DescriptionDickens, CharlesThe Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. London: Chapman and Hall, April 1836 - November 1837
20 parts in 19, 8vo (224 x 140 mm). 44 engraved plates (2 additional plates loosely inserted), including frontispiece and title-page vignette in final part, by R. Seymour, R.W. Buss and Hablot K. Browne ["Phiz"], mixed issue: Part I with plates by "Phiz," a second issue, lacking the 4pp. inset; Part II a second issue, lacking the Address; Part III a second issue, with the Buss plates (state "a") loosely inserted after the "Phiz" plates, lacking the Pickwick Advertiser and the Address; Parts IV a second issue, lacking the Pickwick Advertiser; Part V a second issue, lacking the Pickwick Advertiser; Part VI a second issue, with the plates numbered correctly but with the tail of the "9" faintly visible under "154" (early correction), lacking the Pickwick Advertiser; Part VII-Part IX are second issues, lacking the Advertiser in each and the 28pp. inset in Part IX; Part X a second issue but with first state plates, lacking the Advertiser and the Address; Part XI a second issue but with first state plates, unopened, lacking the Advertiser; Part XII conforms to the second issue insofar as can be examined due to unopened pages, excepting p. 345 and p. 354 which are typographically perfect as in the first issue, first state plates, lacking the Advertiser and the inset; Part XIII conforms to second issue but with first state plates, lacking the Advertiser and the inset, p. 397 with closed and open marginal tear; Part XIV a first issue, first state plates, p. 423 with "phenomenon" broken (as is sometimes found), lacking the Advertiser and the inset, unopened; Part XV a first issue, first state plates, with the Advertiser, the Address and following advertisements, lacking the 4 pp. inset on yellow paper, but with the other advertisements at end, "Royal Beulah Spa and Gardens" on a pink leaf, a second 8 pp. inset from Allan Bell at end; Part XVI a first issue, plates second state, lacking the Advertiser; Part XVII a first issue, "Mr. Winkle Disclosing His Marriage, on His Knees" first state, "The Bagman's Uncle" second state, lacking the Advertiser, but with the Address and advertisements at end; Part XVIII a first issue, second state plates, with the Advertiser, the Address, and advertisements at end, with the 8pp. inset appearing before the advertisement for "Simpson's Herbal Pills"; Part XIX-XX a first issue, with the Advertiser and the Address, frontispiece and vignette title-page are first state, two other plates are second state, unopened, with the advertisements at end and with the 18pp. booklet in green wrappers; occasional spots and offsetting from plates. Original light blue-green wrappers; splitting along spines in some parts, but overall clean and intact. Housed in a custom slipcase with folding chemise. (Complete collation available upon request.)
First edition of Dickens' first novel, in monthly parts
“It is the fate of most men who mingle with the world, and attain even the prime of life, to make many real friends, and lose them in the course of nature. It is the fate of all authors or chroniclers to create imaginary friends, and lose them in the course of art. Nor is this the full extent of their misfortunes; for they are required to furnish an account of them besides.”
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was initially conceived of as a series of comic sketches, written expressly to accompany monthly sporting plates by Robert Seymour Dickens had the idea for Mr. Pickwick—a wealthy, retired businessman, with a penchant for good food and drink, an innocent and playful character, well-described later by W.H. Auden as "a pagan god wandering through the world imperviously". For the first month the work met with little success, but then, following the suicide of the illustrator Seymour, Dickens took over the project, altered the concept and introduced the character of Sam Weller, Pickwick's cockney servant, in Part 4, to immediate public approval. Searching for a replacement illustrator, Dickens commissioned the young "Phiz" who worked on the remainder of the work and became his most sympathetic and consistent of illustrators. From this moment on sales of the monthly numbers rose steadily and then spectacularly, the names and characters in Dickens' novel becoming common currency, and the enormous public success of the novel accompanied by great critical acclaim.
Only about 400 sets of Part 1 were issued on the day of publication from a print-run of 1,000, with only 500 sets of Part 2 being subsequently printed. Both eventually sold out, necessitating reprints of both parts before publication of Part 3. Hence a perfect Part 2 becomes the keystone. The text to Parts 1-8 was reprinted many times at very early dates leading to textual variations; with reprinting, older plates had to be re-etched; with the increase in popularity advertisements changed, were cancelled and added—all leading to a complex series of issue points for text, plates and advertisements.
REFERENCE:Eckel (1929); Hatton and Cleaver 3-88Condition reportCondition as described in catalogue entry.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.
DescriptionDickens, CharlesThe Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. London: Chapman and Hall, April 1836 - November 1837
20 parts in 19, 8vo (224 x 140 mm). 44 engraved plates (2 additional plates loosely inserted), including frontispiece and title-page vignette in final part, by R. Seymour, R.W. Buss and Hablot K. Browne ["Phiz"], mixed issue: Part I with plates by "Phiz," a second issue, lacking the 4pp. inset; Part II a second issue, lacking the Address; Part III a second issue, with the Buss plates (state "a") loosely inserted after the "Phiz" plates, lacking the Pickwick Advertiser and the Address; Parts IV a second issue, lacking the Pickwick Advertiser; Part V a second issue, lacking the Pickwick Advertiser; Part VI a second issue, with the plates numbered correctly but with the tail of the "9" faintly visible under "154" (early correction), lacking the Pickwick Advertiser; Part VII-Part IX are second issues, lacking the Advertiser in each and the 28pp. inset in Part IX; Part X a second issue but with first state plates, lacking the Advertiser and the Address; Part XI a second issue but with first state plates, unopened, lacking the Advertiser; Part XII conforms to the second issue insofar as can be examined due to unopened pages, excepting p. 345 and p. 354 which are typographically perfect as in the first issue, first state plates, lacking the Advertiser and the inset; Part XIII conforms to second issue but with first state plates, lacking the Advertiser and the inset, p. 397 with closed and open marginal tear; Part XIV a first issue, first state plates, p. 423 with "phenomenon" broken (as is sometimes found), lacking the Advertiser and the inset, unopened; Part XV a first issue, first state plates, with the Advertiser, the Address and following advertisements, lacking the 4 pp. inset on yellow paper, but with the other advertisements at end, "Royal Beulah Spa and Gardens" on a pink leaf, a second 8 pp. inset from Allan Bell at end; Part XVI a first issue, plates second state, lacking the Advertiser; Part XVII a first issue, "Mr. Winkle Disclosing His Marriage, on His Knees" first state, "The Bagman's Uncle" second state, lacking the Advertiser, but with the Address and advertisements at end; Part XVIII a first issue, second state plates, with the Advertiser, the Address, and advertisements at end, with the 8pp. inset appearing before the advertisement for "Simpson's Herbal Pills"; Part XIX-XX a first issue, with the Advertiser and the Address, frontispiece and vignette title-page are first state, two other plates are second state, unopened, with the advertisements at end and with the 18pp. booklet in green wrappers; occasional spots and offsetting from plates. Original light blue-green wrappers; splitting along spines in some parts, but overall clean and intact. Housed in a custom slipcase with folding chemise. (Complete collation available upon request.)
First edition of Dickens' first novel, in monthly parts
“It is the fate of most men who mingle with the world, and attain even the prime of life, to make many real friends, and lose them in the course of nature. It is the fate of all authors or chroniclers to create imaginary friends, and lose them in the course of art. Nor is this the full extent of their misfortunes; for they are required to furnish an account of them besides.”
The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was initially conceived of as a series of comic sketches, written expressly to accompany monthly sporting plates by Robert Seymour Dickens had the idea for Mr. Pickwick—a wealthy, retired businessman, with a penchant for good food and drink, an innocent and playful character, well-described later by W.H. Auden as "a pagan god wandering through the world imperviously". For the first month the work met with little success, but then, following the suicide of the illustrator Seymour, Dickens took over the project, altered the concept and introduced the character of Sam Weller, Pickwick's cockney servant, in Part 4, to immediate public approval. Searching for a replacement illustrator, Dickens commissioned the young "Phiz" who worked on the remainder of the work and became his most sympathetic and consistent of illustrators. From this moment on sales of the monthly numbers rose steadily and then spectacularly, the names and characters in Dickens' novel becoming common currency, and the enormous public success of the novel accompanied by great critical acclaim.
Only about 400 sets of Part 1 were issued on the day of publication from a print-run of 1,000, with only 500 sets of Part 2 being subsequently printed. Both eventually sold out, necessitating reprints of both parts before publication of Part 3. Hence a perfect Part 2 becomes the keystone. The text to Parts 1-8 was reprinted many times at very early dates leading to textual variations; with reprinting, older plates had to be re-etched; with the increase in popularity advertisements changed, were cancelled and added—all leading to a complex series of issue points for text, plates and advertisements.
REFERENCE:Eckel (1929); Hatton and Cleaver 3-88Condition reportCondition as described in catalogue entry.
The lot is sold in the condition it is in at the time of sale. The condition report is provided to assist you with assessing the condition of the lot and is for guidance only. Any reference to condition in the condition report for the lot does not amount to a full description of condition. The images of the lot form part of the condition report for the lot. Certain images of the lot provided online may not accurately reflect the actual condition of the lot. In particular, the online images may represent colors and shades which are different to the lot's actual color and shades. The condition report for the lot may make reference to particular imperfections of the lot but you should note that the lot may have other faults not expressly referred to in the condition report for the lot or shown in the online images of the lot. The condition report may not refer to all faults, restoration, alteration or adaptation. The condition report is a statement of opinion only. For that reason, the condition report is not an alternative to taking your own professional advice regarding the condition of the lot. NOTWITHSTANDING THIS ONLINE CONDITION REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE/BUSINESS APPLICABLE TO THE RESPECTIVE SALE.
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
