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DICKENS (CHARLES) A Tale of Two Cities, FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL 7/8 MONTHLY PARTS, FIRST ISSUE, Bradbury & Evans, June-December 1859 image 1
DICKENS (CHARLES) A Tale of Two Cities, FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL 7/8 MONTHLY PARTS, FIRST ISSUE, Bradbury & Evans, June-December 1859 image 2
CHARLES DICKENS: THE COLLECTION OF W.H. COLLIS OF LIVERPOOL
Lot 123

DICKENS (CHARLES)
A Tale of Two Cities, FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL 7/8 MONTHLY PARTS, FIRST ISSUE, Bradbury & Evans, June-December 1859

1 December 2021, 12:00 GMT
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £9,562.50 inc. premium

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DICKENS (CHARLES)

A Tale of Two Cities, FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL 7/8 MONTHLY PARTS, FIRST ISSUE, with p.213 in part 7/8 mispaginated "113", and signature 'b' present on "List of Plates" at end, etched frontispiece, additional title and 14 plates by "Phiz" (Hablot K. Browne), some with tissue guards, occasional minor spotting or soiling, publisher's blue-green printed wrappers, part 1 with spine ends slightly chipped, parts 5-8 restored or made up by Morell, each part in Collis's annotated paper wrapper and all preserved in felt-lined green cloth solander box with gilt lettered red morocco spine label [Eckel p.86; Gimbel A142; Hatton & Cleaver pp.333-342], 8vo, Bradbury & Evans, June-December 1859

Footnotes

FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST EDITION IN THE ORIGINAL MONTHLY PARTS. This edition was to be Dickens's final collaboration with "Phiz", and also marked the last time Dickens worked with Bradbury and Evans, before his return to Chapman and Hall for Our Mutual Friend. The novel had first appeared, unillustrated, in the weekly journal All the Year Round from 30 April to 26 November 1859.

The present set is complete with the two rare slips in parts 1 and 5, and all the advertisements called for by Hatton & Cleaver save that for 'Morison's Pills' in part 3, of which Collis notes "being an untouched part it must have been issued without this Adv. Mr Cleaver's set is untouched and unopened and his Part 3 also has no Morison Adv./ Otherwise this set is complete. W.H.C. 29.5.38". The particularly scarce 'Cornhill Magazine' advertisement on reddish-brown paper in the final part (printing a letter by Thackeray) is present, and there is an additional duplicate of the 'Morrison's Lion' advertisement in part 1 loosely inserted.

Collis's notes describe the four first parts as "untouched", and the other three restored or made up by Morell as follows: "Part 5... cleaned & repaired by Morell Oct 35 & Adv. 'One of Them' put in"; "Part 6... Wrapper off W.H.C. part/ cleaned by Morell Oct 1935 & put on part March 1938... Text etc ex Strangis part April 1937"; "Part 7/8... made up by Morell March 1938...".

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