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BROWNE, Hablot Knight, [illustrator]. SEYMOUR, Robert, [illustrator]. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. With Forty-Three Illustrations, by R. Seymour and Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. Full Description: DICKENS, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. With Forty-Three Illustrations, by R. Seymour and Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. First edition in book form. Octavo (8 3/8 x 5 1/8 inches; 212 x 130 mm). xiv, [1, directions], [1, errata], 609, [1, blank] pp. With the half-title. With forty-three inserted plates by Seymour, Buss and 'Phiz'. With the Seymour and Buss plates, and with the 'Phiz' plates from early steels. Frontispiece is second plate with signature undivided. Engraved title ia the first plate with "Veller" and "fecit". None of the illustrations are captioned but all are signed. All other plates match up to Smith's list except plates 24 (2nd plate, no dog or kitten), 25 (2nd plate, no face), 26 (1st plate, 4 stakes), 36 (2nd plate, legs are square), 37 (1st, stairs with handrail), 40 (1st, signature is not centered), 41 (1st, signature is not centered), and 43 (1st, there is a bottle). With all of Smith's internal flaws except for page 18, 23, 35, 53 and 178. With all first issue points from Hatton & Cleaver except for page 25 does have a signature "E". 341-342 with the correct spellings and with "S.Veller". Includes marginal note on page 9 that was suppressed in later issues. Extra-illustrated with an additional 31 engraved plates, bound throughout the volume, some signed "Sam Weller delt.," some signed "TO delt." Additionally with a fore-edge painting of a man's portrait and house. Bound by Morrell in full 20th-century tan calf. Boards triple-ruled in gilt. Spine elaborately stamped in gilt. With two red calf spine labels, and one black, lettered in gilt. Edges tooled in gilt. Gilt dentelles. All edges gilt. Some very minor scuffing to boards. Occasional toning to plates. Overall a very nice copy. First edition in book form of one of Dickens greatest works. Originally issued in 20 parts from April 1836 to November 1837. "From a literary standpoint the supremacy of this book has been. firmly established. It was written by Dickens when he was twenty-four and its publication placed the author on a solid foundation from which he never was removed. It is quite probable that only Shakespeare s Works, the Bible and perhaps the English Prayer Book, exceed "Pickwick Papers" in circulation" (Eckel, 17). "Never was a book received with more rapturous enthusiasm than that which greeted the Pickwick Papers!" (Allibone I:500). Pickwick would be the first volume in which Dickens was acknowledged as the author, rather than using his pen name, "Boz. Gimbel A15. Hatton and Cleaver, Smith, Dickens, I, 3. HBS 69152. $3,000. Seller Inventory # 69152
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