Dickens Days in Boston A Record of Daily Events

Edward F. Payne

Published by Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York, 1927

About this Item

DICKENS DAYS IN BOSTON A RECORD OF DAILY EVENTS BY EDWARD F. PAYNE 1927 1ST EDITION. I am pleased to offer an interesting book about the times that Charles Dickens visited Boston in 1842 and again during the period 1867-1868. This book is titled: Dickens Days in Boston A Record of Daily Events by Edward F. Payne (then President of the Boston Branch of the Dickens Fellowship). This medium-sized hard cover book (6 ½ x 9 ¾ inches 274 pages) was published by Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York dated 1927 and the First Edition with the same date on title and copyright pages. The book is bound in finely ribbed maroon cloth with a gilt image of a Boston Landmark surrounded by a blind-stamped floral pattern and with gilt titles on the spine. This is the illustrated edition with a frontispiece featuring an image of the bust of Dickens by Henry Dexter and some thirty additional illustrations. This book bears a signed gift presentation on the front endpaper by a member of the Forbes Family- a family of Boston Brahmins. It indicates that the Author was one of my associates at the Forbes Lithographic Publishing Company. Actually, there is a good deal of background about the author which I found online as follows: Ed Payne was an American cartoonist who had a long association with the Boston Globe. Working for the paper since the late 1890s, Payne created several comics features for the color Sunday supplement. Most notably 'Billy the Boy Artist' (1899-1955), which he wrote and drew for a staggering 56 years,… For 25 years he was employed by the Forbes Lithograph Company as a commercial artist and man-of-ideas. In addition to his artistic career, Edward Payne was a local authority on Charles Dickens (although Payne himself preferred to be called an enthusiast). He shared his keen interest in the classic British writer with Charles H. Taylor, his publisher at Forbes. Taylor had covered Dickens' visits to Boston in his days as a reporter. Payne took it to himself to carefully investigate Dickens activities in his hometown in the periods 1842 and 1867-1868 and still had the opportunity to interview live witnesses. He chronicled the results of his years-long research in the standard work 'Dickens Days in Boston' (1928), which received global praise. Condition: This book is in very good condition. There is some light rubbing wear to the front gutter and the corners and spine tips are lightly bumped. The gilt titles on the spine are a bit worn but still fully legible. As mentioned, there is an extensive gift presentation note on the front endpaper but this is the only mark I found in the book. Some of the early pages show a bit of very light toning but nothing affecting the text; it disappears as one goes deeper into the book which is clean and bright throughout. There is a small bookseller s label on the front endpaper as well (from the Old Corner Book Store in Boston where else?). Some of the last pages of the index are uncut. The cut between pages 158 & 159 was poorly executed and there are tags showing on the page ends. There is also another page that was miscut without affecting the text. Both hinges are intact, and the binding is tight and sound. This book is not ex-library or a remainder.

Seller Inventory # 2913

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Dickens Days in Boston A Record of Daily Events
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin of Boston and New York
• Publication Date: 1927
• Language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition.
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket
• Weight: 5 pounds
• Seller catalogs:
  • Local History