About this Item
London: Chapman and Hall. Published in the 1860's as part of the "Charles Dickens Edition" or "Original Edition" set, this is a printing of David Copperfield from the original plates (1850) in its original brown sandcloth (also called "diapercloth") binding, with a blindstamped rule around the edges. "David Copperfield". (short swollen rule), "Dickens" (all caps), "Illustrated, Original Edition" appear on the spine in gilt. Original uncolored endpapers, uniform with pages. 9" tall x 5.5" wide. This book is in an early revision state with most of the internal flaws and points listed by Smith (pp. 76-77), corrected as follows: title page lists Chapman and Hall (while all other references are to Bradbury & Evans in the book, including the imprint at the foot of p. 624 and the imprint on iv; the errors on pp. 19, 30, 34, 132 and 237 have been corrected. All other points are present (Smith, pp. 97-98). The book contains Dickens's errata sheet. This book was composed from the original edition with some errors corrected, and then released by Chapman and Hall at a later date, along with other matching volumes in a set called the "Original Edition" (now called the "Charles Dickens Edition"). This book is in very good condition. Boards are chipped top and bottom of spine; there is a small tear at the fold about 1/3 up from the bottom. The spine is lightly faded, corners are bumped, boards are lightly scuffed, with some light foxing. All the structural components are solid. John Carter (Taste & Technique in Book Collecting quoted in Smith, p. ix) said "many of Dickens's cloth-bound novels are hardly ever found in fine condition.Cloth cases provided for his usually ample volumes were poor quality, so that the collector may find Martin Chuzzlewit and David Copperfield as difficult, and Pickwick more difficult, to secure in fine original cloth than in the parts." In the 1860's Dickens revised and edited his books, releasing the so-called "Charles Dickens Edition", or "Original Edition" of which this is part. Oxford University Press used the Charles Dickens Edition as the authoritative version of Dickens on which to base their reprint of Dickens's works. This is an exceptional copy of David Copperfield, in its original cloth, unrepaired, un-recased, as published from Bradbury & Evans' first edition plates, in the authoritative "Charles Dickens" or "Original Edition". Very good condition. Seller Inventory # 002315
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