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.
History of Pendennis, The
London: Bradbury and Evans, 1848. Item #06645
One of Thackeray’s Great Novels - In the Original Monthly Parts as Issued
THACKERAY, William Makepeace. The History of Pendennis. His Fortunes and Misfortunes, His Friends and His Greatest Enemy. London: Bradbury & Evans, 1848–1850 [i.e., November 1848–December 1850].
First edition, in the original twenty-four monthly parts, as issued.
Octavo (8 3/4 x 5 3/4 inches; 222 x 146 mm.). vii, 372, xiii pp. With two engraved vignette titles and forty-six engraved plates by the author. Collates near complete, with virtually all advertisements, slips, and inserts present-an increasingly elusive survival in this notoriously fragile format.
Publisher’s original yellow printed wrappers, as issued. A few parts with with slight wear to wrapper extremities, a few spines with the usual light wear. Otherwise an exceptionally fresh and well-preserved set, far superior to the typically encountered condition of this work in parts.
Housed in two elegant full green morocco pull-off cases, spines with five raised bands, richly tooled and lettered in gilt. From the library of John L. Clawson, with his leather labels inside each case.
First published in monthly parts between 1848 and 1850, Pendennis stands among William Makepeace Thackeray’s most ambitious and autobiographical works, tracing the intellectual and moral development of Arthur Pendennis from youthful vanity to hard-won maturity. Set against the richly observed backdrop of London society, the novel offers a panoramic view of mid-Victorian life - its clubs, drawing rooms, literary circles, and shifting social ambitions - rendered with Thackeray’s characteristic blend of irony, psychological insight, and humane sympathy. Less overtly satirical than Vanity Fair, yet equally penetrating, Pendennis reveals the author at his most reflective, exploring themes of ambition, disillusionment, and the formation of character in a rapidly changing world.
Sets in original parts - particularly with their ephemeral advertisements substantially intact - have become decidedly scarce, and examples in such clean, unsophisticated condition are increasingly difficult to secure. A superior copy, retaining the immediacy and bibliographical integrity of first publication.
Van Duzer 165; Wolff 6693.
Price: $2,000.00