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DICKENS (CHARLES) [Christmas Books] A complete set of the 5 books, FIRST EDITIONS, 1843-1848 (5) image 1
DICKENS (CHARLES) [Christmas Books] A complete set of the 5 books, FIRST EDITIONS, 1843-1848 (5) image 2
Lot 110

DICKENS (CHARLES)
[Christmas Books] A complete set of the 5 books, FIRST EDITIONS, 1843-1848 (5)

Amended
Ending from 19 November 2025, 12:00 GMT
Online, London, Knightsbridge

£1,500 - £2,000

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DICKENS (CHARLES)

[Christmas Books] A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, SMITH'S FIRST ISSUE, SECOND STATE, with title-page dated 1843 and printed in red and blue, the text uncorrected, "Stave I" on p.[1], hand-coloured etched frontispiece and 3 plates after John Leech, 4 wood-engravings by W.J. Linton after Leech in the text, lacking half-title and 2 pp. of advertisements at end, faint spotting and toning, title page and frontispiece washed, publisher's cinnamon vertically-ribbed cloth, stamped in blind and gilt (Todd's first impression, first issue with 14-15mm. between closest points of blind-stamping and gold wreath of upper cover, upper serif of "D" unbroken), g.e., a little cocked, rebacked preserving most of original spine (sunned), corners bumped, light soiling [Eckel, pp.110-115; Smith II:4; William B. Todd, in The Book Collector, Winter 1961, pp.449-454], Chapman & Hall, 1843; The Chimes; A Goblin Story, first state vignette title-page, advertisement leaf for the tenth edition of "A Christmas Carol", half-title, wood-engraved frontispiece, illustrations, publisher's pictorial cloth gilt, rebacked, light soiling, corners bumped [Eckel, pp.121-124; Smith II:5], Chapman & Hall, 1845 [1844]; The Cricket on the Hearth, wood-engraved frontispiece, additional vignette title, first state of advertisement leaf at end, illustrations, lacking half-title, gift label dated 1914 pasted on title, toning and spotting, publisher's pictorial cloth, g.e., rebacked preserving most of original spine, soiled [Eckel, pp.125-126; Smith II:6], Chapman & Hall, 1846 [1845]; The Battle of Life, half-title, additional vignette title-page in fourth state without imprint (Todd's E1), illustrations, publisher's pictorial cloth gilt, g.e., rebacked preserving most of original spine, new endpapers, minor soiling [Eckel, pp.127-130; Smith II:8], Chapman & Hall, 1846; The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, advertisement, wood-engraved frontispiece and additional vignette title-page, illustrations, p.166 numeral "1" battered as common, light toning, first 2 leaves loose, publisher's pictorial cloth gilt, g.e., rebacked preserving most of original spine, soiled [Eckel, pp. 131-134; Smith II:9], Bradbury & Evans, 1848, FIRST EDITIONS, 12mo (5)

Footnotes

Provenance: A Christmas Carol, Robert Needham Cust (1821-1909), British administrator and judge in colonial India, and Anglican evangelist with the British and Foreign Bible Society, ownership inscription and bookplate; The Chimes, Charles Hagart (1814-1879), gift inscription and bookplate; The Haunted Man, Robert G. Scott, ownership inscription dated 1940 on front free endpaper.

Saleroom notices

Please note A Christmas Carol is not the first edition and is lacking the first four leaves (see condition report for full details).

Additional information