Holiday 2020 Catalogue

7 H o l i d a y 2 0 2 0 “Sets Of The Ten Parts Can, Without Exaggeration, Be Described As Of The Utmost Rarity”: A Lovely Copy Of Oliver Twist , In Original Parts 4. DICKENS, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy’s Progress… A New Edition. London, January to October 1846. Ten parts. Octavo, original pale blue printed paper wrappers expertly respined, custom slipcase. $39,000. First edition in the original stand-alone parts, and the first appearance of the novel in its final form, with 24 steel-engraved plates by George Cruikshank, retouched for this edition by Findlay. A lovely copy. Oliver Twist was originally serialized in Bentley’s Miscellany from 1837 to 1839, with Richard Bentley publishing the work in a three-volume edition in 1839. Dickens bought back his copyright from Bentley and substantially revised the text in light of the reception he received from his public readings, making the novel more dramatic. The new text was issued in the present parts from January to October 1846, with a one-volume edition following. Scarcer than the preceding three-volume edition and representing the definitive text, “many collectors prize this edition very highly and consequently it is the more valuable of the Oliver Twists ” (Eckel, 62). “Sets of the ten parts can, without exaggeration, be described as of the utmost rarity, whether in fine, moderate, or poor condition… many would be owners are doomed to disappointment in their efforts to effect a capture, in face of the very limited supply available” (Hatton & Cleaver, 215). Cruikshank designed a new cover, containing 11 scenes from the novel, for the issue of this edition in parts. Part 10 without single advertising leaf, and with rear wrapper substituted from Part 2 of another copy. Text and plates quite clean, expertly and almost invisibly respined, aside from one small instance at the lower corner of Part 5, the wrappers remain unrestored and generally quite clean (Part 5 with a bit of soiling). A near-fine set.