the Americanrights. Many of the characters in the book werediscoverable as having for their prototypes severalof Dickens’s friends. The suggestion that Skimpole was Leigh Hunt drew some fire from thelatter’ s friends. Finally, in All the Year Round,on December 24, 1859 , Dickens entered a protestand denied that he had had Hun t in view whenhe drew the character for the novel. Anotherinteresting feature was Dickens’s defence of thetheory of spontaneous combustion in the rprefaceof the book.

78


CHARLES DICKENSthe other XVI. At the bottom of this pageerrata with five lin es pp. 624 and 40 illustrations.On last page imprint as on reverse of title page.Part IX carries only one plate, and Part X has threeowing to an accident which is explained on awhite slip in Part IX.

J. F. Dexter is authority for the statementthat only one complete set of forty plates wereetched by Phiz,” and ten duplicates of thefollowing The Ghost’s Walk,” Tom All

Alones,” The Night,” The Morning,” Sunsetin the Long Drawing Room,

”A New Meaning

to the Roman,” Shadow,

”The Mausoleum,

”

The Lonely Figure and the frontispiece. Theseare all known as the dark plates and collectorsshould observe their condition. The value ofthe Copy would depend largely on whether theimpressions are good or bad. The better animpression the greater the surety of an earlierprinting and plate.The advertisements with the parts are the mostinteresting o f any which appeared in Dickens’ sworks. Much space was used by book publishers,and the first ann ouncements appeared of manybooks which afterward became noted.

VALUESIn the parts, Bleak House is easily obtainedand for a modest price. lkAt Sotheby’s, February,1897, they went for £2 48. June, 1898, a boundcopy in morocco extra by Riviere with wrapperpreserved reached a high price at £3 17s . 6d. onthe other hand, six years later, what was described

80

811 \RI’S IICOTEII

WINTRY mormng . locking w uh dull eyes and sallow face upon theneighbourhood o f Le ice s te r Square . fi nds its inhabitants unw illing to ar t

h litcst o f times

An acciden t ha i ing happenc ( l to the Plate, it has beennecessary to ca ncel one o f the I llustrations to the presen tI t will be supplied in the next Mo nthlv Part .

G eo rge'

s to :

marche s up and ( lua uPlill. ra ising It pow e rful o dour o f ho t

bre akfas t. Ile smoke s gmw ly , and Hu tches in

Bleak House, Part I X , showing the in se rted slip w hich explains an acciden t to a plate.

Nece ssary to a good copy.


CHARLES DICKENS

LITTLE DORRIT

In this book Dickens made a second assault onthe archaism of imprisonment for debt. Pickwick furnished a picturesque demonstration of

the debtors’ life in the Fleet,and in Little

Dorrit the Marshalsea,in which the Author’s

father had been a boarder,

” was made the abodeof William Dorrit during the first half of the novel.The book was begun in Fo lkestone in September,1855. The Author lived for five months in Paris,then back to London and Boulogne. An additionalcrusade was made against other so cial inequalities.To Wilkie Collins he wrote I have almostfinished No. 3 , in which I have relieved my indignant soul with a scarifi er.

” What he called hisdroll treatment of Flora Fin ching seems to havebeen inspired by a recent exchange of letters witha sweetheart of 1833 with whom he was desperatelyin love at the time. The Maria Beadn ell of thatyear became the Flora of 1857. It was, as far asknown , Dickens’s only genuine love affair and hewas coldly and unmercifully jilted. It may beworth while to state that in 1855 he wrote toMaria

,

then a woman of about 44 Whatever of fancy,romance

,energy, passion, aspiration and deter

mination belongs to me, I never have separatedand never shall separate from the hard-heartedlittle woman—you.The book was desperately attacked by manycritics. Leading magazines like B lackwood’s and

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSthe Edinburgh Review applied to it terms of nouncertain meaning. In Household Words onAugust 1 , 1857 , Dickens made a reply to the lastnamed periodical.In the face of critical opposition the book was aprime favourite

,the second part reaching a cir

culation ofThe business relations of Dickens with BradburyEvans practically ended with the publication ofLittle Dorrit.” It was the last of the big novelsthis firm issued. Shortly afterwards the strainedrelations of the author and his wife came to thesurface. An alleged discourtesy on the part ofthe publishers in refusing to print a notice inPunch of the domestic in tranquilli ties, led to anestran gement which was never softened. Bradbury Evans had a quarter interest in Household

Words, and upon the demand of Dickens thisperiodical was effaced and All the Year Round,

under his sole domination, was established. Chapman Hall became the publishers of nearly everything Dickens wrote until the end.

BLUE WRAPPER.

With the blue wrapper desIgn ed by Phiz,it made its bow in December, 1855, the doublenumber finishing the novel, June, 1857 . A vo lumebound in green cloth was issued at the price ofone guinea

,in half morocco , at 248. 6d.

The title on the wrapper was as simple as that ofBleak House.” With the usual No . , monthlydate and price

,for the top line, it had the title

Little Dorrit as a part of the woodcut. Under83

CHARLES DICKENSthis in type By/Charles Dickens.[With IllustrationsBy H. K. Browne. Below the design, LondonBradbury 85 Evans, Bouverie Street, followed by aline giving the names and addresses of agents.Under all in bold-faced type which was carried onall the wrappers, The Author reserves the rightof Translation.

”The title page read Little

Dorrit./By/Charles Dickens.[With Illustrations ByH. K. Browne.[London [Bradbury and Evans,1 1 , Bouverie Street.[1857.

COLLATION . Frontispiece, illustrated title pagedated 1857 title page, reverse, London :[Bradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriars ; one unnumbered page of dedication to Clarkson Stanfield,R.A reverse blank ; three pages of preface, thefi rst unnumbered, the second and third VI andVII, dated London,[May, 1857, reverse blank ;four pages of contents, one unn umbered, the othersX, XI, XII ; list of plates, two pages, the firstunnumbered and the second XIV. On thi s pageerrata of three lines pp. 625 and 40 illustrations.No original edition of Little Dorrit can beclassed as perfect if there is lacking a little whiteslip, which should have its place at page 481 , inPart XVI. It is about one-third the size of theprinted page, and in it the author corrects theerrors of the preceding chapter (XVII) , in whichthere had been a complete transposition of names.The little notice reads as followsBy an oversight o f the Author’s, which he did notobserve until it was too late for correction inthe first impression of the Number for lastMonth the name RIGAUD is used in the

84


THE IMPORTANT NOVELSseventeenth chapter of the Second Book,in stead of BLANDOI S . The personage in thestory who assumed the latter name, is habitually known to the Author by the former, asthe real one ; and hence the mistake. It isset right, if the reader will have the goodnessto substitute the word BLANDOI S for RIGAUD ,

in that chapter when it occurs. The chaptercommences at page 467, and ends at page 474.

As in the case of Bleak House, the illustrationsshould be noticed. There was no re -etching doneexcepting in the case o f the dark ones.” Of

these,five were made in duplicate as follows

Flo ating Away,” The Ferry,” The Birds inthe Cage,” Visitors at the Works, and The

Room With the Portrait.

VALUES.

To the collector Little Dorrit presents nogreat diffi culties. It is one of the most easilyobtain ed of any of Dickens’s first editions

,and for

that reason the price is comparatively low. At

Sotheby’s, January 21 , 1904, in the original parts,£1 58. At An derson’s, New York, December, 1908,in a slip case, $26 ; March, 1909, described as avery fine copy and enclosed in a cloth case, $19 ;December, 1909, a special copy in the parts with theslip of correction at page 481 , and embellishedwith two original drawings signed by Phiz.One was finely coloured and the other in twoco lours, the subjects being respectively, LittleMother

,and Mr. Fin tw inch has a mild attack

of irritability Enclosed in two full levant85

CHARLES DICKENSsolander cases by Riviere, the price was $270.

At Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , fineclean copy, $20. Anderson’s, December, 19 1 1 ,

with names on two covers and some of the backsworn, in two Zaehn sdorf slip cases, $23 . A

London dealer, November, 19 12, £3 78. 6d. The

vo lume edi tion rebound by Sangorski and Sutcliffe,with an autograph cheque of Dickens insertedbrought $16 at Anderson’s, in December, 19 1 1 .

£4 may be fixed as a fair price for a desirableset in the parts

,either at auction or from a dealer.

The bound vo lume is worth about 308.

86


CHARLES DICKENSnumber reached copies, but this fell o ff sadly.For a number of years good and complete setshave been decidedly scarce and the price hassoared Skyward. This is also the case with theo ther form of publication, the cloth volume edition,the price o f which had also been well maintained.In the very earliest of the first issues in the partsthere are two pages 1 13 , the second being 213wrongly printed 1 13 , the latter on e having beenhastily corrected to 213 , but not before somecopies had been printed. The absence of thiserror does not invalidate a first edition but it fixesthe priority in printing. Ano ther feature of thebook is the printing off o f the vignette titlepage and some of the plates. The captions were ofthe finest hair-lines and in many good copiesthese are diffi cult to read. Phiz etched onlyone set of plates.

BLUE WRAPPER .

The monthly parts were published in a bluewrapper with a design by Phiz,” beginning withJune

,1859 , and ending with a double number

(VII and VIII) in December. The price was on eshilling for each number. The title of the bookwas a part of the wood-cut on the cover, followedin type with the words By [ Charles Dickens.With/I llustration s By H. K. Browne. At thebottom and below the design this imprintLondon : Chapman and Hall, 193 , Piccadilly.Another line for the agents in Edinburgh, Glasgowand Dublin fo llowed. After the first numberthe list of agents was cancelled and the followingline substituted

88

A TALE OF TWO CI TI ES .

sing ; in the morning, by the fountain , there 18 falsed a gfeet high, poison ing the water .

”

3 g 3The mender of roads looked through rather than at th

’

e‘

and pointed as if he saw the gallows somewhere in the sky.

All work is stopped, all assemble there , nobody leads the cowsout, the cows are there with the rest. At mid-day, the roll of drums .

Soldiers have marched into the prison in the night, and he is in themidst of many soldiers. He is bound as before , and in his mouththere is a gag

—tied so, with a tight string, making him look almostas if he lau bed.

” He suggested it, by creasing his face with his twothumbs, from the corners o f his mouth to his ears. On the top ofthe gallows is fixed the kn ife,blade upwards,with its point in the air.

He is hanged there fortyfeet high—and is left hanging, poisoning the

wate r

.

They looked at one ano ther,as he used his blue cap to wipe his

face, on which the perspiration had started afresh while he recalledthe spectacle .

I t is frightful, messieurs. How can the women and the childrendraw water ! Who can gossip of an evening, under

‘

that shadow !Under it, have I said? When I left the village , Monday even ing as

the sun was going to bed, and looked back from the hill, the shadow

struck across the church, across the mill, across the prison—seemed

to strike across the earth,messieurs, to where the sky rests upon it I”

The hungry man gnawed one of his fingers as he looked at theother three, and his fingerquiveredwith the craving that was on him.

A TALE OI?TWO CI TI ES.

accused and re-taken yesterday. I ndictment delivered to him lastnight. Suspected and Denoun ced enemy of the Republic, Aristoorat

,one of a family of tyrants, one of a race proscribed, for that

they had used their abolished privileges to the infamous oppressionof the people . Charles Evremonde

, called Darnay, in right of such

prescription , absolutelyDead in Law.

To this effect, in as few or fewer words, the Public Prosecutor.

The President asked, was the Accused openly denounced or se

cretly?‘

fOpenly, President .

By whom ?”

Three voices. Ernest Defarge, win e-vendor of Saint An toine.

Good.

”

Therese Defa r

ge , his wife .

Good.

”

Alexandre Manette,hysician .

A great uproar took p ace in the court, and in the midst of it,Doctor Manette was seen

, pale and trembling, standing where he hadbeen seated:

President, I indignantly protest to you that this is a forgeryand a fraud. You know the accused to be the husband of m

daughter. My daughter, and those dear to her, are far dearer to


CHARLES DICKENSVALUES

The issue in the parts in good condition may bedesignated as the second in rarity of the Dickensnovels, and it follows, one of the mo st costly.

Beginning with the price fixed by Johnson in 1885at from £4 to £6 there have been jumps to £20 andmore. English auction records do not indicatethe actual increases in values, but tho se in Americashow greater strides. At Sotheby’s, in February,1896 , a set brought £ 10 58. in a case June, 1898,with three covers slightly so iled, £7 15s. June,1902, £13 . At An derson’s

,New York, December,

1908, in a morocco backed slip case, $75 March,1909 , without a case, $90 December, 1909 ,

according to the catalogue,probably the finest

copy extant. Practically as fresh as the day theyleft the publisher,” with four parts unopened, andin a full levant morocco solander case by Riviere.The set fetched $129 ; December, 19 1 1 , characterised as a fine, clean copy,” enclosed in a levantmorocco slip case by Zaehn sdorf, sold for $ 130.

Copies in the parts are very infrequent in dealers’catalogues, this being explained by the numerousorders for this form of publication which makelisting unnecessary. The price asked by dealershovers in the neighbourhood of $100 to $ 125 fordesirable copies.In the cloth boun d form at auction during thepast twelve years the range is from three guineasto £8. A dealer’ s price has about the samefluctuation, all depending on the state of the book.Re-bound copies are worth one-third less.

90

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

CHARLES DICKENS.

I N TH REE V O L UME S.

VOL . 1.

LONDON

CHAPMAN AND HALL,193 , PICCADILLY.

MDCCCLX I .

[The r ight of translation ts reserved ]

Title page of the first edition of Great Expectations,”

the rarest o f the larger books.


CHARLES DICKENS(2) The tops of the title page and the onefo llowing in each volume should be rough. Theywere united originally and had to be opened.(3 ) Volume III must have 32 pages of advertisements of Chapman 85 Hall’s books and they musthave three dates, May, These must beat the bottom of the first page, unn umbered, onthe upper right-hand com er of page 2, also unnumbered, and it must appear once more in thesame relative corner on page 5, unnumbered.After the first edition was exhausted, a second,third and other editions were printed, but in eachthe number of the edition was printed on the titlepages. As these changed so did likewise the dateson the advertisements, those of the other editionsbeing altered to June, July and August, 1861 , inaccordance with the edition. There were many finecrisp Copies of all the editions after the first, andall that was required to make a saleable book wasa change in the title pages, so that they wouldcorrespond with tho se of the genuine first edition.

Then came the manipulation of the advertisementswith theMay date, many of which had been rescuedfrom the maimed and wounded first issues. Insaving them for do ctored copies sometimesthe entire 32 pages were inserted, though some o fthe fakers would use only on e of the dates

,using

the o ther two for the embellishing of othercopies. In no case was this part of the workanything but a careful insertion in the back o f

Vol. III. The title pages were printed on paperas near as possible in texture to that used in thegenuine issue, but the smooth top edges of the

92

CATALOGUE BOOKS

PUBLISHED BY

193 , PICCADILLY.

Great Expectations. First Appearance of the date on

the advertising pages, a requirement of a first edition .


,

A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS

PUBLISHED BY

CHAPMAN AND HALL, 1 93 , PICCADILLY.

ALL THE YEAR ROUND .

Conducted by CHARLES DICKENS. Vols. 1. w I? handsomely bound. 58. fi end } .

ALISON - THE PHILOSOPHY AND HISTORY OFCIVILISATION. By ALEXANDER ALISON. Demy Svo. cloth.

A PACKET or SEEDS SAVED BY AN OLD GARDENER. Second Edltlon.Enlarged. Crown Bro. bds. 13 . 84.

A SERIES OF DIAGRAMS,ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF MECHANICAL PHIUBOPHY AND

THEIR APPLICATION. Twenty-one large Plates. drawn on Stone . W ith descriptivel t tterpress. Published under the superin tendencc of the SocIety for the Diffusion 0!UsefulKnowledge. One large folio Volume. cloth. 21. 123. 6d.

ATLASES AND MAPS,FOR STUDENTS AND TRAVELLEBS ; with Runways and Te legraph , ( ccnmtely

SHARPE'

S ATLAS. Constructe d upon a System of Scale andProportion.from the more recent Authori ties. W lth a Coplom Index. Fi fty

-fourMaps. Large Iollo,haltmorocco, plain. 36a ; coloured, 423 .

SHARPE'

S STUDENT’

S ATLAS . With a Copious I ndex. Twenty'six

Coloured Maps.selec ted from the above. Follo, halfobound. 2 13.

LOWRY'

S TABLE ATLAS. With a Copious Index. One HundredColoured Maps. Large «0 . half-bound. 121.

SIDNEY HALL'

S TRAVELLING ATLAS OF THE ENGLISH

COUNTIES ,containlng Fifty Maps. bound m a portable avo . Volume. In men tuck.

103. 6d.

SIDNEY HALL’

S ATLAS OF THE ENGLISH COUNTIES.Enlarged

Sen ee.w lth GeneralMaps of Great Brltaln, Scotland. Ireland. andWales. 4m. half-bound.an , and 10 110 .halt-bound.

511mm HALL‘

S MAPS or ENGLISH COUNTIES. Enlarged Series.with all the Itallways and Coun try Seats. Coloured, In neat wrapper, prlce 641. each.

Great Expectations.Final Appearance of Date.


CHARLES DICKENSVol. III. Title page no change, but in thevolume number

,reverse blank ; pp. 344, with

the imprint at the bottom of the last page, wordedas in the preceding vo lumes ; 32 pages of bookadvertisements as heretofore noted.The end papers are of a very light canary colour.

This should be borne in mind for the reason thatin fixing a book

,new end papers sometimes

have been pasted over the old. In the threevolume edition

,the numbering of the chapters

has not been continuous. Vol. I contains fromChapter I. to XIX ; Vol. II from I to XX, andVol. III the same as the second book, thus makingthe 59 chapters of the story. There were noillustrations in this edition. Later, F. W. Pailthorpe made a series of beautiful etchings, numbering twenty-one

,and these now sell for £4 to £5.

VALUES.

The extreme rarity of good copies establishessuch prices as may be agreed upon between thedealer and the collector. At the present timethese may fluctuate between £40 to £70 depending

,

of course, on condition. Re-bound 0 0 pies lose morethan 50 per cent. of their values. This is duelargely to the destruction of the points for theidentification of a genuine copy. In rebindingit would be easy to include the advertisementsthough they may have been foreign to the originalbook. The other evidence which decides thegenuineness of the title page would be obliteratedby gilding the tops. Re -bound copies must bepurchased wholly on the faith in the seller.

94

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSAuction records are not crowded with offerings,and prices given do not approach actual value.At Sotheby’s, June, 1899, a copy sold for £13 , andin April, 1902, one went for £2 less ; February,1902, re -bound with a set of Pailthorpe ’s etchingson Japan paper

,brought £8 58. At Anderson’s,

New York, December, 1909 , a re-bound copy described as probably the finest copy in existence,”and containing twenty-Six of Pailthorpe ’s originaldrawings, including some unpublished proofs oncrayon paper, before they got into the hands ofthe publishers, together with a letter from theartist. It was knocked down for $260 ; inDecember

,19 1 1 , in the original cloth and protected

by cases,

95

CHARLES DICKENS

OUR MUTUAL FRIEND

Four years before this book was written, thetitle had been selected. To place All the Year

Round on a profitable basis was not without efforton the Author’s part. Adding to this his readingit was not a wonder that he had several attacks ofillness. His energy apparently was waning andhe was forced to write his new novel with reducedspeed. The fact became plain that Dickens wasbeginning to move downhill. The surprise wasthat he did so well with his characterisations inOur Mutual Friend.”Dickens returned to his old forms of publication,abandoned since the appearance of Little Dorrit,”namely

,the twenty monthly parts and the issue

in a bound vo lume. The parts were in a greenpaper wrapper designed by Marcus Stone, R.A. ,

who also illustrated the work. The first issue wasin May, 1864, and the final double number inNovember, 1865. The publication in cloth wasin two volumes

,a deviation from former methods.

Thirty thousand copies were so ld of the first number,with orders flowing in fast,” wrote Dickenstwo days thereafter.

GREEN WRAPPER.

On the green wrapper at the top was the customary No . of issue, the month and year and theprice. The title was a part of the woodcut, thewording in type following : By/Charles Dickens./

96


THE IMPORTANT NOVELSWith I llustrations/By/Marcus Stone. Below thedesign, London : Chapman Hall, Piccadilly.Another line in small italics, The right of Translation is reserved.” Below it all, London PrintedBy W. Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street andCharing Cross. The title page read : Our MutualFriend./By/Charles Dickens./With Illustrations ByMarcus Stone./In Two Volumes./Vol. I (II) . London :/Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly.The right of Translation is reserved.COLLATION . Vol. I. Half-title, reverse blankfrontispiece (The Bird of Prey) ; title page, atthe bottom of the reverse of which, London,Printed by William Clowes and Sons, StamfordStreet/and Charing Cross one unnumbered pageof dedication to Sir James Emerson Tennent,reverse blank ; contents three pages, the firstunnumbered, the others VIII and IX, reverseblank one page numbered XI ; illustrations toVol. I, reverse blank . Here Should follow on aseparate slip of paper about one-fi fth the size ofthe page an ann ouncement which read

Reader willunderstand the use of the popular

phrase OUR MUTUAL FRIEND,as the title of this

book, on arriving at the Ninth Chapter (page

The book proper then begins with 320 pages and20 illustrations. On the last page the sameimprint as on the reverse of the title page.Vol. II. Half-title, reverse blank ; frontispiece

(The Dutch Bottle) title page, imprint on reversesame as in Vol. I ; contents three pages, the firstunnumbered, the others VI and VII, on reverse of

97

CHARLES DICKENSlatter and unn umbered one page Illustrations toVo lume II pp. 306 and a Po stscript of three pages,the first unnumbered and the two pages 308 and309 , dated September 2nd ,

1865 20 illustrations ;on the reverse o f p. 309 , in centre of unnumberedpage imprint o f William Clowes and Sons.

VALUES.

Our Mutual Friend in the monthly parts isreasonably common and the prices comparativelylow . The collector in buying re -bound copies o fthe parts should see to it that the little slip in Vol.I,to which reference is made in the co llation, isincluded. It is actually a part of the book, butin many 0 0 pies its absence has been noted.In the parts, Sotheby so ld a set, November, 1901 ,for £1 1 18. At Christie’ s, June, 1898, re -bound intwo volumes

,po lished calf, with all the wrappers,

£2 58. In America, as usual, the prices are higher.At Anderson’ s, New York, December, 1908, theparts in a slip case brought $22 March, 1909 , ina cloth slip case

, $16 December, 1909, in two fulllevant slip cases

,a few backs repaired, $28

December, 19 1 1 , in two Zaehn sdorf slip cases, $25

at Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , in alevant solander case, $26 . A London dealer,in 19 1 1 , offered a set for two guineas. From £2to £4 is a good range, without protecting cases.Re -bound copies about £2 108. to £3 . The clothbound two-volume edition from 308. to £2.

98


CHARLES DICKENSDrood ./By/Charles Dickens./With Illustrations.(This letterin g was a part of the design. ) On thetop lin e was the number, month of issue and theprice. Below the woodcut

, London : Chapman 85Hall, 193 , Piccadilly. On the next line in blacker,though smaller type, Advertisements to be sentto the Publishers, and Adams Francis, 59,

Fleet Street, E.C. Under this in small italicsand in brackets, The right of Translation is reserved. The first number was dated April, 1870,and the last September of that year. Prices wereon e shilling each for all the parts excepting thelast, which had a slip calling for eighteenpence

pasted over the regular price mark.The title page read : The Mystery/of/Edwin

Drood./By/Charles Dickens. /With Twelve Illustrations by S. L. Fildes./And a Portrait. /LondonChapman and Hall, 193 ,

brackets, The right of Translation is reserved.COLLATION . Portrait with a fac-simile signatureof the Author and the date 1870 also an imprintas follows : Engraved by J. H. Baker from aPhotograph taken in 1868 by Mason Co . Vignette title page, title page, reverse London Printedby William Clowes and Sons, Stamford Street/and Charing Cross ; one unnumbered page of theexplanation by the publishers, consisting of elevenlines and dated 12th August, 1870, reverse blankthree pages of contents, the first unnumbered,the others VI, VII ; one unnumbered page ofillustrations pp. 190 and 12 illustrations. On thelast page the imprint as on reverse of the titlepage, and two pages unnumbered announcing the

100

THE IMPORTANT NOVELSdi fferent editions of Charles Dickens’s Works,but without naming any publishers.There was also a volume issued bound in greencloth.

VALUES .

Good copies in the parts are not diffi cult to obtainand the prices are moderate in consequence. The

range should be from £1 to £2 without protectingcases. A London dealer offered a very fine copy,”in 19 1 1 , for 188. American auction prices arerather higher. At Anderson’ s, New York, December, 1908, in a cloth slip case with a morocco back,a copy was sold for $13 ; a year later, a phenomenal price of $20 was reached—the copy beingenclosed in a full levant solander case by Riviere.At Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 191 1 , aclean copy brought $6, and a copy in the originalcloth, $2. The average price for a cloth boundcopy should be about one-half that of the parts .

101


PART II

THE MINOR BOOKS

ANY of the books which come un der thisdivision are of great bibliographic interest.For verification of this statement, it is

only necessary to refer the collector to such booksas Sunday Under Three Heads,” A ChristmasCarol,” and The Battle of Life. All threeare now of great rarity, the two issues of the lastnamed book being almost unprocurable.

105

CHARLES DICKENS

SUNDAY UNDER THREE HEADS

Part III o f The Library of Fiction made thefirst announcement of the coming publication ofthis little pamphlet. Dickens foun d time in themidst of his work on Pickwick to write his viewson the freedom of the Sabbath for the poor manand give them form in a printed booklet. The

young Author was far in advance of his time.Fifteen years ago the National Sunday League(England) , issued a pamphlet, the basis of whichwas largely what was contained in Sunday UnderThree Heads.” Dickens never favoured a re

printin g of the tract, insisting that it had servedits purpose at the time. However, there were twofac-simile reprints made which are likely to foolany but experts. In 1884 Jarvis Son issued thefirst with an introduction and an additional greywrapper. This edition is without the wordsSunday Under Three Heads at the beginningof chapter III, on page 35. In the other reprint,by Pearson, of Manchester, on page 7, line 15,the word hair is spelled air.” Some copiesof the first issue have the date erased, the bookseller evidently hoping to pass them off as newpublications.The original pamphlet was issued in a drabpaper wrapper by Chapman Hall. The wrapperand the title page are similar in having threetypical heads on each, and though the wording isalmost alike the type on the cover is of a larger

106


CHARLES DICKENScopies with uncut edges. The latter are exceedinglyrare and fetch the highest prices. Dexter in 1870fixed the price of the latter at £15, and Johnsonin 1885 had a price from £8 to £10 on supposablycopies with tampered edges. A fair copy sold inDecember, 1896 , for £6 15s. at Dowell’s, February,1898, a copy brought £8 June, 1902, in a moroccocase, £7 28. 6d. ; April, 1904, at Sotheby’s, with thewrappers, in a morocco case, 5 guineas. At

Anderson’s, New York, December, 1909 , describedas an un usually fine copy,” with back skilqysupplied, in a Riviere case, $59 December, 19 1 1 ,an uncut copy said to be fine, in a Zaehnsdorf slipcase, At Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , another uncut copy, $85. At thepresent state of the market prime copies may besaid to be worth from £15 to £20, and re -boundcopies with the wrappers preserved from £8 to £12.

An American dealer in 19 12 paid £10, in London,for a bound copy. At the Hoe sale, April, 19 1 1 ,a copy nicely re -bound was sold for $45.

108

THE MINOR BOOKS

SKETCHES OF YOUNG GENTLEMEN

This little book, like the one preceding, waswritten without the Author’s name, and publishedin 1838. Under the date of January 8 of that yearhe wrote in a fragmentary diary I began theSketches of Young Gentlemen to-day. One

Hundred and twenty-fi ve pounds for such a littlebook, without my name to it, is pretty well. Thisand the Sunday,’ by-the-bye, are the only twothin gs I have not done as Boz.” The writing wasdone as a protest against an attack on the fair sexin a like series of sketches entitled Sketches ofYoung Ladies,” by Quiz,” issued by ChapmanHall the previous year. By some it is thoughtthat one of the Mayhew brothers was the author,and others believed the writer to have been oneE. Caswell.!Dickens’ s booklet was issued for 3s. in duodecimosize, bound in boards with a blue wrapper byPhiz.” The title page read Sketches/of/YoungGentlemen. [Dedicated To The Young LadiesWith Six Illustrations. By Phiz.” LondonChapman and Hall, 186 , Strand./MDCCCXXXVIII.COLLATION . Frontispiece, title page, reverse

London /Bradbury and Evans, Printers /Whitefriars unnumbered page of contents, reverseblank ; dedication four pages, the first unnumbered,

Owing to a similarity in style many have attributed this book to

Dicken s. For this reason the three Sketches of Young Ladies,Young G entlemen , and Young Couples are very often sold in a set to

collectors .

109

CHARLES DICKENSthe others, VI, VI (a typographical error) and VIII,pp. 76 . There are four unnumbered pages ofadvertisements, the first page of which announcesthe publication complete in one volume ofSketches By Boz ( 1839 edition) also thepublication of the same book in twenty monthlyparts at one shilling each (the pink wrapper edition)Another advertisement calls the attention to thecompletion of Pickwick Papers. There wereno advertisements on the inside covers, but on theoutside cover there is set forth the publication ofthe sixth edition of Sketches of Young Ladiesby Quiz.” The plate s are signed Phiz,” Phizfecit and Phiz del.” All have the publishers’imprint.

VALUES.

Sketches of Young Gentlemen is worthabout one-third less than the Quiz booklet,although, as is noted above, a sixth edition of thelatter was announced. A fine copy of Dickens’ sproduct was sold at Sotheby’s, in February, 1897for fi ve guineas, while a re -bound copy with thecovers saved, March, 1900, brought £2 108. At

Anderson’s, New York, December, 1909, a copysold for $28 two years later a copy in a Zaehnsdorf Slip case went for $39 at Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 191 1 , a fine copy ” brought$26. The Quiz prices are as follows : Anderson’s, December, 1909 , $20 in a full solander case.

At Freeman’s,February, 19 1 1 , $22.

1 10


CHARLES DICKENSCattermole , Esq., and Phiz. The issue inmonthly parts is also announced. Another ad

vertisement offers a Portrait of Mr. Dickens byFinden after Maclise (frontispiece to NicholasNickleby) for one and two shillings. The insidecovers carry no advertisements

,but on the outside

wrapper there is announced the publication of the8th edition of Sketches of Young Ladies,” byQuiz,” and the 5th edition of Sketches ofYoungGentlemen,” and other books. The bindin g of thebooklet was in boards with a blue wrapper, thefront of which bears a design by Phiz of thetitle, publishers’ name and the price, three shillings.Only two of the plate s are signed by Phiz,”namely, The Nice Little Couple,” and The

Old Couple, all the etchings have the publishers’imprint, but no date.

VALUES.

The undoubted scarcity of these Sketcheswould indicate that the sales were very small. At

the present time a good copy in the original boardsis worth at least £7 and perhaps a little more.As far back as 1897, Sotheby sold such a copy for£5 78. 6d. At Anderson’s, New York, December,1909, a copy in a solander case sold forand a year thereafter the same house sold a copyin a Zaehn sdorf slip case for $41 . At Freeman’s,Philadelphia, in February, 19 1 1 , without a proteeting case, a copy brought only $23 . At theHoe sale, April, 191 1 , re -bound in calf by Riviere,uncut and with the wrappers preserved, brought$25. Re -bound copies are usually worth less thanone-half of the price in original picture boards.

1 12

THE MINOR BOOKS

AMERICAN NOTES

Not one of Dickens’s books was the subject ofso much adverse criticism as the book he wroteafter his first return from America in 1842. He

wrote a chapter which he intended for the introduction to the book, which may have softened theAmerican attitude, had it been printed. But aweek before the Notes appeared it was decidedto eliminate it. That is why all first issues of thefirst edition carry a test which is infallible. InVol. I the first pagination is page XVI, that beingthe last page of the Contents to Volume I.”Forster, in the Life,” prints the cancelled chapterin full under the heading Introductory, andnecessary to be Read.” Before the suppressionwas agreed upon the sheets were partly printedand the pagination was not altered. Later andbefore the first edition was exhausted, the revisedpagination was made. Many recent auction catalognes fall into the curious error in description bystating that the chapter in question had beentransferred from the first to the second volume.The book was issued October 18. One week afterthis date the sales had reached copies. Foureditions followed before the end of the year.

Dickens’s share of the first edition wasThe book was published in two volumes bound inbrown cloth. On the back was the title American/Notes/By/Chas. Dickens./Vol. I (II) . The titlepage : American Notes/For/General Circulation.

1 13

CHARLES DICKENSBy Charles Dickens.[In Two Volumes./Vol. I (II) .[London Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand.MDCCCXLII.COLLATION . Vol. I. Blank page, on reverse ofwhich advertisement by Chapman and Hall,Strand, announcing a New Work by Mr. CharlesDickens,” a new tale of English Life and Manners,by Boz (Martin Chuzzlewit) half title ;title page, on reverse, London :/Bradbury andEvans, Printers, Whitefriars dedication, onepage, reverse blank contents two pages, of whichthe second one has the pagination XVI ; oneunnumbered page

,GOING AWAY,/AND THE

PASSAGE OUT. pp. 308 ; on last page an imprintof Bradbury and Evans.Vol. II. Half-title, reverse blank ; title page,imprint on reverse as in Vol. I ; contents, threepages fourth page blank, (second and third pagesnumbered VI and VII) ; unnumbered page, TORICHMOND AND HARRISBURG, reverse bankpp. 306,with imprint on last page. There should alsobe six pages unnumbered and undated of advertisements of Works Published by Messrs. Chapmanand Hall. These include all the printed booksof Dickens, as well as the announcements of secondeditions of the books of Thomas Carlyle thenpublished, and educational and scientific works.The price was one guinea.

VALUES.

The earliest issues are fairly numerous and theprice rather ordinary. Dexter, in 1870, fixes thevalue at 50s. Johnson at £2 to £2 108. fifteen years

1 14


CHARLES DICKENS

A CHRISTMAS CAROL

Dickens’ s prettiest book in addition to its greatliterary value has just enough bibliographical tw iststo make it highly interesting to the collector. The

pursuit of clean copies in the earliest state is one ,which, by reason of its sternness, will put the bestof the book hunters on his mettle. When thechase ends successfully the collector will knowthat he possesses a gem of many typographicalexcellencies. It is an appealing and a beautifullittle book.

Knowing that he had written something ofextraordinary merit, Dickens began to plan asuitable presentation of his effort. For the firsttime

,and, incidentally the last, he went in for

colour, not only for the title page but also theimportant etchings. The result was an artisticsuccess but a financial disappointment to theAuthor. The greate st Christmas book ever writtenin any language delighted many thousand readersbut contributed to the unhappiness of the manwho wrote it. The cost of production had beentoo extravagant for a 53 . book.It was issued a few days before Christmas, 1843 ,and copies were disposed of on the first day.Up to January 3 , 1844, two of the three thousandcopies of the second and third editions were sold.Altogether twenty-four editions were issued in theoriginal form, the only change being in the substitution of crimson for brown cloth in the binding.

1 16

IN PROSE.

fi t lfl c

951 about fi torg of mriatmae .

“

i f:“

r‘

grs 17

1g?

L/ JEL c

’

A -{J -~g V J u \ z{

W ITH iLLUSTRAT IONS BY JOHN LI I CH.

A

CHAPMAN HALL, 186

,STRAND.

mt

” N A F

L “, U‘ B‘

\ ”W fl ~ n '

IAJLAI ‘ \ 3 &0 c

The coloured title page o f the real fi rst issue

of the first edition o f A Christmas Carol.”

W orth about £ 12.


CHARLES DICKENSCharles Plumptre John son, in his Hints to

Collectors (London, 1885) contributes this on thequestion of the authenticity of issues : I amconvinced that the red and blue copies are genuinefirst editions, because I have in my po ssession ared and blue copy absolutely uncut

,having

Stave I on page 1 , and being, I believe, the veryfirst copy printed and sent to the binder for hisguidance.”The green and red issue with the green end papersand the error, is by far the most costly of all theissues, because of its great scarcity. A Londonbook firm in October, 19 12, wrote in a letter thata copy bought by them cost £32. The pointsof the genuine first issue may be assembled asfollows( 1 ) Blue and red title page.(2) The date must be 1843 .

(3 ) The end papers Should be green.(4) Stave I and not Stave One .

Dickens wrote the book while he was living at1 , Devonshire Terrace, York Gate , Regent’s Park.

In book form it appeared as a foolscap octavo,with gilt edges and bound in brown cloth. The

title and the Author’s name was stamped on theback and it also appeared on the front of the coverin gilt encircled by a wreath of holly leaves. The

title page reads : A Christmas Carol./In Prose.Being/A Ghost Story of Christmas./By/CharlesDickens./With Illustrations By John Leech./(Adesign) London :/Chapman Hall, 186, Strand.MDCCCXLIII. The entire title excepting the

1 18

IN PROSE.

DEM

a (about s tory of (an tennas.

” I“ ? 4,“a “ N A n —m o n !,

a 4 .3 K. ’ V 5 / X ,“

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHN Lfi fi CH.

lo (0? MEDQ N

CHAPMAN HALL, nee, STRAND.

MDCCC X LKV

Coloured title page of A Christmas Carol.Another issue which is the scarcest, valued at

about £ 30.


CHARLES DICKENSre -binding and that explains the presence of manysuch copies in the market. An other habit prevailedfor many years which consisted in re -bindingun iformly all the Christmas Books, and this againwas fatal to numberless Carols in the earliestform.

It has been noted that the green and red issuesare excessively scarce and that the price is veryhigh. Auction rooms present very few records ofsales. The blue and red issues come up fairlyregular, however, and prices have increased veryrapidly. At the present period dealers havedemanded from £6 to £12, the fluctuations in pricebeing predicated on condition. Dexter, in 1870,stated that fine copies were worth £5 and thateven dirty ones were worth £2 at that time.Johnson, in 1885, fixed the price at £4 to £6.

Fifteen years later Kitton in his Minor Writingsof Charles Dickens still adhered to the priceslast quoted. At So theby’s, May, 1903 , a copy so ldfor £4 18s . and two months later the price wentdown to £4 l ls . Later American auctions Showa great growth in values. At Freeman’s, Philadelphia

,February, 19 1 1 , a fine copy was so ld

for $46 ; another copy, designated as perfectat the same sale went for $41 ; at Anderson’s,New York, December, 19 1 1 , a copy in a Zaehn sdorfslip case

,brought at the Hoe sale, An

derson’

s, April, 19 1 1 , the sum of $45 was realised.

The prices quoted here are for the book in theoriginal state.

120

THE MINOR BOOKS

THE CHIMES

Dickens worked hard on his second ChristmasBook to make it a worthy successor to the Carol.”He believed he had written a tremendous book

,

and knocked the Carol ’ out of the field. It willmake a great uproar, I have no doubt.” This wasin a letter to Thomas Mitton. Though it failed toexcel the Carol ” from a literary po int of view,in a commercial sense it was a greater success.The profits on the sale of the first copieswas nearlyIt was written in Geno a, Italy, and the Authorfor the first time suffered from the lack of localatmosphere

,as he did later when he was writing

Dombey and Son .

”He missed the plunge into

the streets of London, so he said. In its generaldesign it was to be a story with a purpose.” An

attack was made on selfishness, cowardi ce andcant. The proto type of Alderman Cute wasSir Peter Laurie, an alderman of the City of London, who was determined to put down everything in sight, including suicide. In a spirit ofretaliation, he afterwards made an assault onDickens’s description of Jacobs’ Island in OliverTwist.” Later Dickens returned to the chargewhen, in a long Preface to the first cheap editionof that novel, he Showed that his critic was unwo rthy of serious consideration.

The reading of The Chimes before a select121

CHARLES DICKENSparty of the Author’s distinguished friends inspiredthe well-known picture by Maclise , who was alsopresent. It took place at Forster’s house, at 58,Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and according to the host ofthe occasion , it o ccurred on Monday, December 2,1844. In this the Biography was in error. A

collection of autograph letters written by JohnForster to W. J. Fox, one of the invited guests,came into po ssession of Maggs Bros. of London,in 1912. On e of these is dated Monday, December2nd , and the envelope is postmarked Holborn ,

W.C. December 2nd , 1844. In this letter theopening sentence says I hope you will be wellenough to come out to-morrow evening. Dickensproposes to read us his little story,” etc It willbe seen that Forster and Maclise made a mistakeof one day in the date of this famous readin g.In the illustrations Dickens abandoned colour,and instead of confin ing himself to one artisthe divided the work between the four leadingillustrators of the day. A vignette title page onsteel was an additional feature. The physical sideof the little bookwas very attractive and the generalform was continued in all the Christmas Bookswhich followed. It was the usual foo lscap o ctavobound in a bright crimson with the gilt stamps onthe side and back and all the edges gilt. To thepresent day the vividness of the colour scheme isunimpaired in fine copies. The title page readThe Chimes :/A Goblin Story/of/Some Bells ThatRang An Old Year Out/and A New Year In./ByCharles Dickens /London :/Chapman and Hall,186, Strand./MDCCCXLV.

122


CHARLES DICKENSbrought A London dealer in 1912 for afine clean copy asks £2 12s. 6d. With theexceptions noted, all the above copies are in theoriginal state.

124

THE MINOR BOOKS

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH

Late in 1845 Dickens began the writing of histhird Christmas Book, the title of which grew outof an idea to begin the publication of a weeklyperiodical which was to be called The Cricket,with an added mo tto, A cheerful creature thatchirrups on the Hearth. The proposition wasabandoned in favour of a more important venture

,

which resulted in the founding of The Daily N ews.

Afterwards the idea of the periodical found fruitionin the laun ching o f Household Words . From hisletters it is plain that the compo sition of the littlebook was a matter of difficulty and hardships,due no doubt to the worry attending the preparations for daily newspaper work.The book was immensely popular, doubling incirculation both of its predecessors. In 1847,

its publishers were announcing the twenty-secondedition of The Cricket,” at the same time theywere issuing the tenth edition of The Carol,” andthe twelfth of The Chimes.” It is said to ranksecond in importance as a Christmas Book.

In general form it was like the others of theseries. It was bound in crimson cloth with thegilt stamps and gilt edges and was foolscap octavoin size. The title page was worded as followsThe/CricketOn TheHearth./A/Fairy Tale Of Home./By/Charles Dickens.[London [Printed and Published For The Autho r,/By Bradbury and Evans,90, Fleet Street,[And Whitefriars./MDCCCX LVI .

COLLATION . Half-title, reverse of which is125

CHARLES DICKENSblank frontispiece and a vignette title page, bothsteel engraved by Maclise ; the reverse of thevignette title page is blank ; title page, reverseLondon :/Bradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriars ; one unnumbered page of dedication toLord Jeffrey, signed by The Author and datedDecember, 1845 ; reverse is blank ; one unnumbered page o f illustrations, reverse blank pp. 174with the same imprint as on the reverse of thetitle page. There were two unn umbered pages ofadvertisements, the first one announcing a newedition of Oliver Twist (the first octavo edi tion,1846 ) and the second page calling attention toMr. Dickens’s Works, and giving a list of them.

Fourteen illustrations ado rned the book, thisnumber including the frontispiece and engravedtitle. The o thers were divided among the artistsas fo llows : John Leech, seven ; Richard Doyle,three and Edwin Landseer and Clarkson Stanfieldone each . The chapter headin gs are not SignedLeech used his cipher and also his signature J. Leech,while Landseer used only initials on his woodcut.The collector need look for no points forthere are none.

VALUES.

This little book is rather common and goodcopies may be obtained for prices ranging from 103 .

to 258. Recent auction sales inAmerica show somewhat higher figures. At Anderson’s, New York,December, 1908, $6 ; on December, 191 1 , in aZaehn sdorf slip case, $12 at Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , $10 ; at the Hoe sale, April,19 1 1 , a copy re -bound by Riviere went for

126


CHARLES DICKENSunnumbered page of dedication To My EnglishFriends in Switzerland,” reverse blank ; oneunnumbered page of illustrations, blank on thereverse one unnumbered page giving title of bookand Part the First ; reverse blank ; pp. 175 ;

reverse o f last page the imprint as on the title page.Then two unnumbered pages announ cing on thefirst page the publication in parts of Dombey andSon , and also the bound vo lume of Oliver Twist(first o ctavo edition, On the last pageMr. Dickens’s Works. The book had thirteenillustrations, including the frontispiece and vignettetitle page. The woodcuts were distributed so thatClarkson Stanfield, John Leech and Richard Doylehad three each and Maclise two . Doyle Signedhis cuts with initials ; Leech signed only one ;

Stanfield none and Maclise put his name to thelast one in the book.To the co llector The Battle of Life is a mostinteresting book on account of the unusual numberof variants in the first and only edition. Theseare found in the vignette title pages.Heretofore bibliographers have dealt with onlythree of these issues

,but in the future a fourth

will have to be recognised. The addition to thethree previously known has the supreme meritof being the genuine first issue. Three copies areknown to exist, one owned by William B . OsgoodField, a collector and a member of the Gro lier Clubof New York ; the second possessed by C. E.

Lauriat, of Boston, and the third bought at anAmerican auction for a London bookseller. It isdue to Mr. Field’s courtesy and generosity that a

128


THE MINOR BOOKSfacs imile of this important title page is made a partof this Bibliography. In connection with theother variants there is shown the changes as theywere successively made.It had been known to the present writer frominformation gathered in London

,in 19 12, that

there was an earlier issue than those hitherto known,and also that the copies of thi s issue were inAmerica. The pursuit of these little books seemedhopeless, and it was sheer good luck when one wasfound in the Grolier Club exhibition of the earlyworks of Charles Dickens, held in New York fromJanuary 28 to March 8, 19 13 .

The catalogue issued by this famous associationof rare-book lovers, thus tells of the copy

The present issue, hitherto apparently un

described by bibliographers, contains the words,‘A LOVE STORY (in type) printed below theillustration. The imprint is identical with thatissue heretofore considered the first. Subsequenttreatment of the imprint and the inartistic relationborne by a type insertion to a steel engraving,makes it clear that this newly discovered issuewas the first, and that very few copies wereprinted before the Author made a change.In the first alteration a frame for the sub-titleA Love Story consisted of a Simple scrollwhich was made a part of the plate. There wasno change in the imprint. The second correctionwas to make the Simple scroll more elaborate inthat the words A Love Story were borne by anude cupid also the date 1846 was eliminated,and the imprint reduced from three lines to one

129

CHARLES DICKENSline. In the next and last issue the only changemade was the omission of the entire imprint.

VALUES .

!

These variations have all to do with the pricesof the three issues. Book dealers are now offeringfrom £10 to £15 for the first issue, which has grownvery scarce the second is practically un obtainableand is worth anything from £25, whi le the third isvery common and may be had for a guinea or evenless. At Sotheby’s, December, 1896, the firstissue sold for £2 4s June

,1897 second issue,

£4 83 May, 1903 , second issue, £3 78. At

Anderson’s, New York, December, 1908, thirdissue, $7 ; March, 1909 , third issue, $10 ; December, 191 1 , catalogued as a first issue, brought theextraordinary price of $69 , which leads to thesuspicion that it must have been a second issue.At Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , described as a first issue, a copy was sold for $30.

A London dealer in 19 1 1 offered what was calleda specia copy for five guineas. It had thefrontispiece and engraved title page printed onIndia paper and was called a first edition (ordin aryissue) which doubtlessly meant a third issue.

In order to avoid confusion it was thought best to adhere to the

designation of issues as they were known before the “F ield copymade its appearance .

130


CHARLES DICKENSExtraordinary To The Queen,/Whitefriars ; oneunnumbered page of illustrations

,reverse is blank

one unnumbered page giving the full title of thebook, the reverse of which is blank ; pp. 188,with a final imprint. Altogether there were 17illustrations, including the frontispiece and vignetteor engraved title page. In addition to theseTenniel did all the chapter pages, which numberfour drawings ; Leech made five pictures, Stanfield three and F. Stone three. Tenniel in itialedthe picture for Chapter I, but signed none of theo thers. Leech signed four J. Leech and onewith his initials all of the Stanfield drawings aresigned, and only one of Stone’s.

VALUES .

There was only one issue, though Slater in hisEarly Editions speaks of a copy with the datein Roman numerals. Some dealers and auctioncatalogues refer to a broken number at page 166,corrected in later copies.” Evidence is not athand to prove that this defect occurred in the veryfirst issues. It may have happened in the midstof the printing, and it would be arbitrary indeedto stamp those copies as late r issues which fail inhaving the mutilated pagination. In fact not on eof the previous bibliographers appear to pay anyattention to this point.” Good copies are easilyfound and at present the prices range from 103 . to203 . A London catalogue of 19 12 asks 18s. for afine copy. At Anderson’s, New York, December,1908, a copy with the broken number brought $5two extraordinary prices were reached at Freeman’s

132

THE MINOR BOOKSPhiladelphia, in February, 19 1 1 , when two copieswith the broken number sold for and $20respectively. At Anderson’s, December, 19 1 1 ,

a copy in a levant morocco Slip case by Zaehn sdorf,brought

VALUES OF THE FIVE CHRI STMAS Book s.

Frequently at auction sales, sets of the five bookscome up either in the original state or re -bound.At Christie’s, June, 1898, a set bound in po lishedlevant, with the original covers saved

,brought

£10 on the same date at Sotheby’s in the originalcloth, a set went for only £5 28. 6d. ; also atSotheby’s, March, 1904, in fine state, o riginalcloth, a set sold for £10. At Anderson’ s, NewYo rk, a set re -bound by Riviere with all the coversand advertisements preserved, The Battle ofLife,” a third issue, in December, 1909 , was so ldfor $55. A London dealer in a 19 1 1 catalogueoffered a set of nine vo lumes for £3 1 10s . In theset was included some interesting variations of thefirst editions, namely A Christmas Carol,”the first issue with green end papers

,and Stave I,

1843 ; the same issue with the cream co louredend papers, 1843 ; ordinary issue o f the firstedition with Stave On e , 1843 . Tw o copies ofThe Chimes, on e with the publishers’ nameetched on the engraved title and the other belowthe plate. First and third issues o f The Battleo f Life.”On the basis of present values a prime collection

o f the Christmas Books, with The Battle of

the third issue, should be worth about £20. In fact,

133

CHARLES DICKENSa set re -bound by Morrell, with all the covers preserved was sold at the Hoe sale, November, 19 12,for $90. The Haunted Man was of the secondissue

,and The Battle of Life, the so -called first

issue.

134


CHARLES DICKENSEvans, Printers, Whitefriars ; an unnumberedpage of contents, reverse blank four pages, TheReader’s Passport, the first being unnumberedand the o thers 2, 3 , 4 ; first page of the bookproper should be page 5 but is unnumberedpp. 270, the last one unnumbered. Imprint onlast page ; two unnumbered pages advertisingMr. Dickens’ s Works, the first page being interesting in showing the large number of editions issuedof the Christmas Books. For The Chimesthere is announced the 12th edition ; A Christmas Carol,” l0th edition, and The Cricket onthe Hearth, 20th edition. There were only twoeditions of the Pictures.Johnson and Kitton in their bibliographies makethe statement that the edges of most of the firsteditions are discoloured owing to a defect in thepaper. This has not been the experience of thewriter of this book, who has found the copies, as arule, in very good condition.

VALUES.

The book is easily obtained and the prices runfrom 158. to twice that amount. At Sotheby’s,May, 1903 , fine copy, one guinea ; January,1904, re -bound, covers evidently not saved, 68.

At Anderson’ s, New York, December, 1908, animmaculate copy, $5 ; December, 1909, in afull binding by Riviere, covers and advertisementspreserved, $5 ; December, 19 1 1 , Zaehn sdorf binding, covers bound in, Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 191 1 , with slightly wornoriginal covers, $3 . A London dealer in 1912,original state, 158.

136

THE MINOR BOOKS

A CHILD’

S HISTORY OF ENGLAND

The germ of this book was in the mind of Dickensnearly ten years before the idea was perfected.In 1843 he wrote to Douglas Jerrold concerning itbut no result followed at that time. In style,subject and composition it was different fromanything he attempted before or after. For thefirst and only time he dictated his thoughts to asecond party, Chapters II and VI only are in hismanuscript, the balance being in the handwritingof Miss Georgina Hogarth, his wife’s sister.Originally it appeared in Household Words atirregular periods from January 25, 1851 , toDecember 10, 1853 , inclusive. As a serial it wasin forty-fi ve chapters, but in book form it wasreduced to thirty-seven.The latter issue comprises three volumes in

Shape almost square, in size a small octavo, boundin a reddish cloth with a gold stamp on each volumethe design of which was by F. W. Topham. The

end papers were marbled and this was carried onall the edges. The collector Should note the onetest of a first edition and that relates to the dateson the title pages. These must be 1852, 1853and 1854 in the first, second and third volumes,respectively. Subsequent issues had later datesbut did not differ from the earliest printings inany other points. The frontispieces, also byTopham , have five designs, four of which areidentical in each volume, but the centre pieces are

137

CHARLES DICKENSdifferent for the three books. The original pricewas 103 . 6d.

COLLATION . Vol. I. Half-title, reverse blank ;frontispiece, title page reading as follows : A/Child’s History of England. [By/Charles Dickens.With a Frontispiece by F. W. Topham . /Vol I.England From the Ancient Times, To the Death of/King John./London /Bradbury and Evans, 1 1 ,Bouverie Street. 1852. On the reverse LondonBradbury and Evans, Printers, Whitefriars ; oneunnumbered page of dedication as follows : This/Child’s History of England/I s Dedicated/To MyOwn Dear Children,/Whom I Hope It May Help,Bye-and-Bye, To Read With Interest Larger andBetter Books On The Same Subject. It is datedChristmas, 1851 reverse of the dedication page isblank ; one unnumbered page of Table of theReigns in Vol. 1 , reverse blank ; three pagesChronological Table,/and/Table o f Contents toVolume 1 , first page and third unn umbered,second page X, reverse blank pp. 210 and XVIIchapters ; one page, announcing A Child’sHistory of England

,

”Hard Times, and other

Works by Dickens, reverse blank.

Vol. II. Half-title, reverse blank frontispiece,title page same as in first volume excepting volumenumber and England From The Reign Of HenryThe Third, To The Reign Of Richard The Third.The date 1853 , imprint on reverse same as inVo lume I ; unpaged Table of the Reigns in Volume II., reverse blank ; two pages ChronologicalTable, etc to Volume 11, first unnumbered ,

In some copies the“W in this word is absen t.

138


CHARLES DICKENS

HARD TIMES. FOR THESE TIMES

Published serially in Household Words fromApril 1 to August 12, 1854, Hard Times madeits appearance in book form shortly after the lastmentioned date. Dickens during a strike went toPreston to obtain local colour, but he failed inthis. The principal town referred to in the storyis Coketown, and this is supposed to have beenmeant as a representation of Manchester.AS a book it was published as a post octavo ingreen cloth

,the price of which—5s.

—was stampedon the back of the cover. The title page readHard Times./For These Times./By Charles Dicken s./London :/Bradbury Evans, 1 1 , Bouverie Street./1854.

COLLATION . Half-title, reverse, in bracketeditalics, The Author reserves the right of Translation ; title page, reverse, London :/Bradbury and

Evans , Whitefriars ; one unnumbered page, Inscribed/To /Thomas Carlyle, reverse blank ; twopages of contents, the first without number, thesecond VIII ; unnumbered page Book the First/Sowing, reverse blank ; pp. 352, without illustration s ; imprint on last page.

Hard Times is easily obtained for moderateprices. Fine copies worth about 30s. , ordinarycopies one-half off. At Sotheby’s, February, 1896,253 . at Christie’s, June, 1898, re -bound in levant

140

THE MINOR BOOKSmorocco, covers saved, 32s. ; Anderson’s, NewYork, December, 1908, fine copy, $6 ; December,19 1 1 , re-bound with the original covers, $9 ; thesame price was paid for a copy bound in calf atthe Hoe sale, April, 191 1 .

141

CHARLES DICKENS

THE UNCOMMERC IAL TRAV ELLER

Under this general heading during the year 1860Dickens printed a series of highly clever articles inAll The Year Round. At the end o f the yearseventeen were collected, the individual titleplaced over each, and the issue in book formresulted. Actually the Sketches grew out of theAuthor’s increasing in fi rmities. He was greatlytroubled with insomnia

,and he hoped to cure it

by long walks at night. His wanderings took himall over London at a time when the great city wasa different subject for observation than duringthe day. Also the country would be included.Despite such distressful physical conditions Dickensproduced a number of impressions which paid finetribute to his camera-like eye and his wonderfulfancy.The First Series in the periodical of The Un

commercial Traveller was published in onevolume crown octavo, lilac-coloured cloth and theprice was 68. The title page read : The/Un commercial Traveller/By/Charles Dickens. /LondonChapman and Hall, 193 ,COLLATION . Half-title, reverse blank ; titlepage

,reverse blank ; one unnumbered page of

preface, un signed, but dated December, 1860,

reverse blank one unnumbered page of contents,reverse blank ; pp. 264 and no illustrations. At

the end the imprint of C.Whiting, Beaufort House,Strand. The book should also have 32 pages of a

142


CHARLES DICKENSJun e 16. Tramps.June 30. Dullborough Town.July 21 . Night Walks.August 18. Chambers.September 8. Nurses’ Stories.September Arcadian London.

October 13 . The Italian Prisoner.The first cheap edition with a frontispiece onwood by G. J. Pinwell was issued by Chapman andHall in 1865, but dated 1866. This edition hadeleven additional papers and the last sketch wasnumbered 18 instead of 28 ; this error was notcorrected for a number of subsequent issues.Again, in 1875, the same publisher printed a volumein the Illustrated Library Edition and added eightnew papers, making a total of thirty-Six. A Flyleaf in a Life,” one of the sketches, for some unaccountable reason, was omitted from the collectededitions until it appeared in the Gadshill editionin 1890.

Those papers in editions succeeding the firstappeared in All the YearRound under the followingdate s

1863 .

(Second Series)May 2. The

jCalaiS Night Mail.

May 16. Some Recollections of Mortality.Jun e 6. Birthday Celebrations.June 20. The Short Timers.July 4. Bound for the Great Salt Lake.July 18. The City of the Absent.August 1 . An Old Stage-Coaching House.August 15. The Boiled Beef of New England.

144

THE MINOR BOOKSAugust 29. Chatham Dockyard.September 12. In the French-Flemish Country.

September 26 . Medicine Men of Civilisation.October 24. Titbull

’

s Almshouses.

1868.

October 10. The Ruffian (New UncommercialSamples) .December 5. Aboard Ship.December 19 . A Small Star In the East.

1869.

January 2. A Little Dinner in an Hour.January 16 . Mr. Barlow.

February 27 . On An Amateur Beat.May 22. A Fly-leaf in a Life.

5. A Plea for Total Abstinence.

145


PART III

BOOKS IN WH ICH DICKEN S HAD

ONLY A LIMITED INTEREST

ICKENS’

S services as an editor of a bookor the preparation or po lishing of a manuscript for a book were always in demand.

Many times he declined the calls and often heaccepted them. Appeals for his aid in individualand charitable projects which involved literarylabours usually met with prompt response. Withthe exception of the one first to be revi ewed

,all

others came under thi s general description. To

the collector, the first four are of prime importancebecause they represent in different ways literarywork prior to 1844.

149

CHARLES DICKENS

THE LIBRARY OF FICTIONThis publication commends itself because itcontains two early efforts of Dickens which wereillustrated by Robert Seymour and R. W. Buss.The Tuggses at Ramsgate had two pictures bythe first illustrator of Pickwick Papers,” and A

Little Talk about Spring and the Sweeps,” carriedone etching by Seymour’s successor on that famousbook. Both Sketches were Signed Boz,

” andappeared in the first volume of the Library.The first story was afterwards printed in the firstoctavo edition of Sketches By Boz,”the title of the last-named sketch was altered toThe First of May,

” and became a part of thesecond series of the SketchesThe Library was originally issued in monthlyparts, but only for fourteen numbers. An an

nouncemen t written by Dickens of the forthcoming issue of Pickwick appeared on thewrapper of the first part. Sunday Under ThreeHeads was earliest advertised in the thirdnumber. Finally the Library was issued in atwo-volume edition bound in blue cloth.The wording of the title page was as follows

The /Library of Fiction,/cr/Family Story-TellerConsisting of/Original Tales,/Essays, and Sketchesof Character.[With Fourteen Illustrations./Vol. I(ID/London -Chapman and Hall, 186 Strand.1836. On the title page of volume II the datewas 1837.

150


CHARLES DICKENS

MEMO IRS O F JOSEPH GRIMALDIMuch controversy has been wasted on the amountof his talents Dickens put in this book. Forsterwas sure that his great friend had written onlythe Preface, called in the book, IntroductoryChapter,” and not a line of the biography. Alsothat Dickens dictated mo st of the changes andmodifications to his father. Richard Bentley

,

the publisher o f the book, as late as July 23 , 1870,in a letter to N otes and Queries stated that Dickenswrote a good deal of the work and that he complained of the labour being wearisome. It isplain that the last chapter is in Dickens’s styleand that other parts of the book are his. Grimaldilaid the foundation for his memo irs, but in a roughand a diffuse manner. He gave the manuscriptto Thomas Egerton Wilks, who, after doing somecondensing, so ld the manuscript to Bentley who,in turn, turned it over to Dickens for the purposeof embro idery. An added interest to the booklies in the etchings by George Cruikshank, themajority of which are very fi n e .

Bentley issued the book in a two-volume postoctavo bound in pink embossed cloth. There wasa portrait of Grimaldi, engraved on steel, used asa frontispiece. It was by W. Greatbatch after apainting by S. Raven. The title pages readMemoirs/of/J oseph Grimaldi /Edited By Boz./With Illustrations by George Cruikshank. /In TwoVolumes. /Vol. I. (II)/London /Richard Bentley,New Burlington Street./1838.

152

BOOKS DICKENS HAD INTEREST INCOLLATION . Vol. I. Half-title, imprint on thereverse ; frontispiece, title page, reverse blank ;five pages Contents of the First Volume, first pageunnumbered, other pages VI, VII, VIII, IX,

reverse of last page blank one unnumbered pageof Embellishments to both volumes, reverse blanknine pages of Introductory Chapter, first page ofwhich is unnumbered, the o ther XII to XIX inclusive , dated Doughty Street,/February, 1838,

reverse blank ; pp . 288 and six illustrations,exclusive of the frontispiece. Imprint on lastpage London :/Printed by Samuel Bentley,/DorsetStreet, Fleet Street.Vol. II. Half-title, with an imprint on thereverse ; frontispiece, title page, reverse blankfive pages of Contents of the Second Volume

,

first page unnumbered, the o ther VI, VII, VIIIand IX

,reverse blank ; pp. 263 , and six illus

tration s ; imprint on the last page same as inVol. I. At the end there should be 36 pages ofMr. Bentley’s List of New Works, the first,twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh pages of whichare unnumbered.

All the plates bear the full name of the artistand also the publisher’s imprin t as followsLondon. Published by Richard Bentley, 1838.

There are two issues of the first edition. The

first was bound in pink and the second in a verydark brown cloth. Distingui shing marks are thelast plate in the book, known as the Last Song.In the first issue it has no border, while in the seconda crude attempt was made to improve onCruikshank’s drawing by. surrounding it with a

153

CHARLES DICKENSgrotesque border. Dexter says that the honourfor this mutilation has been ascribed to AlfredCrowquill and George Augustus Sala. The lattermust be acquitted of this awful charge on accountof his lack of years at the time. Before sendingout another issue, however, Bentley had theplate restored to its original condition.In 1846 Bentley issued ano ther edition ofGrimaldi. It was a 12mo, two vo lumes in oneand boun d in red cloth. Charles Whitehead, theedito r of the Library of Fiction,” supplied theannotations and additions to the former edi tions,making it quite a more important book to collectorsof dramatic works. Ten of Cruikshank’s etchingswere retained and a coloured frontispiece portraitsupplied.

VALUES .

The Memo irs had a good sale when firstpublished. Writing to Forster the editor of thebooks said Seventeen hundred Grimaldi ’s havebeen already sold and the demand daily increases.”At the present time it cannot be said that the bookis scarce, yet it brings a good price for that sortof a book. The issue with the border, although alater one, being somewhat scarcer, and owing tothe freakishness of book-collecting, brings a pricealmost equal to the first issue in pink cloth.Auction records concernin g prices o f the firstedition Show that at Sotheby’s, June, 1897, a copybrought £4 a month later, an exceptionally finecopy in a drop case, went for £8 17s . 6d. Christie’s,April, 1902, £5 103 . Puttick

’

s, July, 1902, £6.

154


CHARLES DICKENS

THE PICN IC PAPERS

John Macrone was the publisher of Dickens’sfirst book

,and when he died he left a widow and

several children in rather destitute circumstances.AS a business man he drove, what, to the youngauthor at that time, was a hard bargain over acopyright. But the appeal made on behalf of aneedy family Dickens could not resist. He wasin the midst of Master Humphrey’s Clock,” andregardless of this he undertook the management ofThe Pic Nic Papers,” the proceeds of the sale ofwhich were to alleviate hardships. He wrote theIntroduction, rewrote his unacted farce The

Lamplighter,” altering the name to The Lamplighter’s Story,” edited the balance of the bookexcepting the thi rd volume, and was enabled toplace into the hands of the widow the sum of £300.

The book was issued in three volumes, postoctavo, and bound in a light green clo th. Dickens’sstory led all the other contributions, whichconsisted of essays, stories and poems, all furnished gratuitously as the sub-title says, byvarious hands.” George Cruikshank made two andPhiz six of the etchings. The Six illustrationsin the last volume are by R. J. Hamerton. Con

cerning this volume the charge was made by Dr.R

Shelton Mackenzie in his Life of Dickens,”printed in 1870, that Dickens had ann exed itscontents from Charcoal Sketches,” by J. C. Neal,of Philadelphia, and that he had failed to give

156

BOOKS DICKENS HAD INTEREST INcredit to the proper source. Writing to his friendEdmund Yates in 1859 , Dickens explained thatHenry Colburn, the publisher of The Pic NicPapers, for trade purposes saw the necessity ofthe third volume, and that he usedAmerican reprintto reach such ends. Of that volume I didn’tknow and don’t know anything,” said the letter.That the treatment accorded Dickens by Colburn,in the publication of a set of books for a charitabledesign, broke the relations between the two menthere is no doubt. A very important and interesting letter bearin g on this matter was brought tothe surface in 19 1 1 by Charles Sessler, a Phi ladelphia dealer, who obtained $125 for it. Writtenshortly after Dickens had returned from Americait is the only letter kn own in which the Authoruses cuss words, Henry Co lburn in this casebeing the object of his wrath. In the letter thereis also an expression which shows that Dickenswas beginning to realise the value of authors’presentation copies. The letter says

Devonshire Terrace,Nin eteen th J uly 1842.

MY DEAR HUNT.

I don’t know your friend—but to the best ofmy belief he is not a bookseller ; and thereforecomes within the pale of human sympathies.Although you didnt send me the Florentine

Legend, nor the Palfrey, I have them both ; andwhen that leg of mutton does come off (Good God,how long it has been unamputated you shallwrite your name in them, for the sake of myLawful Heir.

157

CHARLES DICKENSYour paper for Mrs. Macron e

’

s book was sentby me to Mr. Colburn, for the Printer. Mr.

Colburn exercised my duties, and accepted andrejected Papers at his most literary wile andpleasure. I resisted this monstrous indecency inMr. Colburn for a whole year ; and then wrotehim that as it was a work of charity

,and I wanted

his money for Mrs . Macron e , I would give him hisown way—which, if it were my own case, and Iwanted bread, I would never do. I damned hiseyes (by implication and construction) at thesame time ; and declined to hold any furthercorrespondence with him, on any subject.But if you wish me to apply to him, or any of

his myrmidons, fo r this particular paper, I willdo so . We fell out about a paper of Landor

’

s,

which he said his literary friend had told himwasn

’

t Protestant.”

l I

Faithfully Yours AlwaysLeigh Hunt Esquire CHARLES DI CKENS .

It is of sufficient interest to note here thatDickens’s biographer, John Forster, about 15 yearsafter this married the widow of Henry Colburn.The title page is worded as follows The /Pic Nic

Papers./By Various Hands. /Edited by CharlesDickens

, Esq.[Author of/“ The Pickwick Papers,”Nicholas Nickleby,” & c. /With Illustrations ByGeorge Cruikshank, Phiz, & c./In Three Volumes.Vol. I (II, III) . London :/Henry Colburn, Publisher, Great Marlborough Street./MDCCCXLI.COLLATION . Vol. I. Frontispiece title page,

on the reverse, London /Printed by G. J. Palmer,Savoy Street, Strand. Introduction one un

numbered page and IV,dated London, July, 1841158


CHARLES DICKENSrange from 5 guineas upward and auction pricesare not much lower. At Sotheby’s, in March,1897, the price was £4 14s two years later are -bound copy brought £3 ; at Christie’s, June,1898, in morocco extra with covers saved, £7at Sotheby’s,May, 1903 , £3 78. 6d. LaterAmericanauctions Show better prices. At Anderson’s, NewYork, December, 1908, in fine state,” $30 ;December, 1909 , in a full binding by Riviere,original covers and the advertisements preserved,$33 ; Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 191 1 ,described as a fine copy, $24 ; Anderson’s,December, 19 1 1 , original cloth repaired in severalplaces

,and having inserted Six original drawings

by Phiz, differing somewhat from the drawingsused in the book, brought $170 . The cataloguestated that these illustrations had been boughtin London many years ago for £60. At the Hoe

Sale, April, 19 1 1 , original cloth, $25. A Londondealer in 19 12 asked 5 guineas for a copy ; aPhiladelphia bookseller’s price was $35.

160

BOOKS DICKENS HAD INTEREST IN

EV EN INGS OF A WORKING MAN

Within three years after the project in aid ofMacron e

’

s widow, Dickens’ s kindlin ess was againdrawn upon to assist a worthy mortal who was indeep distress. He was John Overs, a carpenterwho had Shown some literary ability. Becominga victim of tuberculosis he decided with the adviceof Dickens to collect what he had written into alittle volume, and with an introduction by thegreat Author to find means of aiding himself andhis family. In general make-up the book closelyfo llowed A Christmas Carol,” with its embossedbrown cloth, its gilt leaves and the coloured titlepage. Overs was under the medical care of Dr,John Elliotson , concerning whom Forster wrote inthe Life whose name was for nearlythirty years a synonym with us all for unwearied,self-sacrifi cing, ben efi cen t service to every one inneed.” As a mark of gratitude the book wasdedicated to him.

The title page printed In blue and red,doubtedly written by Dickens, was as followsEven ings/Of/A Working Man ,/Being the Occupation Of/His Scanty Le isure :/By John Overs.With A Preface Relative To The Author./ByCharles Dickens. London : T. C. Newby, 72,

Mortimer Street,/Cavendish Square /1844.

COLLATION . Half-title ; title reverse (in blueink) , Printed by J. H. Cox, Brothers (Late Cox

75, Great Queen Street, Lincoln’s16 1

CHARLES DICKENSInn Fields ; unpaged dedication written byDickens, reverse blank preface eight and one-halfpages, signed Charles Dickens and dated London,June, 1844 . The first page is unnumbered, theothers from VI to XIII inclusive, the reverse ofthe last page being blank ; Contents one unnumbered page

,reverse blank ; pp. 205, without

illustrations imprint on last page identical withthat on the back of the title page on reverse ofthe final page o f the book is an advertisement ofChronicles of the Bastile in twenty monthly parts,the publisher expressin g the h0 pe that the issuewill fill the vacuum left by the completion ofMartin Chuzzlewit.” Two pages of Mr. Newby’sPublications follow. The three pages are un

numbered.VALUES .

The original issue was limited to one editionand the little book is rapidly growing scarce.At the present time prices by dealers are between£2 and £3 . Recent American auctions Show thefollowing Anderson’s, New York, December, 1908,

December, 1909 , re -bound by Riviere withthe covers saved, $8 ; Freeman’s, Philadelphia,February, 19 1 1 , a fine copy from the H. W. Poorlibrary, $1 1 .


CHARLES DICKENSCOLLATION . Half-title, reverse blank ; frontispiece a steel portrait of Miss Procter, un lettered,but with the imprint of Bell Daldy, Fleet Street,London, 1866 ; title page, reverse blank ; oneunnumbered page of Dedication to Matilda M.

Hays, signed A.A.P. and dated May, 1858, reverseblank ; four unnumbered pages of Contents ;unnumbered page of Illustrations, reverse blankand carrying only an emblem ; An IntroductionBy Charles Dickens of eleven pages, all unnumberedpp. 330 ; imprint on last page Chiswick PressPrinted byWhittingham andWilkins,/Tooks Court,Chancery Lane.

VALUES .

Though a fairly large edition is known to havebeen issued, this book is rather diffi cult to find.Many Dickens collectors manage to get alongwithout it, so in consequence the price is not,excessive. As far back as December, 1892, Sotheby’s sold a copy for £2 6s. , and that price is a fairaverage one at the present day. At other salessince then copies have .been sold somewhat cheaper.An American dealer in 19 13 asked $15 for a finecopy, fully and beautifully bound in crushed levantby Zaehnsdorf.

164

BOOKS DICKENS HAD INTEREST IN

RELIG IOUS OPIN ION S OF THE LATE

REV . CHAUNCY HARE TOWN SHENDDickens dedicated Great Expectations to

Mr. Townshend, who was an ardent admirer ofthe novelist. When Dickens w as making hissecond tour of America, his friend died, leavinghim a legacy of and an appointment as aliterary executor. It involved much to il to arrangein book form a mass of fragmentary and scatterednotes, usually scribbled on stray bits of paper.He worked at odd moments during the summer of1868, and in the year fo llowing Chapman and Hallpublished a volume, crown octavo , in green cloth.It is the least important of any of the bookswith which Dickens had any connection. Dextersays concerning it But for Dickens’s name aseditor it would have died a natural death. I havenever had the courage to read anything of it butthe introduction, nor have I ever come acrossany one who has.The title page reads : Religious Opin ions/Of]

The Late Reverend/Chaun cy Hare Townshend./Published AS Directed in HisWill,/By His LiteraryExecutor./London Chapman and Hall, 193 , Piccadilly./MDCCCLXIX.

COLLATION . Title, with the imprint on thereverse ; Explanatory Introduction, I—V , thereverse blank ; pp. 293 , with the final imprintidentical with that on the title page ; one blankleaf. Its value ranges from 108. to £1 .

165


PART IV

PLAYS

OVE for the stage ran a close race withthe love for writing in the affections ofDickens. Based on his own admissions

he was a playw right at the precocious age of eightor ten, the subject of his stage pen being entitledMisn ar, the Sultan of India.” Of this not evena fragment remains. In another part of this book(Part I.) his succeeding dramatic ventures arereferred to . This fancy for theatricals appearsto have been a passion which was life-long. Itwas only a few years before he died that he collaborated with Wilkie Collins in No Thoroughfare.”The collector with a lengthy purse will fi ndThe Strange Gentleman,” Is She His Wife ?and some of the other plays interesting quest.

169

CHARLES DICKENS

THE STRANGE GENTLEMAN

This is surely the rarest of the obtainable worksof Charles Dickens and for that reason it is themo st costly, all things being considered. Itappeared as a small pamphlet of less than fiftypages and it is known to have realised £200 byprivate treaty.A recently printed letter in the po ssession of

Harry B . Smith, of New York, shows that The

Strange Gentleman was written before Pickwick appeared. Heretofore it was believed thatthe little farce was composed as a tribute to JohnPritt Harley, who was the stage manager of theSt. James’ s Theatre. The first performance wasgiven on September 29, 1836, and the play waspopularly suppo sed to have been constructed justbefore this time. At the time of the productionSix monthly parts of Pickwick ” had beenpublished.The letter referred to was written about Februaryof that year at the time the first part of Pickwickhad been finished. An added interest to the letteris the first use outside of the book of the expressionPickwickian,” and also the earliest known usein a letter of the name of that great book. The

letter readsFurnival’s Inn,

Thursday Evening.Dear Sirs : Pickwick is at length begun in allhis might and glory. The first chapter will beready to-morrow.

170


PLAYS

I want to publish The Strange Gentleman. Ifyou have no objection to doing it, I should behappy to let you have the refusal of it. I neednot say that nobody else has seen or heard of it.

Believe me (in Pickwickian haste) ,Faithfully yours,

CHARLES DI CKENS .

Messrs. Chapman Hall.

The Great Winglebury Duel in Sketchesby Boz was the basis of the farce. Harley playedthe title role for Sixty nights, which in those dayswas a token of fair success. Others in the castwere Madame Sala, the mother of George AugustusSala,who afterwards was one of Dickens’s brightestyoun g men on Househohl Words, and the MissesSmith, nieces of Kitty Stephen, who became theCountess of Essex . The play was not publisheduntil the following year, bearin g the date 1837.

Its appearance was in a lavender-coloured paperwrapper having a frontispiece by Phiz.” Withthe picture it is much rarer than without it. Mr.

Dexter thinks that some 0 0 pies of the first editionwere issued w ithout the illustration as it is theexception to fi n d a copy containing it. A perfectreprint without the Phiz plate was issued byChapman Hall, in 1871 . Pailthorpe afterwardsdrew a frontispiece which usually goes with thi sbook. Later, another reprint added to the gaietyof collecting.It is the first reprint which puzzles dealers

,

auctioneers and collectors alike, for with a littleageing and with a little soiling it will deceive themost expert. Collectors are cautioned to purchase

17 1

CHARLES DICKENSonly when they are thoroughly convinced of theabsolute correctness of the copy which is soughtto be sold as a real first edition. The imitation ofthe original issue is so close that the deception isalmost complete.The title page in full is as follows The/StrangeGentleman ; [ A Comic Burletta, [ In Two Acts.[By Performed/At/The St. James’sTheatre, [ On Thursday, September 29 ,

London : [ Chapman and Hall, 186, Strand.MDCCCXXXVII. There was no border on the titlepage. The wrapper title was embraced in a ruleborder with fl oreated corners. In the imprint onthe wrapper the word London was omitted.COLLATION . Frontispiece (when there is one)title page on the reverse London [Bradbury andEvans, Printers,[Whitefriars. ; one unnumberedpage of Costume, on the reverse of which in smallcaps Scene—a small town, on the road to Gretna.Time in Acting—On e hour and twenty minutes.This line is in smaller caps ; pp. 46 ; two-lineimprin t same as on the reverse of the title page.There are no advertisements on the wrappersexcepting on the last page, which announcesSplendid New Editions of Plays Now Publishing,with the name of Chapman Hall.

VALUES .

To the collector the advance in prices of The

Strange Gentleman presents some astonishingfigures. Dexter ( 1870) quotes the price of a copywith the frontispiece at £12 and at £8 without it.Johnson ( 1885) raises the prices to £15 and £20,

172


CHARLES DICKENS

THE V ILLAGE COQUETTES

This was a comic opera, written, it is said, beforeThe Strange Gentleman.” Dickens’s musicalco llaborator was John Hullah, who was Government inspector of musical education. They hadmet early in 1835 after Hullah had set to music aportion of an opera which he called The Gondoliers,

” the scene of whi ch had been laid in Venice.Dickens objected to writing the libretto on a foreignsubject, and the compromise was effected whichbrought about The Village Coquettes.” The

opera was accepted by Mr. Braham, manager ofthe new St. James’s Theatre. It had its firstpresentation on December 6, 1836, with Brahamhimself in the cast. To J. P. Harley, who alsotook part in the play, the little work was dedicated,the dedication being in form of a letter signedCharles Dickens and dated December 15th, 1836.

It ran nineteen times in London, when it wastransferred to Edinburgh and played under themanagement of Mr. Ramsay, a friend of SirWalterScott. It appears that the music did more to addstrength to the play than did the book.” Harleybegan his stage reputation with the play.A further personal association was that George

Augustus Sala, who witnessed the first performancefirst saw Charles Dickens, whose influence hadmuch to do in fixing Sala’s career as a journalist.The play also was the medium of bringing JohnForster in personal contact with the Author.

174

PLAYS

Although Dickens was highly enthusiastic concerning the merits of his production at this period,later in life he formed an opposite opinion of it.Though it was acted after The Strange Gentleman

,

” its publication ante-dated it. RichardBentley was its first publisher, the date of theoriginal edition being 1836. During the followingyear Bradbury and Evans printed an editionwhich was sold in the theatre for 10d. In 1878Bentley issued a fac-Simile reprint, the reverse ofthe title page indicating its character as a reprint.Sin ce then other title pages were printed by someone who omitted the statement that it was areprint. These spurious title pages have beenutili sed to fool incautious buyers. Bradbury 85Evans also printed the musical score with an 1837date . This is now very scarce.The original publication was in grey boards,though it is now oftener seen in the sheets. Itssize was a demy octavo. The title page readThe /Village Coquettes [A Comic Opera. [In TwoActs.[By Charles Dickens. [The music By JohnHullah .[London [Richard Bentley,[New Burlington Street. 1836 .

COLLATION . Title ; on the reverse LondonPrinted by Samuel Bentley, Dorset Street, FleetStreet ; one unnumbered page of Dedication /ToJ. P. Harley, Esq. , dated December 15th, 1836 ,and signed in full, the reverse being blank ; twounnumbered pages of Preface ; one unn umberedpage of Dramatis Personae, with this notice at thebottom : The Passages marked with invertedcommas are omitted in the representation, and

175

CHARLES DICKENSon the reverse, Managers are requested to ohserve that this Play is Copyright, and cannot beacted without the Author’ s permission. Pp. 7 1

final imprint the same as on the reverse of thetitle page.

VALUES.

The Bookhunter in London, by WilliamRoberts tells how the year before a mass ofwaste paper from a printer’ s warehouse was returned to the mills to be pulped that a workmancaught sight of the name of Charles Dickens onthe printed matter and that this led to the rescueof nearly a hundred copies of The Village Ccquettes in the sheets, clean and unfolded.Before this discovery, says Mr. Roberts, copies ofthe Operetta were worth £30 to £40, but the projection of these sheets into the market cut downthe price to £5. It is feared that Mr. Robertswas a little exuberant concerning prices previousto the di scovery of the 100 sheets. Values rangedfrom £10 to £12 at that period, and the highestprice paid for a particularly fine copy at Sotheby’sin 1889 was £25. The publication in the originalgrey boards does not reach the auction room veryoften, but in the form of sheets, sometimes nuopened, it is more frequent. In the bound greyboards, Christie’s in May, 1900 , sold a copy for £5,and that seems to have been the average price forfive years previous. Unbound in the sheets,English auction prices from June, 1896, to November, 1898, have remained in the neighbourhood of£3 . In June, 1899, the musical score issued byCramer, 1837, in a small folio, most elaborately

176


PLAYS

bound,brought six guineas. At Sotheby’s, June

3 , 1903 , the sheets unopened in a cloth caserealised five guineas.In America values are Slightly higher. Anderson’s, New York, December, 1909 , sold a re

markably fine copy in the original sheets, uncutand unopened,” in a Riviere case, for $30. InDecember, 19 1 1 , an unopened, uncut and unsewncopy in a Zaehn sdorf case, went for $45. The

same sort of a copy was sold by Freeman, Philadelphi a, February, 19 1 1 , for There wasno slip case. In January, 1913 , a high price wasreached at Anderson’s when an unsewn andunopened copy in a solander case sold for $74.

177

CHARLES DICKENS

IS SHE H IS WIFE? OR, SOMETHINGSINGULAR

Extinct is hardly a proper word to use in relationto a book, yet no other applies so aptly to the thirdof Dickens’s stage efforts. There is no copy ofthe original publication in existence as far asknown. Every bibliographer has told the storywhich concerns the destruction in a fire of the lastcopy howMr. Osgood, a Boston,Mass. , publisher;had purchased it from an English collector, who inturn had bought it from T. H. Lacy, a theatricalbookseller, paying for it £6 ; how after the American publisher had made a reprint of it, a fire inDecember

, 1879, destroyed it. Mr. Osgood’s recollections of the original issue was that it was ademy octavo in size, with about 30 pages of textand no wrappers.Long before this the little burletta had beenpractically forgotten. Forster had made onlythe slightest mention of it, and nothing definitewas known concerning it until 1880, when RichardHerne Shepherd, in a contribution to a Londonpublication, wrote as follows The existence ofsuch a piece first became vaguely known to andvaguely suspected by me from a loose mention of itin the Era Almanack of 1868—9 or thereabout, atthe time I was preparing for the press a collectionof Dickens’s speeches

,in the introduction to which

I reproduced without addition or comment thesame lax statement

,which

,however, has Since

proved to be perfectly accurate.” Mr. Shepherd178


CHARLES DICKENS12mo, original drab wrappers, in a brownlevant morocco case by Zaehn sdorf. n .p. , n .d.,but probably London in the late sixties.

Only two copies known, the above and the one ina private collection in St. Louis. The firsttime a copy has been offered for sale at auction.This issue is supposed to be earlier or contemporary with the re-issue of, The StrangeGentleman, of 1871 , and therefore earlierthan the Boston issue of 1877. No copy iskn own to exist of the original publication

,

which Mr. Osgood says was supposed tohave been published in 1837.

This copy was bought by a Philadelphia dealerfor $425.

In 19 13 the catalogue of the Grolier Club ofNewYork stated that there were three copies knownof the first re-issue, but it failed to say where thethird one was owned.The title page of the London publication readsIs She HisWife ?[Or[Something Singular.[A ComicBurletta/In One Act.[By/Charles Dickens. The

whole is embraced in a rule border with fancycorners.COLLATION . Title, with First Performed,etc. , and the Dramatis Personae, on the reverse.Text pp. 22 and one blank leaf. There was noback wrapper.The title page of the American reprint is asfollows I S She HisWife ‘

2 Or,[Something Singular.[A Comic Burletta/In One Act.[By Charles Dickens.

[James R. Osgood and Company,[late Ticknor Fields, and Fields, Osgood85 Co .[1877.

180

I S SHE HI S W I FE

SOMETHING SING ULAR.

A COMIC BURLETTA

IN ONE ACT .

CHARLE S D I C KEN S .

page of “ Is She His W ife ?” This is the very rare edition

supposed to have been printed in the early 7o’

s.

It sold for $425 in America .


CHARLES DICKENS

THE LAMPLIGHTER

Unfo rtunate little farce is making use of theAuthor’ s own language concerning this play.Dickens had consented to write it for William C.

Macready, and while it was in rehearsal and beforeit was ever staged, at the request of the famousactor, it was withdrawn. A few years afterDickens re -wrote it into a story and it served asThe Lamplighter’s Story for The Pic Nic

Papers.The manuscript was not in Dickens’s handwritingand was found by Richard Herne Shepherd in theForster Collection and reprinted. It took the formof a pamphlet of forty-fi ve papers in a blue-greypaper wrapper and duodecimo in size. The editionwas limited to 250 copies.The title was as fo llows : The Lamplighter/AFarce[By CharlesDickens. 1838)[NowFirstPrin tedFrom a Manuscript In The/Forster Collection atthe South/Ken sington Museum[London/1879

VALUES .

With a limited printing this playlet has becomevery scarce. The demand for it is rather modest

,

hence the smallness of the prices. At Sotheby’s,June, 1900, a re bound copy was sold for 2 guineas.At Anderson’s, New York, December, 1909, are -bound copy brought $8 ; at this sale also thecorrected proof Sheets of the re -issue in a solandercase went for $20 ; December, 19 1 1 , in originalwrappers in a Slip case by Zaehn sdorf, $15 ; atFreeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , finecopy in the original state, $5.

182

PLAYS

PROLOGUE TO “ THE PATRIC IAN’

S

DAUGHTER

In 1842 a young playw right of the name ofJ. Westland Marston had written a tragedy in fiveacts, which had been accepted by Macready forthe Drury Lane Theatre. Dickens had a combinedinterest in the author and the actor, and he suggested in a letter to Macready that to make theplay a success, to get the curtain up with a dashand begin the play with a sledge-hammer blow.

The blow, he further suggested, should consistof a prologue to be written by himself. Dickens’soffer was accepted, and Macready recited the lines,which were vigorous and dignified enough to carrythe play to a great success. The season wasopened on December 10, 1842, when the 48 lineswere first heard. The prologue was reprinted inthe Theatrical J ourna l and S tranger

’

s Guide forDecember 17, and it again appeared in Vol. I ofthe Letters in a changed condition.The first edition of the play ( 1841 ) with theprologue was printed in an octavo pamphlet inpaper wrappers, and, owing mainly to Dickens’scontribution, is worth about £1 .

183

CHARLES DICKENS

MR. N IGHTINGALE’S D IARY

The Guild of Literature and Art had been formedto aid indigent artists and authors and to providefree homes for them. Dickens entered into theproject with his customary energy, although hewas a very busy man. He organised the Companyof Strolling Players, was their stage manager andhad promised to write a farce for their production.But a pressure of time prevented the writing, anda farce constructed by Mark Lemon, editor ofPunch, and a close friend of Dickens, w as chosenas the dramatic vehicle. In process of rehearsalthe latter made so many alterations to the little playthat it was as much Dickens’s as it was Lemon’ s.It was produced with fi ne success at DevonshireHouse onMay 16, 1851 , the cast includingAugustusEgg, R.A. , Dudley Costello , Wilkie Collins, MarkLemon and Charles Dickens.The farce was privately printed for Dickens andof this first issue there are only three known copies.Heretofore bibliographers have had knowledge ofonly the copy in the South Kensington Museum.

The Gro lier Club exhibition of 19 13 unearthed acopy which had belonged to Wilkie Co llins. Itbore his signature and autograph notes for his partof Lithers, the landlord. Frederick R. Halsey,of New York, is the owner and he obtained it fromthe Augustin Daly collection

,which was di spersed

in 1900. The third copy is in a private collectionin America. It has also been discovered that the

184


CHARLES DICKENS

THE FROZEN DEEP AND THE

LIGHTHOUSEThis was a play written by Wilkie Collins andproduced for the benefit of the Douglas Jerroldfund, in 1856, and at the private theatricals,Tavistock House, in 1857. As usual with a playwhich went into rehearsal under Dickens’s auspicesit came out improved. The changes made inthis instance were so numerous that the drama mayalmo st be attributed to Dickens. To The

Lighthouse he contributed the pro logue as wellas The Song of the Wreck.” Dickens playedparts in both dramas. He re-arranged The

Frozen Deep for reading in America, and thenarrative was afterwards published in Temple Barin 1874. In each of these forms it differed somewhat from the dramatic construction.

The Frozen Deep was never published, butaccording to Kitton in his Minor Writings ofCharles Dickens,” ( 1900) a printed copy of the playcontaining stage directions written on the margins

,

” etc. , was a much-valued item in the lateW. R . Hughes

’

s Collection. It was sold at auctionby Sotheby shortly after the above quotation waswritten, and on December 15, 1909, it was againplaced under the hammer at Anderson’s, NewYork, and so ld for the paltry sum of $20. The

catalogue was positive in saying that the pamphletwas the oneKitton had discovered in the possessionof W. R. Hughes. It surely was a unique item,

but hardly as unique as the price it brought. In186

PLAYS

the same auction house,December

, 191 1 , a copywent for $ 190. It had the autograph of WilkieCo llins on the title and a playbill as it was actedat Tavistock House. In addition there was onepage 4to . in the autograph of Charles Dickens,changing the first part of Act III. Throughoutthe text there were marginal alterations in thesame handwriting. The copy was said to have beenthe property of Mamie Dickens

,the novelist’ s

daughter.The title The Frozen Deep.[A Drama,[In Three

Acts.[By/Wilkie Collins. [[Not Published.] 1866.

COLLATION . Title, with imprint on the reversePersons of the Drama

,

” three unnumbered pagestext running from pp. 5 (unnumbered) to 46.

It was a 16mo. in size, bound in a buff paperwrapper.At Sotheby’s, June, 1890, the manuscript andpromptbook was sold for £300.

187

CHARLES DICKENS

NO THOROUGHFARE

This was a stage version of the Christmas Numberof All the YearRound. Though there was a joinderof interests in the construction of the story

,its

dramatisation was wholly the work of WilkieCollins, aided by Charles Fechter, who furnishedthe advice for the stage details. The Overtureof the tale was cancelled and a prologue writtenby Dickens. As a matter of fact, when the storywas being written, the possibilities of a stageproduction were constantly kept in view. The

four acts of the narrative were extended to fivein the drama, and the stage incidents were alteredsomewhat and were unlike those in the story.It had its first presentation at the Adelphi

Theatre on Boxing Night of 1867, while Dickenswas on his second trip to America, with Fechteras Obenreizer and Webster as Joey Ladle. The

popularity of the play in England, France, andAmerica was undoubted, the plagiarisms in theUnited States astonishing even Dickens. At theParis Vaudeville Theatre it appeared in a Frenchversion as L

’

Abime ,” Dickens travelling to the

French capital to manage the rehearsals.The real first edition of the drama was a privatelyprinted one with the date 1867. The Americanedi tions by Dewitt and French were issued thefollowing year, although they bear no date. Insize the London issue was a 12mo and enclosed in

188


CHARLES DICKENSOthello ,[Ruy Blas, Lady of Lyons,l& o.[J H. Clark,Steam Printer,There were twenty-four pages of text.

VALUES.

The privately printed first issue of NoThoroughfare is very scarce and prices are fairlyhigh. At Sotheby’s, December, 1901 , a copy soldfor £5 12s. 6d May, 1903 three guineas was theprice. During the past SIX years no copy hasappeared in American auctions.

190

PART V. CONTRIBUTIONSTO NEWSPAPERS,Etc . , and to Weekly and other Publications, some ofwhich afterwards appeared in Book form, such as

The Mudfog Papers.To be Read at Dusk (Pamphlet)A Child’s Dream of a Star.Old Leaves.A Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree.The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices.To be Read at Dusk (Book) .Gone Astray.A Message from the Sea.

Between the Cradle and the Grave.Hunted Down.George Silverman’s Explanation.Holiday Romance.The Gads Hill Gazette.

Also the sketches written for Household Words andAll the Year Round, including the ChristmasStories of the two periodicals.


CHARLES DICKENSthe advertisements. It was entitled Extraordinary Gazette.” I t paraphrased the averageRoyal speech, and by the use of bombastic andponderous expressions announced the coming ofOliver Twist.” Heading it there w as a cleverportrait sketch of Boz,” drawn by H. K. Browne.This leaflet is very scarce n ow , and probably wouldbring several guineas if it appe ared in an auction.

A copy brought £1 at Puttick’s in February, 1896.

Dickens’s contributions to the Miscellany were asfollows

Vol. I .—1837 .

January. Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble , onceMayor ofMudfog. Signed Boz,” with an etchingby George Cruikshank .

February. Beginning of Oliver Twist ; thisran as a serial untilMarch, 1839 .

March. Stray Chapters by Boz. Chapter I,The Pantomime of Life.May. Do. , Chapter II ; Some Particulars Concerning a Lion. Address of the editor on thecompletion of the First Volume, signed Bozand dated London, June, 1837.

Vol. II.—1837.

October. Full Report of the First meeting ofthe Mudfog Association for the Advancement ofEverything. Signed Boz Address, signedBoz,” and dated 30th November,

Vol. IV.—1838.

August. Mr. Robert Bolton, the GentlemanConnected With the Press.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSPAPERS, ETC .

September. Full Report of the Second Meetingof the Mudfog Association for the Advancement ofEverything. Unsigned and with tw o illustrationsby George Cruikshank .

Vol. V .— 1839.

February. Familiar Epistle from a Parent to aChild aged two years and two months. SignedBoz .”This was Dickens’ s valedictory to the M iscellanyand the relinquishment of management to hismost imtimate and valued friend,Mr. Ainsworth.

”

VALUES.

The first twenty vo lumes of Bentley’s M iscellanyin the original cloth sold for £7 28. 6d. at Hodgson’ s,February, 1901 the first forty volumes in halfcalf during the same year at Sotheby’s sold for£8 12s . 6d. Dealer’ s prices have not differed muchfrom these figures.

THE MUDFOG PAPERS

The first appearance in book form of PublicLife of Mr. Tulrumble , Once Mayor of Mudfog,”with other Tales and Sketches from Bentley’sMiscellany and The Library of Fiction,” waspublished by Carey, Lea Blanchard, of Philadelphia, in 1837 . A copy sold at Sotheby’s inJune, 1896, for 228.

For some unexplainable reason The MudfogPapers were n o t issued in book form until 1880under the following title : The /Mudfog Papers

,

etc. [By Charles Dickens,[Author of The Pickwick195

CHARLES DICKENSPapers, etc. [Now First Collected. [ LondonRichard Bentley and Son ,[Publishers in Ordinaryto Her Majesty the Queen. RightsReserved ).COLLATION . Four preliminary pages and textpp. 198.

VALUES .

The Mudfog Papers and The ExtraordinaryGazette, extracted from Bentley’s M iscellany,and boun d in morocco

,sold at Sotheby’s, April,

1904, for 188. At Anderson’s, New York, December, 1909 , a copy of The Mudfog Papers,” ( 1880)bound by Riviere w ith the original covers andadvertisements preserved, went for Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 19 1 1 , sold a copyin the original state for $9 . In December, 19 1 1 ,at Anderson’s, a rebound copy sold for $1 1 .

DURHAM ADVERTISER ( 1838)In the issue of February 10 there appeared aletter signed Charles Dickens, indignantly refutinga statement in the previous issue of the papermade by Dr. R. SheltonMackenzie, who afterwardswrote a Life of Dickens. (Philadelphia,

HOOD’

SMAGAZINE ( 1844)For this little magazine, the full name of whi chwas Hood

’

s Magazin e and Comic M iscellany,bearing the date May, 1844, Dickens wrote asatirical sketch in the shape of a Threatening

196


CHARLES DICKENSwith resulting high prices. Kitton , in The

Minor Writings of Charles Dickens was in errorwhen he wrote on p. 82 that there is only one copyknown of the pamphlet. The writer knows of atleast five copies, and there are doubtlessly manymore.The title page of the Keepsake reads : The/Keepsake/1852.[Edited by/Miss Power. [Five lines][London [David Bogue, 86 Fleet Street :[Bangs,Brothers, and Cc . , New York ; H. Mandeville,Paris.[1852.

It was an octavo in Size with afrontispiece andplates. To be read at Dusk ran from p. 1 17to 13 1 .

Title of the pamphlet : To BeBy Charles Dickens.[London [1852.

COLLATION . The title page was the wrapper,on the reverse of which London [Printed by G.

Barclay, Castle St. Le icester Sq. Text (III) —19 ,the last page of the pamphlet being blank andcarrying the same imprint as above. It wasoctavo in size.

VALUES .

Within the last five years American auctionprices have been very high. A London dealer in a19 12 catalogue demanded . fifteen guineas for acopy without any protecting case. Ki tton saysthat the price fixed in 189 1 for this presumablyunique impression, to use his language, was £26 58.

A rebound copy sold by Sotheby, in May, 1903 ,

brought only £5. At Anderson’s, New York,December, 1908, a fine copy enclosed in a full greensolander case, was sold for $101 December, 19 1 1 ,

198

TO B E READ

DUSK.

CHARLES DICKENS.

L O N D O N

W rap er and Title page of the privately printed issue of

To e read at Dusk.

”I t is very rare and the prices

range from $100 upwards.


CHARLES DICKENSSeptember 29 , Scott and His Publishers, No . II.Being a reply to Mr. Lockhart’s Pamphlet entitledThe Ballantyne Humbug Handled.”

1841 .

August 7, The Fine Old Engli sh Gentleman.Eight stanzas of verse in 48 lines.August 14, The Quack Do ctor’s Proclamation,in nin e stanzas, making 36 lines.August 21 , Subjects For Painters. A squib inverse, making 70 lines.

1842.

July 1 6, International copyright. This appearedalso in the Athenceum and other publications.

1843

March 4, Macready as Benedick.June 3 , Report of the Commissioners Appointedto Inqui re into the Condition of the Personsvariously Engaged in the University of Oxford.

1848.

!April 22, Ignorance and Crime. In the MS. itbears the title London Crime.June 24, The Chinese Junk.July8, Cruiksha ’

S The Drunkard’sChildren.August 19 , The Niger Expedition (review) .December 9 , The Poetry of Science (review) .December 16 , The American Panorama.!December 23 . Judi cial Special Pleadin g.!December 30, Edinburgh Apprentice School

Association.December 30, Leech’s The Rising Generation

200

CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSPAPERS, ETC.

1849 .

!January 20, The Paradise at Tooting.!January 27 The Tooting Farm .

!April 2 1 , The Verdict For Drouet.!May 12, Virginie and Black-Eyed Susan

(review ) .July 21 , An American in Europe (review) .December 15, Court Ceremonies.The Spirit of Chivalry in Westminster Hall

appeared in Douglass J errold’s Shilling Magazine

for August, 1845.

THE DAILY NEWS ( 1846 )Dickens’s connection with this newspaper was abrief one, as has been stated in another portion ofthis Bibliography. His principal contributionswere hi s so -called Travelling Sketches, whi chafterwards were collected and became PicturesFrom Italy. In addition he wrote The BritishLion. A New Song, but an Old Story.” It wassigned Catnach and appeared in the issue ofJanuary 24. The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers, a poem of five stanzas, was printed onFebruary 14, and Signed with his full name. On

March 9 , 13 , and 16 there were published threelong contributions which were called Letters onSocial Questions - Capital Puni shment. All wereSigned Charles Dickens. These letters had muchto do with the abolition of public executions.Af terw ards they appeared in an eight-page pamphlet with an introduction by the publisher, Dyson,High Street, Shoreditch, dated November 2lst,1849 .

201

CHARLES DICKENS

HOUSEHOLD WORDS ( 1850—1859)Several references have been made previouslyto the manner in which this little periodical firsttook form in the mind of Charles Dickens. Itsevolution embraced a period of fully five years toreach the point when publication began. Therewas much diffi culty in the selection of the title,and when that was decided upon there came theeditorial admonition which was never forgotten,namely, to Keep Household Words Imaginative.”The first number appeared on Saturday, March 30,1850, and four months thereafter Dickens wasenabled to write to a friend that HouseholdWords

goes on thoroughly well. It is expensive, of course,and demands a large circulation but it is takinga great and steady stand, and I have no doubtalready yields a good round profit.The journal was the joint property of Dickens,Bradbury Evans, Wills and Forster, the divisionbeing Dickens one-half, the prin ters one-fourth,and Wills and Forster one-eighth each. The pricewas 2d. weekly.Since the publication of the last bibliographiesof importance, namely, Kitton ’

s Minor Writings

of Charles Dickens (London, 1900) and Thomson’sB ibliography of Dicken s (Warwick, researchon the part of B . W. Matz has di sclosed abouteighty unidentified writings of Dickens whi chappeared inHousehold Words. Frederi c G. Ki tton ,

assisted by Charles Dickens, Jr., had made heroicefforts to trace some of the work actually done bythe Author. This, however, was made diffi cult of

202


CHARLES DICKENSpen. Also Rochester and Chatham, which isa portion of the sketch One Man in a Dockyard,”a collaboration by Dickens and R. H. OrionHo rne. Miscellaneous Papers is now includedin most of the editions published by Chapman 85Hall.In the list which fo llows, only those are givenwhich were entirely the product of Dickens’s pen,those recently traced being indicated by an asterisk.

1850.

March 30, Address in the First Number ofHousehold Words .

March 30, The Amusements of the People. FirstPaper.April 6, A Child’s Dream of a Star.April 6, Perfect Felicity in a Bird’s-Eye View.

April 13 , The Amusements of the People, SecondPaper.

!April 20, Some Account of an ExtraordinaryTraveller.April 27 Pet Prisoners.May 1 1 , From the Raven in the Happy Family,First Paper.May 18, The Begging Letter Writer.!May 18, A Card from Mr. Booley.May 25, A Walk in a Wo rkhouse.June 8, From the Raven in the Happy Family,

Second Paper.June 15, Old Lamps For New Ones.June 22, The Sunday Screw.

July 20, The Ghost of Art.July 27 A Detective Police Party, First Paper.

204


August 10, A Detective Police Party, SecondPaper.August 24, From theRaven in theHappy Family,

Third Paper.September 14, Three Detective Anecdotes.!October 12, The Good Hippopotamus.October 19 , A Poor Man’s Tale of a Patent.October 26 , Lively Turtle.!November 23 , A Crisis in the Affairs of Mr.

John Bull.!November 30, Mr. Booley’s View of the Last

Lord Mayor’s Show.

December 14,A December Vision.

1851 .

!January 4, The Last Words of the Old Year.!January 1 1 , Railway Strikes.!February 15, Red Tape.February 22, Births—Mrs. Meek, of a Son .

March 8, A Monument of French Folly.March 22, Bill-Sticking.May 10, The Guild of Literature and Art.!May 17, The Finishing Schoolmaster.Jun e 14, On Duty With Inspecto r Field.Jun e 28, A Few Conventionalities.!July 12, A Narrative of Extraordinary Suffer

Ing.

August 2,Our Watering Place.

August 23 , Whole Hogs.August 30, A Flight.October 1 1 , Our School.!November 8, Sucking Pigs.

205

CHARLES DICKENS1852.

!March 3 1 , A Sleep to Startle Us.April 24, A Plated Article.!June 26, Betting Shops.July 3 1 , Our Honourable Friend.August 28, Our Vestry.October 9 , Our Bore.October 30, Lying Awake.November 27, Trading in Death.

1853 .

!January 1 , Where We Stopped Growing.February 5, Down With the Tide.!February 12, Proposals For Amusing Posterity.!April 23 , Home for Homeless Women.!May 7 , The Spirit Business.June 1 1 , The Noble Savage.!July 23 , A Haunted House.!August 13 , Gone Astray.October 1 , Fraud on the Fairies.!October 8, Things that Cannot be Done.December 3 1 , The Long Voyage.

1854.

January 21 , Fire and Snow.

!February 1 1 , On Strike.March 25, The Late Mr. Justice Talfourd.

!September 2, It is Not Generally Known.!September 23 , Legal and Equitable Jokes.October 7 , To Working Men .

November 4, Our French Watering Place.!November 1 1 , An Unsettled Neighbourhood.!November 18, Reflections of a Lord Mayor.

206


CHARLES DICKENS1857.

!January 3 , Murderous Extremes.!March 7 , Stores For the First of April.!June 20, The Best Authority.August 1 , Curious Misprint in the Edinburgh

Review .

October 3—3 1 , The Lazy Tour of Two IdleApprentices (a collaboration with Wilkie Collins) .

1858.

!February 20, Well-authenticated Rappings.!March 13 , An Idea of Mine .!May 1 , Please To Leave Your Umbrella.June 12, Personal (a statement concerning thenovelist’s separation from his wife) .

1859 .

!January 1 . New Year’s Day.February 5, Douglass Jerrold.May 28, All the Year Round.

May 28, A Last Household Word.At intervals there appeared in Household Words

two features under the general headings of Chipsand Supposings.” They consisted of brief contribution s by various writers. Those written byDickens were printed on the dates which follow

!Chips : July 6, 1850, no heading ; September21 , 1850, The Individuality of Locomotives ;November 15, 1851 , Homoeopathy ; March 13 ,

1852, The Fine Arts in Australia ; January 15,1853 , The Ghost of the Cook Lane Ghost WrongAgain ; February 4, 1854, Ready Wit.

!Supposing : April 20, 1850 ; August 10, 1850 ;July 7, 1851 September 6, 1851 ; February 10,1855. Each was printed without a heading.

208

CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSPAPERS, EmA CHILD’

S DREAM OF A STAR

Five of the papers which appeared in Household

Words were published afterwards in book form.

A Child’s Dream of a Star was duodecimo insize, boun d in brown and also green cloth, with agilt design on the front cover, gilt edges and brownend papers. The title A Child’s Dream[Of[A Star.ByCharles Dickens. [With IllustrationsByHammattBillings.[Boston [Fields, Osgood 85 Co .[1871 .

COLLATION . Fifteen leaves with the text on oneside only, bordered by red lines. There are ten fullpage pictures by Billings, engraved on wood byLinton, together with woodcut initial and tailpieces.Another prin ting was a private one dated London,

1899. It was a 24mo, with a light blue glazedpaper wrapper, printed in blue and gold.

OLD LEAVESIssued in 1860 by William H. Wills, Dickens’schief assistant edito r of Household Words, it is ofinterest in indicating those articles prepared byWills in collaboration with Dickens. These werethe following Valentine’s Day at the Post Offi ce,The Heart of Mid-London, A Popular Delusion,The Old Lady in Threadn eedle Street, Tw o

Chapters on Bank No te Forgeries, Plate Glass,Spitalfi elds, The Metropolitan Protectives, Epsom,

My Uncle, A Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree,Post Office Money Orders, A Plated Article

,

!

Received—A Blank Child, Idiots.This appears in Reprinted Pieces, 1858, con tain ing the articles

which Dickens collected during his life -time as be ing his own pro~

ductions. The chances are that this sketch was wholly D ickens.

209

CHARLES DICKENSIt was a 12mo in Size and had a cream-co louredbinding. The title : Old Leaves [Gathered FromHouseho ld Words.[By W. Henry Wills.[LondonChapman and Hall, 193 , Piccadilly. [MDCCCLX.

COLLATION . Title, dedication to Charles Dickens,and a Table of Contents, (I ) - VI ; pp. (1 )437, with an imprint on the reverse of the lastpage.The book is of small value and seldom comesup in the auction rooms.

A CURIOUS DANCE ROUND A CURIOUSTREE

The un certainties attaching to this little bookhave been at last cleared away, and this Bibliography is the first one to announce it. Two

disputed points have always been these : Did ordid not Dickens write the booklet, and, if so , whatwas his share of the composition ? What is agenuine first issue of the pamphletTo quote previous bibliographers concerningthe first contention : Dexter (1890) says A

Curious Dance Round A Curious Tree suppo sedto have been written by Dickens, whose name itbears on the title (cover) was in reality written byW. H. Wills.”Johnson (1885) There are two editions ofthis little pamphlet, which was written by Mr.

W. H. Wills and originally published in All TheYear

Thomson ( 1904) used Kitton as the authorityfor the statement that the authorship is to be

210


CHARLES DICKENSthe copy used by the printer for 217 lines outof 393 of the printed text, of the first sketch,which gives the title to the bo ok. Writtenon eleven 12mo sheets. The existence of thismanuscript proves conclusively the falsityo f the often republished statement that Dickenshad hardly anything to do with this pamphlet.It proves at least that he wrote, corrected,and re-corrected for the printer considerablymore than half of the particular article whichgives the title to the book.

Unfortun ately for those interested in valuesthis item was so ld with the entire Dickens collectionfor $8400. The discovery of this manuscript isof vast importance in settling a bibliographicaldispute.The little sketch first ‘saw the light in Household

Words of January 17, 1852. With the consent ofDickens, the management of St. Luke’s Hospitalfor Lunatics, in 1860, issued it in pamphlet formas a means of obtaining funds. Clearly there aretwo issues of the first edition of this brochure.In the first, the character of the type in the bodyof the book was unchanged throughout. Perhapsthe returns in a financial w ay were not satisfactory,and it was decided to print a second issue. In thisthe appeal for funds was emphasised by bo ld-facedtype. The first issue was in a purple paperwrapper and the second in a pink one. With thelatter, in addition to the variation in type, therewas also a stamped and addressed envelope, inwhich to make the returns of the contributionsto the hospital. If this was done in the case of

212

CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSPAPERS, ETC .

the issue in purple it has not come to the noticeof the writer.Many American cataloguers have been in thehabit of writing that Mr. Slater in his EarlyEdition s is in error in describing this item, as copiesin pink wrappers and with the last paragraph on

p. 19 printed in heavy type are by Dickensauthorities considered the first issue. Basedupon diligent investigation and many inquiriesmade of Dickens authorities,” it must be statedthat Mr. Slater was not in error when he wrotethat the pink wrapper and heavy type is a secondissue. The first issue was in a purple wrapperand without the heavy type.One of these authorities; in whom the writer hasthe greatest faith, writes from London under thedate of December, 19 12 With reference toA Curious Dance Roun d a Curious Tree, ’ the firstissue has the concluding paragraph in the sametype as the rest of the pamphlet. The later issuehas this paragraph in heavier type, the reasongiven is that the hospital authorities, in sendingout the pamphlet again and again, wished toemphasise this last paragraph, as in it they appealedfor funds they consequently printed it in a blacktype.”Descriptions of the two issues follow. Bothwere 12mo in size and the wrappers were the titlepages. The first issue had a purple wrapperworded : A Curious Dan ce /Round A Curious Tree. [By/Charles Dickens.With the period after Tree and before thelast seven lines on p. 19 were in black type.

213

CHARLES DICKENSCOLLATI ON . Cover (title) ; text pp. [ 1] —19 .

On the pink wrapper the wording was as followsA Curious Dan ce /Roun d A Curious Tree ,[By[Charles Dickens.In the second issue there was a different borderaround the title

,and with a comma in place of a

period after Tree. There was no variation inthe collation, w ith the exception of the use ofheavy type on the last seven lines of p. 19 .

VALUES .

The issue with the pink cover and the heavy typemay be said to be much more common than thefirst issue, which is very rare. With the exactknowledge of Dickens’s relation to the pamphletundoubtedly prices for both issues will increase invalue. At Sotheby’s, February, 1896, a copybound in morocco sold for £1 19s. March, 1897,for £1 10s March

,1899 , for £1 12s. In the fore

going quotations it was not indicated whether thecopies were of the first or second issue. HodgsonCo . , October, 1903 , so ld a copy with the pinkwrapper for £1 10s. At Anderson’s, New York,December, 1908, a copy in pink with the returnenvelope, went for $13 . It was described as afirst issue.An unique copy was sold by An derson’s, March,

19 12. The description went on to say Insertedare the stamped wrapper, uncancelled, for mailingthe pamphlet, a stamped and addressed envelopeto the secretary of the hospital

,and a statement of

a previous owner to the effect that he got the bookfrom the hospital authorities in 1886, and that it

214


CHARLES DICKENSThe title : To Be Read at Dusk/And Other

Sketches And Essays/Hitherto Unco llected.[ByCharles Dickens. [Edited, with an introduction, by[Frederick G. Kitton /[Three lines, publisher’smark] London /George Redway/1898. It was alsoissued in 1898 by the New Amste rdam Book Company, 156 Fifth Avenue, New York, under the titleof Old Lamps for New Ones.”COLLATI ON . Frontispiece ; title, with imprinton the reverse ; table of contents and an introduction [I ]—XVI ; pp. [5] -344 ; publisher’ sadvertisements, pp. 10.

GONE ASTRAY

This little Sketch, largely autobiographical,which appeared in Household Words, August 13 ,1853 , was made into a booklet in 19 12. The textwas accompanied by pictures made by Ruth Cobb ,photographs by T. W. Tyrrell and reproductionsof old prints. An introduction was written byB . W. Matz. There were 55 pages in a green clothcover and it was issued by Chapman Hall forone shilling.

HOUSEHOLD WORDS NARRATIVE AND

ALMANACKThere was also issued in connection with

Household Words a publication called The House

hold Narrative of Curren tEven ts. It was a monthlysupplement to the weekly periodical, of 24 pages,and it cost 2d. The editor was George Hogarth,

216


Dickens’ s father-in -law,and the project may be

set down as a failure. It lived from January, 1850,until December

, 1855. Dickens’s part in thepublication is difficult of identification. His MS.

of the prospectus was valued in a catalogue aboutten years ago at £20 .

Household Words Almanack was issued in 1856and 1857 , pp. 28, price 4d. Dickens probablyhad little or nothing to do with this publication.

Household Words was also published by Bradbury 85 Evans in 19 half-yearly volumes, eachcontaining 620 pages, not counting the preliminarypages. It sells for about £5 at the present time.There is also an American reprint bearing a NewYo rk date

,which is worth about one-half of the

London publication. A cheap reprint in partswas issued in 1868 by Ward, Lock and Tyler, at6d. per part. The set made 19 volumes, each ofwhich w as bound in a stiff wrapper, printed incolours.

CHRISTMAS NUMBERS OF HOUSEHOLDWORDS

Nine of these were issued with each Christmas,the first two costing 2d. and the others 3d. extra.They were without wrappers and simply stitched.The titles of the different numbers and thedesignation of Dickens’s contributions are asfollows1850. The Christmas Number. A Christmas

Tree is by Dickens.217

CHARLES DICKENS1851 . Extra Number For Christmas. What

Christmas is as we Grow Older is by Dickens.1852. A Round of Stories[By the Christmas Fire.

The Poor Relation’s Story and The Child’s Storyare by Dickens.1853 . Another Round of Stories/By the Christmas Fire. The Schoo lboy’s Story and Nobody’sStory are by Dickens.1854. The/Seven Poor Travellers. The First

Poor Traveller and The Road by Dickens.1855. The Ho lly-Tree Inn . The Guest, TheBoots and The Bill are by Dickens, the otherstories by Wilkie Collins.1856. The Wreck/of the /Golden Mary. The

major part of the Wreck and the Hymn on page 21are by Dickens, the balance by Wilkie Collins.1857. The Perils/of/Certain English Prisoners,and Their Treasure[In Women, Children, Silverand Jewels. Chapters I and III are by DickensChapter II by Wilkie Co llins.1858. A House To Let. Going into Societyby Dickens. An advertisement at the end an

noun ces Three Christmas Readings by Mr.

Charles Dickens.”At the sale of the noted library collected by

M. C. D. Borden, under the direction of theAmerican Art Asso ciation, of New York, onFebruary 18, 19 13 , the MSS. of The Perils ofCertain English Prisoners, was disposed of. The

catalogue showed that the portion written byDickens was on 51 leaves, uniform with Collins’sMS. on 39 leaves. This likewise was a part of thefine Dickens collection which made 92 volumes

218


CHARLES DICKENS

1859 .

April 20, The Blacksmith (poem) .April 30, The Poor Man and His Beer.September 24, Five New Po ints of Criminal Law .

December 24, Leigh Hunt. A Remonstrance.December 3 1 , The Tattlesn ivel Bleater.

1862.

March 1 , The Young Man From the Country.March 8, An Enlightened Clergyman.

1863 .

March 21 , Rather a Strong Dose.April 4 , The Martyr and Medium.

1867

June 1,The Late Mr. Stanfield.

1869 .

February 13 , A Slight Question of Fact.July 24, Landor’s Life.Previous to the completion of the X X th Volume

o f the periodical, November 28, 1868, Dickenswrote a signed address in which the announcementwas made of the physical change in All The YearRound.

Hunted Down,” “ Holiday Romance, andGeorge Silverman’s Explanation,” also wereprinted shortly after their respective publicationsin American magazines.

220

CONTRIBUTIONS TO NEWSPAPERS,ETC .

CHRISTMAS NUMBERS OF ALL THE YEAR

ROUND

1859 . The Haunted House. The Mortals inthe House, The Ghost in Master B .

’s Room, and

The Ghost in the Corner Room, were by Dickens.He also wrote the opening paragraphs of the otherchapters

,excepting The Ghost in the Picture Room.

1860. A Message From the Sea. Chapters I,II and V, and passages in other chapters are byDickens

,the balance by Wilkie Co llins. A wood

cut was used in this number.186 1 . Tom Tiddler’ s Ground. Dickens wrote

Chapters 1 , VI and VII.1862. Somebody’s Luggage. His Leaving It

Till Called For,His Boots,His Brown-Paper Parcel,and His Wonderful End, were written by Dickens.He also wrote a part of Chapter III.1863 . Mrs. Lirriper

’

s Lodgings. Chapters Iand VII by Dickens.1864. Mrs. Lirriper

’

s Legacy. Chapters I andVII were written by Dickens.1865. DoctorMarigold’s Prescriptions. Dickensis responsible for Chapters I, VI and VIII.1866. Mugby Junction. Barbox Brothers,Barbox Bro thers and Co . , Main Line (The Boy atRugby) , and No. 1 Branch Line (The Signal Man )are by Dickens.1867. No Thoroughfare. Dickens wrote The

Overture, portions of the First and Fourth Acts,and the whole of Act III. Wilkie Collins wrotethe balance.

221

CHARLES DICKENS

VALUES.

The first four of the Christmas numbers of AllThe Year Round were issued without wrappers

,

those which followed were in dark blue, prin ted,pape r wrappers. In good state these have beenrat-her hard to obtain, although the originalcirculation was known to have been very large.AS far back as December, 1892, a set in fi ne condition was sold by So theby for £8 58. Freeman’s,Ph iladelphia, in February, 19 1 1 , disposed of a goodCopy for $13 . Quaritch , London, in a 1913 catalogue offered a combined set of the Christmasnumbers of Household Words and All the Year

Round for Six guineas. At Anderson’s, New York,December, 1909, an interesting combin ation setwas so ld for $ 140. At page 30 (His Brown-PaperParcel) in Somebody’s Luggage, there wasinserted a page of the Author’s manuscript. Itcontain ed more than 400 words interlined andcorrected

,describing the condition of the Young

Man in the Art Line.” Kitton , in The MinorWritings of Charles Dickens , on page 166-7 makesthi s statement The original MS. of His BrownPaper Parcel, ’ comprisin g eleven closely writtenoctavo pages, characte ristically corrected andaltered by erasions, addi tions, etc. , is now inAmerica.

A MESSAGE FROM THE SEA

A Message From the Sea w as dramatised,and for copyright and registration purposes asynopsis of the play was published in book formin a buff paper wrapper, duodecimo in size. The

222


CHARLES DICKENSreprint of this narrative, it was believed thatits first appearance in book form was the wellknown green-covered Hotten booklet. The formerbears the copyright date of 186 1 , while the latteris known to have been issued in 1870, thus makingthe American the first edition as a book.It w as issued as an octavo in a black clothbinding w ith yellow end papers. Hunted Downwas one of a number of collected writings of Dickensin the book, a footnote on the first page of thisstory making this explanation This is the firstand only story that Mr. Dickens has ever writtenfor an American publication. It was originallypublished in the New Yo rk Ledger, and we haveMr. Bonner’s permission (who owns the copyright)to copy it from that periodical.”The title : The/Lamplighter

’

s Story [HuntedDown ; The Detective Police ;[And Other NovelletteS./By[CharleS Dickens.[[Four lines ] Philadelphia :[T. B . Peterson And Brothers,[306 Chestnut Street.COLLATION . One blank leaf, woodcut frontispiece, title page with woodcut ; ordinary title,with the copyright notice and date ( 186 1 ) on thereverse ; pp. [3] text pages 1 1- 467.

John CamdenHotten in 1870 reprinted HuntedDown,” in a 16mo paper wrapper, and on Christmaso f the same year he issued the story in the PiccadillyAnnual with a short

.

explanatory introduction.The title of the first English edition reads

Hun ted Down [A Story.[By/Charles Dickens.With some Account of[Thomas Griffi ths Wainewright

,[The of The Fatal224


House, No. 12, Conduit Street,John Camden Hotten,[74 85 75, Piccadilly.The title on the green paper wrapper varies in thesize and style of the type and is preceded by thewords, Price Sixpence.”COLLATION . One un numbered leaf of advertisements

,one unnumbered leaf bearing the half-title,

the reverse being blank title page, reverse blankIntroduction [5]—28 ; another half-title [29text [3 1]—89, on reverse of this page, LondonSavill, Edwards and Co . , Printers, Chandos Street[Covent Garden. Eight unnumbered leaves of

advertisements announcing Very ImportantNew Books. Special List for Advertisements also appear on the inside and outside of thewrapper.

VALUES .

Copies of the English edition are fairly scarce.At Sotheby’s, February, 1896 , a copy brought 32s .

Anderson’s, New York, in December, 1908, so ld acopy for $16 ; December, 1909 , a re -bound copysold for $6 ; December, 19 1 1 , another re -boundcopy, $5.

CORNHILL MAGAZINE ( 1864)

The estrangement which grew out of the Thackeray—Yates imbroglio had been settled in the late

autumn of 1863 , and when Thackeray died a monthor two later Dickens was truly Shocked. At therequest of many mutual friends Dickens wrote anaffecting tribute to his great contemporary. This

225

CHARLES DICKENSappeared in the February, 1864, number of theCornhill Magazin e, of which Thackeray had beenthe editor from the first issue, January, 1860,until his death. It made nearly four full pagesof the periodical and was entitled In Memoriam,

W. M. T .

”

GEORGE SILVERMAN ’

S EXPLANATIONIts first appearance was in the Atlan tic Mon thly

for January, February and March, 1868. Dickenswrote it at the instance of his friend, James T.

Fields,of Boston, who paid him for it. The

only issue in book form is a piracy which wasissued ten years after by a Brighton (England)printer. It was a 24mo. in a pink paper wrapperwith 53 pages of text. It is not much sought afterby collectors. The usual price for the magazineis about 30s.

HOLIDAY ROMANCEAlmost simultaneous with the preceding thisstory appeared in Our Young Folks, owned byTicknor and Fields, of Boston. It was publishedin the numbers for January, March, April andMay,

1868, with a portrait of the Author, four illustrations by John Gilbert (afterwards Sir John) andinitial letters by Sol Eytinge and G. G. Whi te.Dickens received for the story.The four numbers of the magazine are usuallypriced at about £2.

226


CHARLES DICKENSIn 1895 a reprint limited to 20 copies was madein London. One of these appeared in an auctionsale at Anderson’s, New York, December, 191 1 ,and sold for Apparently there was nopublishers’ name attached, the imprint in thecatalogue being confined to London,The original from which the reprint was madeseems to have been in the possessron of S. Causley.

228

PART VI.—WRITINGS ASCRIBED TODICKENS

More Hints on Etiquette.The Loving Ballad of Lord Bateman .

Sergeant Bell and His Raree Show.

Lizzie Leigh.A Suburban Romance.Fortune Wildred, etc.Drooping Buds.


CHARLES DICKENStext and that of the printed book, that no suchpassage, nor anything approximating thereto, asthose in the particular page of manuscript

,which

,

however, treats the subject of etiquette in thesame humeron s way.” It is of some interest tonote that on the reverse of leave s 14 and 15 of themanuscript there are Sketches in which Cruikshankdrew his first ideas for the plate, Oliver Plucks UpA Spirit, placed to face page 98 of the first issueof Oliver Twist.” In the book the plate bearsthe date April 1 , 1837.

The original issue was dated 1838 and was published by Charles Tilt in a limp maroon cover witha gold stamp. The nine woodcuts were by GeorgeCruikshank. Its Size was a 24mo.

VALUES .

At Sotheby’s, June, 1897 a copy sold for £3 88.

at Puttick’

s, November, 1902, £2 58. In March,1909, Anderson’s, New York, sold a copy withthe advertisements at front and back for $71 ,

It was described as very rare and was enclosed ina Slip case. The catalogue added that the workis ascribed to Dickens.” A London dealer in 191 1offered a copy for three guineas, and a third editionfor 14s. in 1912.

THE LOVING BALLAD OF LORD BATEMANMuch time has been wasted in the discussion ofthe authorship of this little book. Evidence hasbeen adduced to Show that Dickens wrote it, andother proofs have been brought forward to Show

232

WRITINGS ASCRIBED TO DICKENSthat the lines are so thoroughly Thackeray thatthere can be no doubt regardin g the point. Becauseit crosses the paths of those who collect Dickens,Thackeray and Cruikshank, is the reason forthe difficulty attending the acquirement of a fi rstclass copy and the maintenance of good prices.When the claims concerning the identity of the

w riter of the ballad are analysed, the decision bya preponderance of the evidence must favourThackeray. George Augustus Sala was one ofthose who believed that the author of Pendennishad written the ballad

,basing his judgment on

some of the lines which, he declared, were unmistakably by Thackeray. Charles PlumptreJohnson included Lord Bateman in his Hintsto Collectors,” but swun g to Sala’s side ofthe question when, three years later, he came intopo ssession of a scrap-book containing The FamousHistory of Lord Bateman

,

” which was partly inThackeray’s manuscript and with his own characteristic drawings. Subsequently Johnson madethe quaint ballad a part of his Bibliography ofThackeray. Henry Burnett, Dickens’s brotherin -law, writin g to the Athenceum,

February 25,1888, threw considerable light on the controversy.He said I know Lord Bateman was not writtenby Dickens. One night Dickens said, Crn ikshank, why don’t you publish that (the ballad)and illustrate it, and let Burnett write out the tuneas you sing it to him ?

’

An arrangement wasmade, and at my house I put down the note s without any care—the G clef all on one side

,and many

others falling over. I think it may be by233

CHARLES DICKENSCruikshank or made up from some former LordBateman but certainly Dickens never wrote it

,

as it was at first new to him.

” Mrs. ThackerayRitchie, in an article published in the December1892, number of Harper

’

s Magazin e, touched uponLord Bateman : A Ballad.” She used for illus

tration s some hitherto unpublished designs madeby her father and disclosed by an accident. Mrs.

Ritchie’s own language is interesting enough toquote. She wrote My own impression (forwhich I have absolutely no foundation) is that theNotes sound like Mr. Dickens’s voice, and theballad like my own father’s.”Possibly it may be a fair compromise to admitthat Thackeray wrote the ballad and Dickens thepreface and notes. This contention is supportedby J. F. Dexter, who says that Cruikshank onthree occasions told him that the preface and noteswere written by Dickens.The book was published for 28. as a square 24mo.in a limp green cloth cover, having a gold designby Cruikshank. In the genuine first issue thepagination is in the centre of each page ; thispoint should not be overlooked by collectors.The title The/Loving Ballad/Of/Lord Bateman.[ Illustrated By George Cruikshank . London :Charles Tilt, Fleet Street [and Mustapha Syried,Constantinople.[MDCCCXXXIX.

COLLATION . Half -title, the reverse of which isthe frontispiece ; title, on the reverse LondonClarke, Printe rs, Silver Street, Falcon SquareWarning to the Public (Preface) (V) VI, VII, w ithGeorge Cruikshank’s name in type. This is followed

234


CHARLES DICKENS1902 catalogue had a copy with the plates andsheets in the original untrimmed condition foldedinto the cloth cover. The pages were half an inchlarger in both directions than ordinary Copies.The price asked was £22 103 .

SERGEANT BELL AND HIS RAREE SHOWThis is the third of the books illustrated byGeorge Cruikshank with which Dickens’s name isassociated. There appears to be absolutely noreason for this connection. The nearest approachfor this fiction is that Dickens agreed to write thebook for £120, at the instance of Thomas Tegg,the publisher. The latter’s son has declared thatall the negotiations were terminated and thatanother man wrote the book as it was fin allypublished.It was issued as a thick square 16mo with a clothcover. The frontispiece and numerous woodcutswere by Cruikshank, and there were illustrationsby Thompson, Williams, and others. The date ofthe book was 1839.

Because Dickens had thought of writing thisbook and then because he decided not to do so,has had the effect of enhancing prices beyond allreason as a Dickens item. It is of great rarity atthe present time. Sotheby in December

, 1900,

disposed of a fi n e copy in the original clothfor £13 . That apparently was the high watermark at the present time prices are about onehalf of that figure. In May, 1903 , Sotheby solda copy for £8, while at Puttick’s, July, 1903 , a

236

WRITINGS ASCRIBED TO DICKENScopy went for only £2. At Freeman’s, Philadelphia, February, 191 1 , a good copy somewhatthumbed

,

” went for $15. A London dealer in19 1 1 offered a copy for £4 108.

LIZZIE LEIGHThis story was written by Mrs. Gaskell andappeared in one of the early numbers of Household

Words. It seems to have been first prin ted inbook form in New York with the date 1850.

Afterwards it was published in The Irving Offering,” New York, 1851 . In both instances it wascredited to Dickens. Of the Offering Johnsonin 1885 wrote that he had only known two copiesand he fixed the value at £5. The Grolier Club ,New York, in 19 13 exhibited a copy of the 1850issue. It was a 12mo in a buff paper wrapper,the title of which read : Lizzie Leigh. A DomesticTale, from Household Words, by Charles Dickens.New York De Witt 85 Davenport, 1850.

At the exhibition mentioned there was also onview a 12mo booklet bound in a buff paper wrappe r,entitled A Pottery Story. By Charles Dickens.Boston : Jones, McDuffee 85 Stratton, Itwas used as an advertisement, and, of course,Dickens had nothing whatever to do with itsauthorship.

A SUBURBAN ROMANCEAbout a year after the appearance of Old

Leaves,” a story written by W. H. Wills and237

CHARLES DICKENSclaimed by him, called A Suburban Romance,made its bow to the American people in TheJ osephine Annual. The sto ry had originally beenprinted in Household Words on December 14, 1850,but in the issue of the Annual for 186 1 it wascredited to Dickens.

FORTUNE WILDRED, ETC .

It must have been some time in the early ’5o

’

s

that De Witt and Davenport, New York, issued anundated publication, which by implication, atleast, credited Charles Dickens with the authorshipof three stories which he never wrote. The titlepage read : Fortune Wildred,[The Foundling.[also,[Lizzie Leigh,[and/The Miners’ Daughters./By Charles Dickens.[New York :[De Witt 85

Davenport, Publishers, 160 85 162 Nassau Street.It is not known what writer is to be honoured withthe authorship of Fortun e Wildred.

” It isestablished, however, that Mrs. Gaskell wrote thesecond story, and that William Howitt wasresponsible for The Miner’ s Daughters.”

DROOPING BUDSThis waswritten by HenryMorley and it appearedinHousehold Words, April 3 , 1852. At the instanceof Dickens, Morley paid a visit to the newly or

ganised Children’s Hospital in Great Ormond Street,and the article was a description of what he saw.

Dicken s inserted a paragraph beginn ing O

Baby’s dead,” which Morley afterwards stated238


PART VII.—SOME COSTLY DICKENSIANA

Leaflet on Thomas Powell.Dickens—Thackeray Speeches, 1858.

Mr. Thackeray, Mr. Yates, and the GarrickClub

Albert Smith’s Dramatisation of The

Cricket on the Hearth.”The Beadnell and Kolle Letters.


CHARLES DICKENSvictimised by Powell, a letter from Dr. SouthwoodSmith stating that he believed Powell to be insane,85c. , 85c.

With the pamphlet is an autograph letter fromDickens to the Editor of the Sun showing theincentive for this extrao rdinary publication. The

letter readsPrivate and Confidential.

Devonshire Terrace,Friday, Fourteenth December, 1849 .

SIR.-I depart from the usual course in address

ing you thus, and in forwarding to you a proofI have had privately printed for this purpose only,under special circumstances. Being advised fromAmerica that Mr. Thomas Powell, a literarygentleman from England was about to enter ona career of scurrility and libel there, which he hadalready begun by publishing a Life of myselfin all respects utterly false ; and knowing Mr.

Powell’s history and the certainty of his proceedingin this course to any extent, unless summarilystopped ; I deemed it necessary to expose him.

I therefore wrote to a friend in New York that theMr. Powell in question was a forger and a thief,”and had been confined as a lunatic besides—and

requested him to publish that piece of intelligence.It appeared, I learn from my friend, in a greatmany American newspapers, being copied fromone into another ; and the mail, which arrivedyesterday, informs me that there is now muchvirtuous discussion and threatening actions forlibel, among them, on the subject. With no view

whatever to thepublication of thefacts in this coun try(which, indeed, I wish to avoid if possible) butSimply that, in case any of these humerous references to the matter Should meet your eye, you

244

SOME COSTLY DICKENSIANAShould be possessed of the facts

,I take the liberty

as between two gentlemen to forward them to you,as I have collected them within a few hours.I am Sir

Your faithful servantCHARLES DI CKENS .

The Editor of the Sun .

With envelope addressed and franked, and withDickens’s seal.A comparison of dates shows that, on learningof Powell’s threatened suit for libel, Dickens, intwo days’ time, made his inquiries, collected hismaterials, printed the leaflet and sent it to thenewspaper.Additional interest is given to this incident bythe statement by F. G. Kitton that the novelistdrew from Powell some of the characteristics ofMicawber. Powell zealously cultivated the ao

quaintance of well-kn own writers. In the Smi thcollection there is a volume of Shelley’s poemswith an inscription by Le igh Hun t The name ofThomas Powell is one that Shelley himself wouldgladly have written on the title page of Shelley’sworks. He published a volume of verses, theproof sheets of which, corrected by Robert Browning

,were recently in the hands of an American

bookseller. He also wrote The Living Authorsof England,” (New York, Browning afterw ards regretted his acquaintance with Powell ;for

,after burning all his early correspondence,

the poet wrote to a friend, None of your Powellsinspecting my bowels.” Powell was also ao

quainted with Tennyson and Wordsworth.245

CHARLES DICKENSAfter having been prosecuted in England forforgery, he was incarcerated in an asylum atHoxton, probably the one which sheltered CharlesLamb for a few weeks. He was released, carriedon his criminal practice in America, and died asuicide.

DICKENS-THACKERAY SPEECHES, 1858

At the sale of the library of Charles C. John ston,of Chicago , by the Anderson Auction Company inNew York, on December 23 , 19 12, a pamphletwas sold for the great sum of $610 . Its full titlewas : Proceedings at the Thirteenth AnniversaryFestival of the Royal General Theatrical Fund,Held at the Freemasons’ Tavern, Great QueenStreet, Monday, March 29 , 1858. Wm. M.

Thackeray, Esq. , in the Chair. 12mo, originalpaper wrappers in a Silk-board cover ; within agreen levant moro cco slip case made by Sangorski85 Sutcliffe, London Printed by Frederic Ledger,1858.

In continuing the description of this item, thecatalogue went on to say :

An exceedingly rare brochure of 36 pagescontaining a -word speech by Thackeray,and one of words by Dickens. No copyof this is known to be in the British Museum,

or in the well-known Lambert collection inPhiladelphia. In fact, it would seem to beunknown to Thackeray collectors and bibliographers generally. We can trace but threeCopies, the one mentioned by Lewis Melville,

246


CHARLES DICKENSThe first printing o f the affair w as in Yates

’

s

paper, Town Talk, and it was reprinted in the form

under discussion. It appears also that theremust have been two issues of the first edition aswell as a fac-Simile reprint issued in the later’

90’

s. The Grolier Club had a copy in its 19 13exhibition which, it says, seems to have beenDickens’s Copy. It was called a first issue withDickens misspelled Dickes on p. 14.

The title on the wrapper : Mr. Thackeray, Mr.

Yate s/And/the Garri ck Club . [The /Correspondenceand Facts. [Stated By/Edmund Yates.[Printed forPrivate Circulation.[1859 .

COLLATION . On the reverse of the wrapperLondon :[Printed by Taylor and Greening, Graystoke Place,[Fetter Lane, Holbom text (III) -l5,

the last page being blank . Imprint on p. 15 oneline with the word London in place of Holbomat the end.

VALUES .

A copy so ld at Sotheby’s, December, 189 1 ,

brought £20. A London dealer in a 19 12 catalogueoffered a copy for £12, without the error. The

fac-simile reprint is worth between £2 and £3 .

ALBERT SMITH’

S DRAMATISATION OF

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH

This little pamphlet is given a place here becauseof the unexplainable fluctuations in values. It wasrather closely associated with Dickens because he

248

SOME COSTLY DICKENSIANApermitted Albert Smith to make the stage versionfrom the early proofs of the Christmas Book. Infact, the date of the book under review was dated1845, while The Cricket itself bore the date ofa year later.To recur to the rise and fall of prices, let it bestated that at the sale of the library of the lateCaptain J. F. Hin ckley, of St. Louis, Mo . , at theAnderson rooms, New York, on February 27, 19 12,a copy of the pamphlet was put up by the auctioneer. There was spirited bidding between threecontestants and finally, narrowing down to a NewYork and a Philadelphia dealer, it was sold for$95, and in five minutes thereafter it was re -soldto a noted collector

, Henry E. Huntington, ofNew York, for a 10 per cent. advance, orIt had been catalogued as extremely scarce. Inthe following May the writer received a cataloguefrom a Chicago dealer in which a similar item wasoffered for It was ordered by telegraph,and a beautiful copy was the result. Lateranother copy was asked for and the dealer sent asecond one equally as good as the first. Aboutthis time a London dealer had offered to thePhiladelphia dealer who had bought in the NewYork copy a re -bound copy without the wrappersfor £6. It was not purchased. To throw a littlemore light on the matter of prices, it may be statedthat in February

, 1898, a copy was sold at Puttick’

s

for 258. Up to the New York sale the book couldeasily be classed as a rarity. It is now a questionwhether somebody in London has found a mine ofthese books and is slowly putting them on the

249

CHARLES DICKENSmarket at a low price. It may be a repetition ofthe find of The Village Coquette in 1894.

The drama was issued in a stitched yellow paperwrapper with the date on the outside wrapperbut none on the title page. It was 16mo in size.The title The/Entirely New and Origin al Drama,In Three Parts, Entitled The/Cricket On The

Hearth/A Fairy Tale of Home .[Dramatised By[Albert Smith, of the DramaticAuthors’ So ciety) , From early Proofs of the Work,[By the Express Permission Of The Author,Charles Dickens, Esq.[AS Performed At The/Theatre Royal, Lyceum.[Price—On e Shi lling.London [Prin ted and Published by W. S. Johnson,Nassau Steam Press, [60, St. Martin’s Lane.COLLATION . Title, on the reverse one unnumbered page of Dramatis Personae ; pp. (III) —39 .

Imprint one line at the bottom of the last page.The inside and last pages of the wrappers carryadvertisements, the final paragraph of the lastpage recommends itself to those who can seethe funny sides of life. One A. Davis, dealer insaddlery and harness, after using an entire pageto tell what he has to sell, winds up as fo llows

So many mistakes having arisen by aWidowWoman (Sic) putting up From A.

Davis cautions the public to particularlynotice that his shop in the strand has twowindows, and is No. 33 , Strand.

There is a typographi cal error in the third wordof the ninth line of the title page in the copy athand.

250


SOME COSTLY DICKENSIANA

THE BEADNELL AND KOLLE LETTERS

Two mighty contributions to the biography ofCharles Dickens were embodied in the lettersprinted in two books issued in America by thefamous Bibliophile Society of Boston. Of these,the first was entitled Charles Dickens and MariaBeadn ell. Private Correspondence.” It was editedby Professor George Pierce Baker, and it presented a complete story of young Dickens’s firstlove affair, concerning whi ch all the biographerswere in perfect ignorance.In the course of his editorial functions ProfessorBaker wrote It is reported that some ten yearsago a series of letters from Dickens to the friendof his youth, Henry Kolle, changed hands inBirmingham, England. The present editor hopesthat the publication of the letters in thi s bookmay bring this set to light, for they Should supplement and explain the letters here given.”This met with a response from Harry B. Smith,who possessed the letters to Kolle referred to byProfessor Baker, and led to the publication of thesecond book. The companion volume was calledThe Earliest Letters of Charles Dickens (Written

To His Friend Henry Kolle) , Edited By Harry B.

Smith, New York, For Private Distribution Only.”More precise reference is made to this book inthe early portion of this Bibliography coveringSketches By Boz,” and further quotations arealso made in other parts. The two volumes aredated 1908 and 19 10, respectively. They wereconstructed in the highest form of modern book

251

CHARLES DICKENSart, illuminated with fac-similes of some of theimportant letters, and otherwise illustrated. Eachwas limited to about 500 copies, so that both arenow much sought by collectors. They haveappeared in auction rooms, and the prices havegone as high as $32 for the first, and a little lessfor the second volume. AS the merits of the booksbecome better known, values will undoubtedlyincrease.

252


PART V III

MISCELLANEOUS AND UNCLASSIFIEDTHE ROYAL LI TERARY FUND

ERY few collectors seem to have includedamong their Dickensiana three pamphletsin the preparation of two of which

Dickens had more than a passing interest. Itwas quite the literary duel of that period, andsuch periodicals as the Examiner and Athen ceumgave considerable space to it. With John Forsterand Charles W. Dilke, Dickens was a member ofthe committee of the Royal Literary Fund, whichwas to benefit indigent writers. The trio resignedas a protest to the methods used in the di stributionof the funds, and then issued a small pamphletoutlin ing their side of the case. In reply thecommittee published a Summary of Facts, towhich a rejoinder was made by the Reformerswhich they called their An swer. The titlesThe Case/Of/The Reformers/In /The LiteraryFund ; [Stated By/Charles W. Dilke, CharlesDickens and John Forster.COLLATION . Title and text, pp. [1]—16 .

Royal Literary Fund.[A Summary of Facts,[[Five Lines][Together With/A Report of theProceedings of the last Annual Meeting,[March 12,1858.

Royal Literary Fund.[The An swer/To /The Committee

’

S Summary of W. Dilke,255

CHARLES DICKENSCharles Dickens, And/John Forster.[LondonBradbury and Evans, 1 1 , Bouverie Street.COLLATION . Same as the first pamphlet.Each was octavo in size and stitched.Thomson says the pamphlets are usually pricedabout 158. but that seems to be very low in viewof the rarity of their appearance in auction roomsor in the hands of dealers.

MRS. GAMP WITH THE STROLLINGPLAYERS

This is an un finished bit of w riting whichDickens did in 1847 to aid Leigh Hunt. It was tobe a humorous version of a new Piljian s Projiss.

”

The artist who promised to illustrate the Sketchfailed to respond and the project failed. Forsterused the letterpress in his Life, and the firstseparate publication was made in 1899 from theMS. which is owned by Lowell M. Palmer. Theprin ting was a private one done by the Gilliss Press,of New York, and only 85 copies were struck o ff.It was an octavo with white paper boards goldlettered.The title Mrs. Gamp/with the Strolling Players/

Dickens. [ NewYork/Privately Prin ted/MDCCCX CIX .

COLLATION . Three blank leaves one unnumbered page on the reverse of which Printed forMr. Lowell M. Palmer,” etc. half title, title, w itheighty-fi ve copies printed,” on the reverse, andI n a 1913 catalogue of a London dealer this pamphlet was listed

as being of extreme rarity. The price asked was 10 guineas .

256


CHARLES DICKENSAnderson’s, New York, December, 1908, disposedo f a copy of Little Dombey for $12, and The

Poor Traveller,” etc. for a year latercopies re -boun d by Riviere sold for $5 andrespectively December, 19 1 1 , re -bound by Zaehn sdorf, went for $8 each. At Freeman’s, Philadelphia,February, 19 1 1 , in the original wrappers, thesebooks fetched $5 and $8.

WhenDickens re -visitedAmerica in 1868,Ticknorand Fields, of Boston, published a dozen or morepamphlets, each containing two readings. On thereverse of each title-page there was an endorsementof the edition by the Author, and on each titlepage bore the statement As Condensed ByHimself,” and the price 25 cents.” Readingsnot contained in the English edition of 1858 werethe following The Trial From Pickwick,”David Copperfield,” Mr. Bob Sawyer’s Party,AtMr. Squeer’ s School, and DoctorMarigold.

Each selection had a distinct title page and pagination, as well as one illustration by Sol Eytinge .

They were 16mo in size , with a paper wrapperin green.It appears that later these issues were bound upand published in a cloth-bound vo lume. On e ofthese with an inscription by Dickens so ld for£13 5s. at Sotheby’s, December, 189 1 .

The Grolier Club, of New York, exhibited in 19 13a set of reading editions which were privatelyprinted especially for Dickens’ s use in his entertainmen t. There were altogether eleven of thebooks, two of the volumes with the text of o rdinaryeditions ( 1846 and 1849 ) laid in and changed. In

258

MISCELLANEOUS AND UNCLASSIFIEDCharles Dickens as a Reader CharlesKent describes the appearance of the pages afterDickens had prepared them for reading purposesof the network of blots and lines in the way ofcorrection or of obliteration.

” In these books andnot included in the 1858 and 1868 editions, Dickenshad added Mrs. Lirriper

’

s Lodgings,” BarboxBrothers and The Bastille Prisoner from A

Tale of Tw o Cities . Eight o f the books wereundated. In each was Dickens’ s bookplate and label.Considerable light was thrown on the subject ofthe privately printed issues of the reading editionsin a catalogue published by Maggs Brothers

,of

London, dated April—May, 19 13 . Here were disclo sed four of these books, which, judging fromthe descriptions and prices, must be of the greatestrarity.Their titles were : ( 1 )Mrs. Lirriper

’

s Lodgings(already mentioned) ; (2) Doctor Marigold ; (3 )Bardell and Pickwick ; Mr. Chops, the Dwarf ;Mr. Bob Sawyer’ s Party ; (4 ) Great Expectations.Of the first two the catalogue says that only onecopy (of each) appears to have been sold duringthe last 35 years. It would be interesting to knowwhether the copy of Mrs. Lirriper

’

s Lodgingsexhibited by the Grolier Club is the one soldduring the last 35 years.” Concerning No. 3 , it isstated that this is the only copy we have everseen or heard of.” The fourth is described asfollows Of this Reading only one other copyhas been recorded. It is not mentioned in any ofthe Bibliographies.Further information is to the effect that thesecopies were Specially prepared and modified by

259

CHARLES DICKENSDickens himself, for use in his Reading,’ andonly a very few copies of each were printed forpresentation to personal friends. Though nonebear a date, they were all printed in the yearThe price asked for each copy was £52 10s .

COLLATION . Title page : Great Expectations. [A Reading. [In Three Stages. [Privately Printed.On verso of title page at its foot London Printedby William Clowes 85 Sons, Stamford Street/andCharing Cross, which is repeated in the centre ofthe last page ; pp. including the title

, 160. Sizeof paper 8} by 5k inches.Title page : Bardell and Pickwick.[Mr. Chops,the Dwarf.[Mr. Bob Sawyer’s Party. [Three Readings.[Each In On e Chapter.[Privately Printedpp. 82, in a blue paper wrapper measuring 8 by 52inches. It was printed also by William Clowes 85Son , and not more than 20 copies were issued forpresentation to the novelist’s personal friends.Title page : Doctor Marigold.[A Reading. [In

Two Parts. [Privately Printed, on reverse o f which,same imprint as in Great Expectations ; pp. 53 ,and at the end a blank page on the reverse.Title page Mrs. Lirriper

’

s Lodgings.[A Reading.[Privately Printed on the reverse imprint of theprinter as in Great Expectations ; pp. 54, and ablank page with the imprint repeated in the centreof the obverse.


PART IX. PRESENTATION COPIES


CHARLES DICKENS10 per cent. advance, or $418. Figures given inthe pages which follow will Show still more astonishing results.Dicken s had several methods in presenting booksto his friends. The most common one was to usethe title-page as the place for the inscription.Sometimes his autograph was found on the halftitle, and more infrequently he would enclo se asheet of letter paper on which was written thepresentation, and occasionally a longer letterwould accompany the book.

One of the closest of the association bookswhich has fallen under the observation of the writeris one which came into the possession of CharlesSessler, a Philadelphia dealer. Dickens had takenthe three-volume edition of Master Humphrey’sClock,” and with his own hands had removed allthe extraneous Clock matter, and by cuttingand pasting constructed a volume each of The

Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge.”These were bound by Chapman 85 Hall andpresented to Lord Francis Jeffrey. The letterwhich accompanied the precious volumes told thestory in the Author’s own words how the workhad been accomplished. Harry E. Widener became the purchaser, paying for the twovolumes.Another important presentation copy to LordJeffrey was A Christmas Carol.” It was concerning this particular copy that Jeffrey wrote toDickens the letter which begins with the words :Blessings on your kind heart !” and whichFo rster quotes in full at the end of Chapter I,

264


CHARLES DICKENSpresented the book. It was dated Doughty Street,23 October, 1839 . The price was $700 .

Barnaby Rudge, with the inscription FromCharles Dickens, Fourteenth December,Under this someone had written, Presented toT. B. Brindley on the occasion of his dedicationof a volume of poems to Charles Dickens. Price$375.

American Note s. Inscription on the half-title,Thomas Carlyle, From Charles Dickens, Nine

teen th October, On the fl y-leaf of eachvolume Carlyle had written hi s own name, and hisbook-plate was in each book. At Sotheby’s,March, 1902, it was sold for £45 ; at this saleit went for or £210.

A Christmas Carol, to Frederick SalmonEsquire. From his friend Charles Dickens, Twentyeighth March, Price $410.

The Haunted Man ,

” to Thomas BeardEsquire. From his old friend, Charles Dickens,Fourteenth December, Price $360.

Bleak House to Robert Bell, From CharlesDickens, Third October, 1853 . Copy describedas somewhat water-stained. Price $275.

The Chimes ( 1858) to Charles Dickens,Junior, From his affectionate father CharlesDickens, Seventh September, Price $775.

Of the many interesting presentation copiesgiven by Charles Dickens to his friends, none hasthe' importance or the personal merit than onein the collection of Harry B. Smith, of New York.Among collectors it is accounted as the mostnotable of association books written by Dickens.

266


CHARLES DICKENSMr. Smith’s Dickens collection forms a part of alibrary which the owner calls a sentimental one.He has nearly all of the first editions and all arepresentation copies. Some of the valued itemsin the co llection are the following, prices, of course,being omitted

Sketches by Boz, first series, 1836 , to Mrs.

Edward Barrow from her affectionate Nephew,

the Author.” Mrs. Barrow was the sister ofDickens’s mother, and she painted a miniatureof the Author when he was 18 years old.

The Village Coquettes, 1836, to J. P.

B ullah, Esq. , from the Author, 5th January,Dickens wrote the words, and Hullah the music,of this comic opera. Inserted is a playbill of thefirst performance, December 6 , 1836. The StrangeGentleman was also a part of the bill.

Sketches by Boz,” second series, 1837, J. P.

Hullah , from the Author.”Pickwick Papers,” 1837, W. C. Macready,

Esq. , with the Author’s best regards. With Mac

ready’ s book-plate.Pickwick Papers, 1837, bound from the parts

with a set of Onwhyn plates. Inserted is a letterwhich is signed Believe me (in Pickwickian haste. )Faithfully yours

, Charles Dickens.” It is addressedto Chapman 85 Hall.

Sketches by Boz, first octavo edition, 1839.

Presented by Dickens to his father.Sketches of Young Couples,” 1840, to W. C.

Macready from his faithful friend Charles Dickens.Twentieth March, Book was probablybound by Dickens as a present to his friend.

268

A CHRISTMAS

DDING

H GEM g ang of fi bria‘tmafi .

A Christmas Caro l given to Frederick Salmon . I t was a

first edition though the presen tation bore a later date .


PRESENTATION COPIESOliver Twist,” third edition, 1841 , to Mrs.

Henry Austin from Charles Dickens. New Year’sday

,Mrs. Austin was Dickens’s sister

Letitia.Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi, first issue, 1838,J. P. Harley, from his very Sincerely CharlesDickens.Nicholas Nickleby, 1839 , Frederick Salmon,

Esquire, from Charles Dickens. Twenty-fi fthOctober,

Master Humphrey’s Clock, three-volumeedition

, 1840, on title page of Vol. I. WalterSavage Landor from his cordial friend and admirerCharles Dickens.” It was at Landor’s house inBath that the character of Little Nellwas conceived.

American Notes,” 1842, The Countess ofBlessington from Charles Dickens. EighteenthOctober, The date marks the day on whichthe book was issued.

A Christmas Carol, fi rst issue, 1843 , DouglasJerrold from his friend Charles Dickens, January,1844. Another copy presented to Thomas Noon

The Chimes, 1845, the half-title bears thefollowing autograph inscription This is my partof a bargain made w ith Mr. Davis on board theCharlemagne steamer between Marseilles andGenoa, on the nineteenth of December, 1845Charles Dickens. London, first August, 1845.

The Cricket on the Hearth, 1846 . On thehalf-title is Victor Hugo’s autograph and the

Dickens absentmindedly wrote 1845 in the inscription ; it was inDecember, 1844, that he made the trip referred to .

269

CHARLES DICKENSfollowing inscription in Dickens’s handwritingAvec les compliments et remerciments de M.

Charles Dickens. 48Rue de Courcelles, 30 Janvier,

The Haunted Man , 1848, J. T. Gordonfrom Charles Dickens. Fifteenth December,

Pictures from Italy,” 1846. Mr. SerjeantTalfourd with the regards of his affectionate friendCharles Dickens. Devonshire Terrace, NineteenthMay,

Dombey and Son , 1848, Lady Normanbyfrom Charles Dickens.[Devonshi re Terrace, YorkGate, Regents Park, Sixth September, 1848.

A Specially bound presentation copy designed forthe one to whom the book was dedicated.David Copperfield,” 1850, The Reverend

W. G. Cookesley from Charles Dickens. FirstJanuary, Charles Dickens, Jr. , was a pupilat Eton, where Dr. Cookesley was master. Insertedis a letter to him from Dickens, in which he isthanked for his interest in Charley.Bleak House,” 1853 , Mamey and Katie

from their affectionate father, Charles Dickens.December

, Another copy to Peter Rackham

, Esquire, from Charles Dickens. June,A Child’s History of England, 1852—3—4 ,George Watson from his affectionate friend

Charles Dickens. Christmas,Little Dorrit, 1857, presentation copy to

W. H. Wills. An other copy with Dickens’sautograph on the title page and the date SixthOctober, 1858.

A Tale of Two Cities, 1859, Charles Dickens270


PRESENTATION COPIESto Thomas Mitton. The New Year, 1860. Mittonwas Dickens’s schoolfellow and afterwards hissolicitor. It was to him that Dickens gave themanuscript of “A Christmas Carol,” now owned bythe J. Pierpont Morgan collection.Christmas numbers of All the Year Round,

1859-67, in book form, Charles Kent, an oldyear’s remembrance from his affectionate friend

,

Charles Dickens. December,Great Expectations, third edition, Charles

Dickens to Samuel Cartwright, Fourth October,

The Uncommercial Traveller, 1861 , Dr.Elliotson from Charles Dickens, Christmas,Dr. Elliotson saved Thackeray’s life in a severeillness and the latter dedi cated Pendennis tohim. He also attended John Overs, who performeda like literary service in the dedication of Evenin gs of a Workingman.” Elliotson was the Doctorin Little Dorrit,” and hi s daughter was theprototype of Esther Summerson in BleakHouse.”

Our Mutual Friend,” 1865, Charles Dickensto Thomas Mitton. Wednesday, Fifteenth November,Harry E. Widener, of Philadelphia, whoseuntimely death on the Titan ic cut short the promising career of an enthusiastic and intelligentbibliophile, had formed a fine collection of presentation copies. A number of these may be noted

The Village Coquettes,” to J. P. Harley, wi tha letter inserted referring to the play.

Pickwi ck Papers to WilliamHarrisonAinsworth, from his most faithfully, Charles Dickens.”

27 1


PART X

SPEECHES

N his feet, Charles Dickens was delightful. His reputation as a dinner speakerwas probably superior to any of his

contemporaries, and his services were alwaysin demand. Most of his addresses were carefully prepared and corrected befo re delivery.Occasionally proof-sheets with the novelist’s markings come into the market

,and these Show the

pains which were taken to make the Speecheswhat they were desired.

Nearly all the important formal addressesappeared afterwards in pamphlet form, and theseare becoming scarce and are commandin g largefigures . The most noted of these may be setdown as followsReport Of The Dinner Given To Charles Dickens,In Boston, February 1 , 1842. Boston : WilliamCrosby and Company, 1842.

16mo, in a buff paper wrapper. Dickens’s speech,pp. 10—15.

Address Written For The Occasion Of The

Amateur Performance at Manchester, On Monday,July 26, 1847, For The Benefit Of Mr. Leigh Hunt.By Mr. Serjeant Talfourd. Spoken By Mr.

Charles Dickens.Octavo in a buff paper wrapper.Proceedings/At The [Second, Fourth, Fifth,

275

CHARLES DICKENSSixth, Seventh, Eighth (misprinted Ninth) , Tenth,Thirteenth and Twenty-fi rst] Anniversary Festival[s][Of The General Theatrical Fund,[Held At The/London Tavern ,[Bishopsgate Street,[On [VariousDates] London,[[Various Imprints] 1847,

49 , 50, 51 , 52, 53 , 54, 55, 58, 63 , 66 .

Most of these pamphlets were printed byEdward Brewster, Hand Court, Dowgate . Theywere 12mo in size and carried buff paper wrappers.A London dealer in 19 13 asked 14 guineas forthe one bearing the date 1851 . As a rule all arevery rare.Several of the meetings were held at the Freemason’s Tavern, Great Queen Street, no tably in1858 and 1863 , and the titles so announce it.The report of the last-named meeting came up ina London catalogue ( 19 13 ) where it was statedthat the pamphlet was unknown to many Dickenscollectors. It was priced at £7 l0s. The bookletrelatin g to the meeting in 1858 is more elaboratelyreferred to in this Bibliography under the headingSome Costly Dickensiana.The Newsvendors’ Benevolent and ProvidentInstitution. Speeches [1849—1870] In Behalf OfThe Institution, By The Late Mr. Charles Dickens

,

President. London Printed By Buck andWootton,

126 Westmin ster Bridge Road. Printedafter the death of the novelist. It was a 15 pageoctavo pamphlet in a printed paper wrapper

,and

contained five speeches and a letter to the secretarydated Tavistock House, April 13 , 1854. An octavofolder with title and 2 pages of text was printedof the speech delivered May 9th, 1865.

276


CHARLES‘

D ICKENSSpeech of Charles Dickens, :Esq. , At The Ann i

versary Festival Of The Hospital For Sick Children,February 9 , 1858.

Post 8vo , sewn, with a printed paper :wrapper,l2pp. In the first edition there is an ann ouncement of the Read ing on April 15. Two weeksthereafte r Dickens gave the first public Readingfor his own profit.This pamphlet is very scarce, the price b eingabout £3 .

In 1874 R. Folkard and Sons, London, reprintedthis speech in t he shape of a 24mo w ith yellowwrappers.Royal Dramatic College, For Aged and In fi rm

Actors and Actresses. London Printed By WilliamClowes 85 Sons, 1858.

12mo , in a yellow paper wrapper. Carries thereport of . the meeting on July 21 , 1858, withDickens’ s Speech on pp. 12—14.

Speech of Charles Dickens As Chairman Of TheAnn iversary Festival Dinner Of The Royal FreeHospital, Held At The Freemasons’ Tavern, onthe '6th of May, 1863 . London : Wyman 85 Sons.[1870] 12mo, stitched, pp. 8.

The Charles Dickens Dinner. An AuthenticRecord Of The Public Banquet Given To Mr.

Charles Dickens, At the Freemasons’ Hall,London, on Saturday, November 2nd, 1867, .PriorTo His Departure For The United States. WithAReport Of The Speeches From Special ShorthandNotes. With A Preface By C.

‘K. [Charles Kent].London C hapman and Hall, 1867 .

’Octavo, stitched. Speeches are printed which278

SPEECHES

were made by Dickens, Lord Lytton, Sir CharlesRussell

,Dilke, Landseer, Trollope and others.

Also there was published a book, quarto in Size,pp. 12, having the wo rds of the songs and thenames of the dinner committee and stewards.The pamphlets are priced at about 303 . each.Address Delivered At The Birmingham and

Midland Institute, On The 27th September, 1869,By Charles Dickens, Esquire, President. Birmingham Printed by Josiah Allen, Junr.

Octavo , green paper wrappers, pp. 16 .

Valued at about 153 .

FIRST COLLECTED EDITION .

Speeches LiteraryAnd Social ByCharlesDickens.Now First Collected. With Chapters on CharlesDickens AS A Letter Writer, Poet, And PublicReader.” London : John Camden Hotten, Piccadilly, 1870.

12mo, with a frontispiece-portrait, bound ingreen cloth.

279


INDEXAinsworth , William Harrison .

—193 , 1 95, 27 1 .

All the Year Round—Casual references, 78, 83 , 87 , 88,9 1 , 96 , 210, 2 1 1 , 222, 223

“The Uncommercial

Traveller, appeared in ,142 date of the sketches,

143 , 144 ; second series , 144 , 145 successor to

Household Words , 21 9 ; A Tale of Two Cities

and Great Expectations ,”appeared in , 219 other

sketches , 220 ; Christmas numbers , 22 1 values, 222 .

AMERICAN NOTES , pagin ation error Sign of first issue , 1 1 3mistakes in auction catalogues , 1 1 3 title page and

collation ,1 1 3 , 1 14 ; values , 1 14 , 1 15 .

Auction Prices—These quotations appear usually under

the headin g Values ,” and are taken from the

records of the follow ing leading firms

London .—Sotheby, Christie , Puttick, Dowell and

Hodgson .

New York .—Anderson Auction Company and Amer

ican Art Association .

Philadelphia—Freeman .

BARNABY RUDGE .—Advance Notices of, 1 6 , 52 how it

was published, 62 ; preface to , 64 ; single volumeissue , 65 .

BATTLE OF LI FE , THE—Title page and collation , 127 ,128 ; discovery of the real first issue , 128 ; changesin the vignette title page create four issues, 129 ,1 30 ; values, 1 30.

Beadnell, Maria—Prototype of Flora Fin ching, 82 ;Dicken s ’s letter to her in 1855, 82 ; letters fromDicken s to her published in book form,

251 .

B ell’

s Life .—Articles in , 7 , 9 1 1 , 12.

Bell and Daldy .—Published Legends .and Lyrics, 163 ;

1 64 .

Ben tley, Richard—Published Oliver Twist , 52, 53 ;The Village Coquettes , 1 75 ; The Mudfog

Papers, 1 96 .

283

INDEXB en tley

’

s M iscellany.—Dicken s, editor of, 17 ; Oliver

Twist first prin ted in ,5 1

,193 , 194 , 195, 1 96 .

Betw een the Cradle and the Grave .—223 .

Bibliophile Society, of Boston .—3 , 25 1 , 277 .

Black , John , editor Chron icle.—8.

BLEAK HOUSE .—Atta (3k on Chancery abuses , 78 ; blue

wrapper and collation , 79 the dark ”

plates , 80 ;interesting advertisemen ts , 80 values, 80 , 81 .

Book Binders—Zaehn sdorf, Riviere , Sangorski and Sutclif

‘

fe , Morrell Club Bindery,usually referred to under

the headings , Values .

”

Borden , M. C . D . library—2 1 1

,2 18.

Bradbury and Evan s—The Publishers of the Octavo

edition of Oliver Twist , 55 Dombey and Son ,

”

72 David Copperfield ,76 Bleak House ,

“79

Little Dorrit ,”84 The Cricket on the Hearth ,

125 ;“The Battle of Life , 1 27 ;

“The Haun ted

Man , 1 3 1 Pictures from I taly , 1 35 A Child’

s

History of England ,

”1 38 ; Hard Times , 140 ;

Cheap edition of The Village Coquettes ,” 1 75 .

—Addition al referen ces : 40, 52 , 58, 63 , 64 , 66 , 67 ,7 1 , 72 , 76 , 79 , 83 , 84 , 107 , 109 , 1 14 , 1 18, 1 1 9, 123 ,126 , 127 , 1 3 1 , 1 35 , 1 38, 1 79 , 202, 243 , 256 , 257 .

Brown e , Hablot K . Phiz —Succeeded Buss as illus

trator of Pickwick , 25 , 27 , 28, 30, 3 7 , 38, 40 44,49

illustrated Nicholas Nickleby, 57 , 58, 60 ; Master

Humphrey’

s Clock ,” 63 , 64 ; Martin Chuzzlewit ,”

67 , 69 , 70 ; Dombey and Son , 7 1 , 72 , 73 , 74 ; David

Copperfield , 75 , 76 , 77 ;“ Bleak House ,” 79 , 80

Little Dorrit , 83 , 84 , 85 A Tale of Tw o Cities ,87 , 88, 89 ;

“Sunday under Three Heads , 107 ;

Sketches of Young Gentlemen , 109 1 10 ;

Sketches of Young Couples,”1 1 1 , 1 12 ; Picnic

Papers , 1 56 , 158, 159 ; The Strange Gen tleman ,

”

1 7 1 also 1 94 .

Buss, R . W .—Illustrated Part I I I of Pickw ick, 25

,

29 ; unpublished plate , 3 6 ; tests of plates , 38 ;engaged to succeed Seymour, 4 1 , 42 ; is dismissed ,

43 ; n ame on w rapper, 49 ; plates in Library of

Fiction ,

”150.

284


INDEXColburn , Henry .

—l57 , 158, 1 59 .

Collin s , Wilkie—Letter to concern ing Little Dorrit ,82 Charles A . Collins, brother of, 99 also 1 69 , 184,186 , 1 87 , 188, 189 , 208, 2 15 , 218, 221 , 222.

Cornhill Magazine, The—225, 226 .

Costello , Dudley .-184 263 .

Coutts,Miss Burdett . Martin Chuzzlewit, dedicated to ,67 .

CRI CKET ON THE HEARTH , THE—I ts great popularity,

125 ; title page and collation , 125 , 126 ; values, 126 .

Cruikshank George .—Illustrated Mornings in Bow

Stree t . 3 ; do . , Sketches By Boz,” 1 5 17 , 18, 1 9 ;

do . , Oliver Twist ,”5 1 , 53 , 54 , 55

° Memoirs of

Joseph Grimaldi,”152

,1 53 , 1 55 ; The Pic Nic

Papers ,”156, 1 58, 159, 194 , 1 95, 23 1 , 232, 233 , 234,

235 , 236 .

Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree .—Dispute as

to authorship settled by sale of MSS . , 210, 2 1 1 , 212

the two issues , 2 12, 2 1 3 descriptions, 21 3 , 2 14 ;values, 214, 2 15 .

Daily Newe, The—Preparations for founding it, 125 ;Pictures from I taly first appeared in , 1 35 ; octavo

edition of Oliver Twist issued when Dickenstook charge , 55 ; also , 1 93 , 20 1 .

Daly, Augustin , sale—3 , 184 .

DAVID COPPERFIELD .—Sales only the wrapper

and collation , 75 , 76 ; the date 1850 is a poin t ,”

76 ; values , 77 .

Dexter, J . F .—49 , 80, 108, 1 14 , 120, 154, 17 1 , 172, 234.

Dicken s, Henry Fielding—227 .

Dicken s, John . O’

Thello MS 6 , 152 .

Dickens, Mamie—187 , 270 .

Dinn er at Poplar Walk, A .—Dickens’s first published

writings, 5 ; letter con cern ing it , 4 , 5.

DOMBEY AND SON .—Difl :iculty in writing, 7 1 wrapper

and collation , 7 1 , 72 ; the plates , 73 ; extra illus

trations by Phiz and values, 73 an undiscovered

mistake , 73 ; values , 74 .

286

INDEXDouglas, Capt . R . J . H.

—Owned un ique copy of OliverTwist

”55 .

Dowling, Vin cen t —Editor B ell’s Life, 1 1 .

Doyle , Richard . The Chimes ,”123 The Cricket on

the Hearth , 126 The Battle of Life , 1 28.

Durham Advertiser.- 1 96 .

Edinburgh Review—Attack on Little Dorrit , 83 .

Elliotson , Dr . John .—1 6 1

,27 1

,272 .

EVENINGS OF A WORKING MAN .—16 1

,1 62 .

Examiner , The—Printed ann oun cemen t of Master

Humphrey’

s Clock ,” 6 1 papers in ,1 99, 200, 20 1 , 255 .

Extraordinary Gazette .—194, 196 .

Fechter, Charles—1 88, 189 .

Field , William B . Osgood—Owns real first issue Of The

Battle of Life ,”1 28 ; margin al n otes, 1 30 .

Fields , James T .—180 , 185 , 209 , 226 , 258.

Fields , Osgood and CO .- 180

,185

,209 .

Fildes, Sir Luke —Illustrated Edw in Drood,

Forster, John .—Error in the Life ,

”4 ; the Chapman

and Hall agreemen t , 66 ; Dickens ’s prosperity, 7 1

cancelled chapter in American Notes prin ted in

the Life ,”1 1 3 The Chimes read in his house ,

1 22 ; letter to W . J . Fox concern ing the reading,122 ; Dicken s and Grimaldi,

”1 52 ; married Col

burn’

s widow ,158 ; Opinion of Dr. Elliotson , 1 6 1 ;

first meeting w ith Dickens, 174 ; collection ,182 ;

also ,1 97 , 1 99 , 202, 255 .

FROZEN DEEP , THE—Written by Wilkie Collins, 1 86

tw o un ique copies , 186 , 187 title and collation , 187

MS . sold ,187 .

Gad’

s Hill Gazette, The—227 , 228.

Garrick Club , Mr . Thackeray, Mr. Yates and The .

247 , 248.

Gaskell, Mrs—237 , 238.

George Silverman’

s Explanation .—220

,226 .

287

INDEXGONE ASTRAY .

—In book form , 21 6 .

GREAT EX PECTATION S .—Importance and rarity of, 9 1 ;

published in 3-volume form , 9 1 poin ts of a first

edition , 9 1 , 92 ; copies doctored by dealers , 92,93 ; collation , 93 , 94 ; values, 94 , 95 ; also 219 .

GRIMALDI , JOSEPH , MEMOI RS OF .—Edited by Dicken s ,

152 ; title page and collation ,1 52

,153 ; two states

of on e plate , 1 53 , 154 ; the 1846 issue , 1 54 ; values,154

,155 ; Grimaldi

’

s accordion sold, 1 55 (marginal

note ) .Grolier Club .

-Exhibition in New York 1 9 1 3 disclosesfirst issue of The Battle Of Life , 129 ; also ,

1 7 1 ,

1 73 , 180, 1 84, 227 , 23 1 , 23 7 , 247 , 248, 258, 259 , 277 .

Guild of Literature and Art . Bleak House dedicated

to , 79 ; also , 184 .

Hamerton , R . J .—156

,1 59 .

HARD TIMES .—First prin ting in Household Words, 140 ;

title page and collation , 140 ; values, 140, 14 1 .Harley, John Pritt—20, 1 7 1 , 174 , 1 75, 1 79 , 265, 269,

27 1 , 272 .

HAUNTED MAN , THE—Last of the Christmas Books ,1 3 1 title page and collation ,

1 3 1 , 1 32 the brokennumber and values, 1 32 .

Hogarth, George—216 , 267 .

Hogarth , Miss Catherine—Married to Dickens , 9 .

Hogarth , Miss Georgin a . A Child’

s History of England,

mostly in her autograph ,1 3 7 .

Hogarth Miss Mary .-Death of ann oun ced in Part XV

of Pickwick , 34 ; the address in full, 46 , 47 in

terfered w ith publication of Oliver Tw ist ,”5 1 ;

famous presentation copy to , 267 ; Dickens ’s letterconcerning the death , 267 .

Hood’

s Magazine—1 96

,1 97 .

Holiday Romance , A .—220 , 226 .

Hotten , John Conden .—224

,225

,279 .

Household Words .—Casua1 references to , 75 , 78, 83 , 87 ,

1 25,1 63 , 1 93 , 210 , 212, 223 , 23 7 , 238 ; A Child

’

s

History of England, appeared in 1 37 also Hard

288


INDEXKolle , Henry,

Earliest Letters to .—3 letter to referring

to Dickens ’s first sketch ,4 ; letters in book form ,

251,252.

Lamplighter, The .—182.

Lamplighter’

s Story, The .—156

,182 .

Landseer, Edwin .—Drew one picture for The Cricket

on the Hearth ,126 .

Lapham , Edw in N .—Own ed Pickwick which brought

world’

s record price , 26 .

Lauriat , C . E .—Own s copy of the first issue of The

Battle of Life ,”128.

LAZY TOUR OF Two IDLE APPRENTICES , THE .—2l5.

Leech ,Johm—I llustrated A Christmas Carol, 1 18

,

1 19 ; The Chimes , 1 23 ; The Cricket on the

Hearth ,126

“The Battle of Life ,

”128 ;

“The

Haunted Man ,

”1 32 .

LEGENDS AND LYRI CS—In troduction by Dickens, 163 ;collation and values, 1 64 .

Lehmann , R . C . , M.P .—203 .

Lemon , Mark—184 .

Lighthouse , The .—1 86 .

LIBRARY OF FI CTION ,THE—Had two early sketches by

Dickens , illustrated by Seymour and Buss, 150 ;

original issue was in fourteen mon thly parts , then

in a 2-volume edition ,1 50 title pages and collation

1 50 , 15 1 ; values , 1 5 1 .

LITTLE DORRIT .—Maria Beadn ell as Flora Fin ching, 82 ;

last book issued by Bradbury and Evan s , 83 blue

wrapper and collation ,83 , 84 ; importance Of the

correction slip in Part X VI , 84 , 85 the plates, 85values, 85, 86 .

Mackenzie , Dr. R . Shelton .- 156 , 1 96 .

Maclise , Daniel. —On e drawing in Master Humphrey’

s

Clock ,” 64 ;“The Chimes

”reading, 122 ; drew

fron tispiece and vignette title page for, 123 ; drew

design s on cover of The Battle of Life , 127 also

tw o illustrations, 128.

290

INDEXMacready, W. C. Nicholas Nickleby dedicated to ,

58 ; also , 1 82, 183 , 268, 272 .

Macrone , John .—With Cochrane publisher of TheMon thly

Magazine, 7 ; publishesDicken s’s first book Sketchesby Boz,

”1 5 , 1 6 ; sells copyright to Dickens and

Chapman and Hall, 1 7 origin al articles of agreemen t

(marginal n ote ) , 1 7 aid for his widow ,156

,1 58, 1 6 1 .

Maggs , Brothers—2 1 , 3 6 , 122, 259 .

Marston , J . Westland—183 .

MARTIN CHUZZLEW IT—Publication preceded by a new

con tract , 66 ; the w rapper, and the collation , 67 ,

68 ; the tran sposed 68 ; values , 68, 69 , 70 .

MASTER HUMPHREY’

S CLOCK .—Dicken s’s plan of publica

tion ,6 1 ; four forms of issue , in cluding The Old

Curiosity Shop, and Barn aby Rudge ,” 62 n otices

on the parts , 62 the wrappers , 63 collation of the

3 -volume edition ,63 , 64 : values, 64, 65 .

Matz , B . W .—l99 , 202, 203 , 2 1 6 .

MESSAGE FROM THE SEA , A .—223 .

Mitton , Thomas—Letter to concerning The Chimes ,12 1 ; also , 27 1 .

Misnar, the Sultan of India ,

Mon thly Magazine, The—7 , 8.

MR . NI GHTINGALE’

S DIARY .—184 ; title page , collation

and values , 185.

MRS . GAMP WI TH THE STROLLING PLAYERS .—256 .

MUDFOG PAPERS , TEFL—1 93 , 1 94, 1 95 .

MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD , THE .—Dicken s’s last and

un finished book , 99 wrapper and collation ,99 , 100

values , 101 .

Nationa l Edition of Dickens’

s Works .—48

,199 , 203 .

NI CHOLAS NI CKLEBY .—Terms of publication ,

57 ; colla

tions , 57 , 58 points,”58 the error on p. 123 , 59

values, 59 , 60 .

NO THOROUGHFARE .—Dramatised by Wilkie Collins and

Charles Fechter, 188 ; first issue privately prin ted ,

188 title page and collation , 189 Dickens ’s tributeto Fechter, 189 ; values, 190 .

29 1

INDEXNormanby, Marchioness Of.—Dombey and Son dedicated

to , 72 ; also , 265 .

OLD CURIOSITY SHOP , THE—Serial begun ,62 dedicated

to Samuel Rogers, 64 ; separate issue , 65 .

Old Leaves .—209

,210 .

OLI VER TWI ST .—Publication in Bentley’

s Miscellanyand in the 3 -volume edition , 5 1 the di fferen t editions

which followed ,52 ; collation Of the first issue , 52,

53 ; list Of illustrations , 54 ; the issue in parts and

the octavo volume 54 , 55 ; collation ,55

,56 ;values , 56 ; also , 1 93 , 1 94, 232 .

Osgood ,James R .

—1 78, 180, 185 , 209 .

OUR MUTUAL FRI END .—Retum to Old form of publica

tion ,96 ; wrapper and collation , 96 , 97 important

slip explain ing title , 97 ; values, 98.

Overs, John .—1 6 1 .

Pailthorpe , F . W.—95, 17 1 , 1 73 , 1 81 , 185, 257 .

Patrician’

s Daughter, Prologue to the—183 .

Perugini , Mrs . Kate—Daughter of the Novelist , widowof Charles A . Collin s , who design ed cover of Edwin

Drood,

”99 ; also 270.

PI CNI C PAPERS , THE—Why written , 156 ; a Dicken sletter, 157 , 158 ; title page and collation ,

158,159 ;values, 1 59

,1 60 ; 182 .

PICKWI CK PAPERs .—Record price in the parts, 23

valuable editions , the St . Dun stan’

s at 23,

24 ; in tricacy of the bibliography,24 diffi culties

in publication ,24

, basic points of a firstedition in parts, 25, 26 ; improving the Laphamcopy, valued at 26, 27 a perfect copy fullydescribed, 27 , 28, 29 , 30, 3 1 , 32, 33 , 34, 35 ; second

grade copies and some prices, 3 6 , 3 7 , 38 ; collation

of the parts , 39 , 40 ; when bound , 40 ; addresses in

parts I I and I I I by the Author, 40, 4 1 , 42, 43 , ad

dresses in Parts X and X V ,44

,45, 46 , 47 addresses

in Parts XVI I , XVI I I and XX, by the publishers ,47 ; peculiarities in Pickwick,” 47, 48, 49 ; values49 , 50.

292


INDEXSKETCHES OE YOUNG COUPLES .

—Second humorous

booklet , 1 1 1 title page and collation , 1 1 1 in terest

ing advertisemen t , 1 1 1 values , 1 12 .

SKETCHES OF YOUNG GENTLEMEN .—Published an ony

mously,109 ; title page and collation , 109 , 1 10

values , 1 10 .

Slater J . H . Early Editions , 1 32, 2 1 3 .

Smith s , Albert, Dramatisation of The Cricket .- 248,

249 , 250 .

Smith , George D .- 219 .

Smith , Harry B .—Editor, Letters to Kolle , 3 ; The

Strange Gen tleman”letters, 170, 243 , 245, 251 ,

265,266 .

Spauldin g, William S .-Owner of un ique copy of Pick

w ick ,” 35, 3 6 .

Speeches, Dicken s .—Thackeray,

1 858—Brought $6 10,at auction ,

246, 247 .

Speeches of Charles Dickens—275, 276 , 277 , 278, 279 ;first collected edition ,

279

Spencer, Walter T .—1 73 , 179 , 235 .

Sproul, George D .—Published edition of Pick

wick,” 24 .

Stanfield , Clarkson . The Chimes , 123 ; The Cricketon the Hearth ,

126 ; The Battle of Life , 128

The Haun ted Man ,1 32 Little Dorrit dedica

ted to , 84 ; also , 220 .

Stone , F .—Drew three pictures for The Haunted Man ,

1 32 .

Stone , Marcus—I llustrated Our Mutual Friend, 96,

97 .

STRANGE GENTLEMAN , THE—Rarity Of, written

before Pickwick , 1 70 ; reprints puzzling, 1 7 1 ;

title page and collation , 172 ; values, 1 72,1 73 .

SUNDAY UNDER THREE HEADS—Anonymously published,

1 06 ; fac-simile reprin ts and their poin ts,”106 ;

description and collation of the original, 106 , 107values, 107, 108.

294

INDEXTALE OF Two CITIES, A .

—First published in No . 1 of All

the Year Round, 87 last book illustrated by Phiz,87 two pages numbered 88 blue wrappers

and collation ,88 ; Thackeray advertisemen t , 89

values , 89 , 90 also , 2 19 .

Talfourd , Sergean t T . N . Pickw ick dedicated to ,40

,

48 ; also ,206

,270 , 275 .

Tenn en t , Sir James Emerson Our Mutual Friend,dedicated to , 97 .

Tenn iel, Sir Johm—I llustrated The Haun ted Man , 1 3 1 ,1 32 .

Thackeray, W . M.—An nouncement in A Tale Of Two

Cities Advertiser of the Cornhill Magazin e, 89

also 1 97 , 225, 226 , 233 , 234 , 246 , 247 , 24s.

Thomson , J . C .—6

,20

,49

,73 , 202, 210 .

Ticknor and Fields—180 , 185, 209 , 226, 258.

TO BE READ AT DUSK .- 1 97 , 1 98, 1 99 , 203 , 2 15, 2 16 .

Topham ,F . W .

—I llustrated fron tispiece of A Child’

s

History Of England ,

”1 37 , 1 38.

Town shend , Chauncy Hare . Great Expectation s,dedicated to

,93 Religious Opin ion s of,

”1 65 .

UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER , THE—Appeared first in Allthe Year Round,

142 first series in volume -form , 142

title page and collation ,142

,143 values , 143 dates

of first prin ting Of the sketches , 143 , 1 44 ; the firstcheapedition ,

1 44 the second series, 144, 145 also 219 .

V ILLAGE COQUETTES , THE—Dedicated to J . P. Harley,1 74 ; title page and collation ,

1 75 ; values, 1 76 ;also ,

250 .

Watson , the Hon . Mr. and Mrs . Richard . DavidCopperfield dedicated to ,

76 .

Whitehead, Charles—Editor Library of Fiction and

the 1846 edition Of Grimaldi,”1 54

,1 55 .

Widener, Harry E . (Marginal note ) , 1 7 , 264, 27 1 .

295

INDEXWight

’

s Morning in B ow Street . —3 .

Wilks , Thomas Egerton .- Sold MSS . Of Grimaldi to

Bentley ,1 52 .

Wills, W . H .—202, 209 , 2 10 , 227 , 23 7 , 270 .

Wright, William . O’

Thello MS . sold ,6 ; his collec

tion ,1 73 .

Yates, Edmund—1 57,247; 248, 272 .

Young, Robert ,—Etcher of extra illustrations for Dombey

and Son , 73 .

296


14 DAY USERETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED

LOAN DEPT.

This book is due o n the last date stamped below , or

on the date to Wh I Ch ren ew ed.

Ren ew ed books are subject to imm e di ate recall.

FEB 1 81983 4

RECCIR JUN23’

83 d u mm ie s seer.

APR 0 9 2009

F G en eral Library11

2311293131

65322

7

612’

Um ve rsrty of Cali fo rn ias 1

Berkeley

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