I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
I specialize in buying and selling only the finest copies of the finest rare books in the world.
Meticulous scholarship, ethical conduct, fair dealing, and the highest level of discreet, personal service are our core values from which we shall never waver.
"Of the Utmost Rarity" in Parts
No Matter What the Condition
DICKENS, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress. With Twenty-four Illustrations on Steel, by George Cruikshank. A New Edition, Revised and Corrected. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1846.
First edition, complete, of the revised edition in ten monthly parts, with all ads as called for by Hatton and Cleaver. Octavo. [i-v]vi-vii[viii-ix]x-xii, [1]2-311[312]. The twenty-four plates by Cruikshank are those used for the original Bentley edition, here re-touched, re-bitten, and "enhanced" by the engraver Findlay, and with the Bentley imprints erased. Cruikshank also designed the front wrapper for the parts issue, with very attractive, well-balanced, and appealing results.
"Sets of the ten parts can, without exaggeration, be described as of the utmost rarity, whether in fine, moderate, or poor condition, and only exceeded by the ‘high-spots' of ‘Pickwick' and the ‘Sketches.' As recently as 1931, it would have been an impossibility to purchase any kind of conditioned copy in the London book-market; for the simple reason that none were on offer or could be offered. The very scarcity alone, of the book in parts, gives added zest to the tracking down of copies, but many would-be owners are doomed to disappointment in their efforts to effect a capture, in face of the very limited supply available" (Hatton and Cleaver, p. 215).
When/if Oliver Twist is ever found in parts, it is not at all unusual to find that wrappers have been restored to one degree or another. Here, five of the rear and two of the front wrappers have been earlier provided from other parts of Oliver Twist:
Part II: Back wrapper from Part I.
Part IV: Back wrapper from Part V.
Part VIII: Front and back wrappers from Part III.
Part IX: Back wrapper from Part III.
Part X: Front and back wrappers from Part I.
A very good set of this scarcity. Chemised and housed in a morocco clamshell box.
Hatton and Cleaver pp. 215-224.
Price: $19,500
(To order this item, or for more information, please call 818-222-4103)
