Remarkable set of Charles Dickens’ Christmas Books,
first editions in exceptional condition,
with a particularly fine copy of The Christmas Carol

“I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me.  May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”

Dickens, Charles. The Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man. London: Chapman and Hall, 1843-1848. Octavo, original brown or red cloth. Five volumes. Housed in custom leather gilt box.  $38,000.

A fine set of the Christmas Books, each volume in the earliest obtainable state, except for The Cricket on the Hearth, which is in the second state. A Christmas Carol (1843): First edition, first issue, with first state title (printed in red and blue) and first state “Stave I” reading, with four hand-colored plates by John Leech. The Chimes (1845): First edition, first issue, with publisher’s imprint a part of engraved title page; with thirteen illustrations by Leech, Stanfield, Maclise, and Doyle. The Cricket on the Hearth (1846): First edition, second state of advertisement, (with “New Edition of Oliver Twist”); with fourteen illustrations by Leech, Doyle, Stanfield, Maclise, and Landseer. The Battle of Life (1846): First edition, second state of title page (the earliest obtainable state with fewer than five copies known of first state; the second state is rare, the fourth state title page is most commonly seen); with thirteen illustrations by Maclise, Doyle, Stanfield, and Leechff. The Haunted Man (1848): First edition. Generally excellent condition with cloth near-fine to fine. Corners to Christmas Carol slightly bumped; split between signatures E and F but text holding tight; The Chimes with light occasional spotting and minor hinge repair. The Christmas Carol, in particular, is a beautiful copy of a notoriously fragile and well-handled book. An outstanding set of one of the true high-spots of nineteenth-century book collecting. Scarce in this condition.