Dickens charles

1841 · 66172 — For the Benefit of John Macroneís Widow DICKENS Charles. The Pic Nic Papers. By Various Hands. Edited by Charles Dickens Esq. Author of ëThe Pickwick Papersî ìNicholas Nicklebyî &c. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank Phiz &c. London: Henry Colburn Publisher 1841. First edition second state with Palmer imprint on ii and ìyoung publisherî corrected on iii in Volume I. Three twelvemo volumes. i-iiiivvvivii-viii 12-323324; i-iv 12-298 i-viii ads; i-iv 1-34-378 i-iv ads. Fourteen engraved plates including two by Cruikshank six by Phiz and six by R.J. Hammerton. Original green fine-diaper cloth stamped in blind on covers and spine and lettered in gilt on spine. Original pale yellow endpapers. Spines sunned corners bumped. Previous owner's ink inscription on front-free endpapers of Vol. II. and III. Occasional slight offsetting and periodic edge-browning or foxing to plates. Overall a very good copy. ìJohn Macrone was the publisher of Dickensí first book and when he died he left a widow and several children in comparatively destitute circumstances. As a business man he drove what to the young author at that time was a rather hard bargain over a copyright. But the appeal made on behalf of a needy family Dickens could not resist. He was in the middle of ëMaster Humphreyís Clockí and regardless of this he undertook the management of ëThe Picnic Papersí the proceeds of which were to alleviate hardships. He wrote the Introduction rewrote his unacted farce ëThe Lamplighterí altering the name to ëThe Lamplighterís Storyí edited the balance of the book excepting the third volume and was enabled to place in the hands of the widow the sum of £300î Eckel. Gimbel B109. Cohn 236. Eckel. HBS 66172. $650 Henry Colburn, Publisher hardcover books