[DICKENS, CHARLES (editor)]. The Pic Nic Papers. By Various Authors. London: Henry Colburn, MDCCCXLI. [1841].
FIRST EDITION, SECOND ISSUE. Complete in three volumes; leather-bound; hardcover; octavo (19 x 11 cm); pp. vi, [2], 323; [6], 298, [8, advertisements]; [4], 378, [4, advertisements]. English text. Handsomely bound in contemporary full polished tan calf gilt by Sangorski & Sutcliffe; top edges gilt; marbled endpapers; 14 engraved plates by George Cruikshank, Phiz, etc.; the original cloth covers bound in at the rear of each volume. Printed in Great Britain by G. J. Palmer. Condition: VERY GOOD. Bindings tight and secure, the hinges and joints intact. Covers well-preserved with some trivial rubbing to the extremities. Interiors with very light toning, some foxing mostly confined to endpaper and a few leaves with marginal staining. Without previous ownership markings. A most handsome set.
Notes: A beautifully bound first edition of this story anthology edited by Charles Dickens, published for the benefit of the widow of Dickens' first publisher. The first edition, second issue, with the corrected state of 'young publisher' to the introduction of Volume I, and G. J. Palmer stated as the printers to the title versos. An anthology primarily consisting of short stories, with a smattering of poetry and essays. This three volume set was published to raise funds for the widow of the publisher of Dickens' first book, John Macrone, who had died in 1837 and left his wife and children in destitution. Edited by Charles Dickens, who contributed 'The Lamplighter's Story' to the collection. Other pieces in this anthology are 'Esther', 'Count Ludwig', and 'Olympus Pump'.
