Dickens, Charles

London, Bradbury and Evans, 1852-1853. First edition. XVI, 32; 16, 2, 33-64, (20); 65-96; 97-128; 12, 129-160, (14); 8, 161-192, (6); 193-224; 12, 225-256, (4); 8, 257-288, (6); 3-14, 289-320; 1-10, 15-16, 321-352; 16, 353-384, (6); 385-416, (4); 417-448; 449-480; 12, 481-512, (8); 12, 513-544, (6); 545-576; 577-624 pp. + a total of 35 plates and several printed advertisement slips. Publisher's printed blue wrappers with blue cloth backstrip. Publisher's printed blue wrappers are lacking from parts 1,2, 10, 13, 14, 15, 18 and 19-20, parts 3 and 7 are lacking the printed rear wrappers. All these wrappers have been substituted with plain, blue wrappers which all seem to be contemporary with and of the same colour and quality as the printed wrappers with no obvious sign of having been replaced at a later point, but rather with the impression of being a contemporary variant binding. Parts 1,3,4, 7, 14, 15, 18, 19-20 are lacking the advertisements at the front as well as the back. Part 2 lacks the "notice of removal slip", part 5 lacks the "Crochet cotton" slip, part 9 lacks the "Household Words" slip as well as pages 1-6 of the commercials at the back of the issue, part 10 lacks pages 1-2 and 15-16 of the advertisements at the front, other advertisements differ from the ones mentioned by Hatton & Cleaver. Part 11 lacks pages 11-14 of the advertisements at the front as well as all the advertisements at the back, part 12 lacks the "Crochet cotton" slip, part 13 lacks the "Grace Aguilar's Works" slip at the back, part 16 lacks the "Grace Aguilar's Works" slip at the back as well. Part 10 lacks plate 17 ("Visitors at the Shooting Gallery"), parts 19-20 lack the plates 37-40. Half-title, title and dedication leaves are bound with part 1 rather than with part 19-20 as described by Hatton & Cleaver, as are also the preface, contents and list of plates. One sheet loose (page 1 of the advertisements at the front) of part 2) and with ca 5 cm tear, covers as well as interiors generally well preserved throughout apart from a few chips and tears and some slight, occasional soiling; plates are heavily foxed throughout, though.

(Hatton & Cleaver, p. 275-304). First edition of Bleak House, issued in 20 numbers bound in 19 monthly parts, parts 19-20 published jointly as a doublenumber. This set with some of the printed covers substituted with plain, blue wrappers and quite a few other deviations from the collation in Hatton & Cleavers bibliography (p. 275-304), see specification.