Beschreibung:

DICKENS (CHARLES)The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, IN A PRESENTATION BINDING WITH A TIPPED-IN LETTER PRESENTING THIS COPY TO ALBANY WILLIAM FONBLANQUE, half-title, engraved portrait frontispiece after Daniel Maclise 39 engraved plates by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"), browning and foxing to plates, autograph letter from the author (dated 14 November [1839]) tipped-in on front free endpaper, contemporary full green pebble grain morocco, sides ruled in blind, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, g.e., pale yellow endpapers, upper joint and spine ends neatly repaired, cloth chemise and red morocco-backed slipcase by Bayntun Riviere [Eckel, p.64; Smith I:5; Robert L. Patten, Charles Dickens and his Publishers, p.101], 8vo, Chapman and Hall, 1839FootnotesAN IMPORTANT PRESENTATION COPY OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY TO THE JOURNALIST ALBANY WILLIAM FONBLANQUE, with an accompanying autograph letter to Fonblanque, sent from Doughty Street on Thursday 14 November, [1839]. "My Dear Sir, Do me the favor to accept a copy of Nickleby, and with it the assurances of my warm regards and admiration", and further informing him of his impending move to "nearer to your neighbourhood - Devonshire Place... and when this comes to pass, I cherish the hope of seeing you more frequently...". The letter is published in the Pilgrim Edition of The Letters of Charles Dickens volume 1, Clarendon Press, 1965, p.603. Albany William Fonblanque (1793-1872) was one of the greatest political journalists of this time, editor of The Examiner (1830-47) and leader-writer for The Times, Morning Chronicle and Dickens's own Daily News. According to J.S. Mill it was through Fonblanque that The Examiner became "the principal representative, in the newspaper press, of Radical opinions" (Autobiography, p.173), and Thomas Carlyle considered that Fonblanque's journalism made him 'the cleverest man living of that craft at present' (Collected Letters, vol. 9, 1977, p.151). In his role as editor of The Examiner "Fonblanque, famous for his sparkling wit and polished style, noticed the wit and exuberance of Dickens's earliest works", himself reviewing Dickens' earliest works, but probably commissioning Leigh Hunt to review Nickleby (Alec. W. Brice, "Reviewers of Dickens in the Examiner: Fonblanque, Forster, Hunt, and Morley", Dickens Studies Newsletter, Vol. 3, No.3, September 1972, pp. 68-80). Perhaps most importantly in terms of Dickens's future career and reputation, it was Fonblanque who first brought Dickens to the attention of his biographer, champion and close friend John Forster, who from 1833 had been employed as drama literary critic at The Examiner. He recalled that "The Sketches [of Boz] were much more talked about than the first two or three numbers of Pickwick, and I remember still with what hearty praise the book was first named to me by my dear friend Albany Fonblanque, as keen and clear a judge as ever lived either of books or men" (Forster, The Life of Charles Dickens 1872). During his period of greatest influence between 1826 and 1837 Fonblanque was a fierce champion of the extension of suffrage, a strong opponent of the aristocratic principle and a leading supporter of the Reform Bill (1832). At this time he made "frequent after-dinner appearances in London drawing-rooms: he was often at Holland House, had links with the Carlyles, William Macready, and the Dickens circle... [and despite] his poor health his great enthusiasm was yachting with the Royal Thames Yacht Club; Dickens joined him on two occasions" (ODNB). This copy is one of a small number of copies of Nicholas Nickleby specially bound in this full green morocco binding. See Robert L. Patten, Charles Dickens and his Publishers: "Nickleby was ready by the end of October...in cloth for 21s., half-morocco for 24s. 6d., and full morocco, gilt, for 26s. 6d.". Most of the morocco copies appear to have been reserved for presentation. The Suzannet collection had two: one presented