THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY 1839 CHARLES DICKENS FIRST EDITION

[DICKENS, CHARLES]. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. London: Chapman and Hall, MDCCCXXXIX. [1839].

FIRST EDITION BOUND FROM THE ORIGINAL PARTS (with the front wrapper of part II bound in before half-title page). Leather-bound; hardcover; octavo (22.5 x 13.5 x 5 cm.); pp. xvi, 624. English text. Handsomely bound in full morocco gilt, signed "RAOM" in gilt to front turn-in; top page edges gilt; luxurious floral-patterned endpapers; with 39 engraved plates by H.K. Browne [Phiz]. Printed by Bradbury and Evans. Condition: VERY GOOD. Collated complete. Binding tight and secure. Spine lightly dulled, the covers with some trivial rubbing. Textblock largely clean, the plates lightly toned. Without previous ownership markings. A stunning copy and scarce thus.

Notes: First edition bound from the original parts (the front wrapper of part II bound in at the front) with stab holes visible in the margins, and beautifully presented in a signed binding. All is as called for in Smith for the first state (including the errors on page 123 and page 160, and the imprint of Chapman & Hall on the first four plates). Nicholas Nickleby was Dickens third novel and was issued in monthly instalments between March 1838 and October 1839. An instant success, it both solidified Dickens as a social critic and marked his first of many romances. [Smith I, 5; Gimbel A 40; Podeschi A41 and Eckel pp 64-5].