£895.00
Dickens (Charles). The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. With illustrations by Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, 1844. First edition in book form.
An attractive copy of the first edition in book form of Dickens’s sixth novel, illustrated throughout by his great artistic collaborator Hablot Knight Browne, better known as “Phiz.”
Published by Chapman and Hall in 1844 following its original appearance in monthly parts, Martin Chuzzlewit contains some of Dickens’s most memorable comic characterisation and some of his sharpest satire, particularly in the celebrated American episodes.
Illustrated with the engraved title and numerous plates by Phiz, including such characteristic scenes as “Mr. Pecksniff and his charming daughters” and “Pleasant little family party at Mr. Pecksniff’s.”
Bound in handsome contemporary full calf, the boards framed with gilt rules and the spine elaborately decorated in gilt compartments. Marbled endpapers. The binding displays rubbing and wear, particularly at the joints, spine and extremities, with some loss at the head of the spine. Internally with scattered spotting and foxing, principally affecting some plates and adjacent leaves, but retaining considerable nineteenth-century character.
With a contemporary ownership inscription dated Christmas 1869, recording the book as belonging to Lovell D. Brooke / Mrs. L. Brooke [the precise reading of the names is somewhat uncertain].
Contemporary full calf with gilt rules to boards and richly gilt-decorated spine; binding rubbed and worn, with wear to joints and extremities and loss/chipping at spine ends, particularly the head. Some scratching and marking to boards. Marbled endpapers remain attractive.
Internally generally sound with scattered foxing and spotting, including to some illustrated plates and surrounding leaves. Contemporary ownership inscription dated Christmas 1869 to preliminary blank. Please refer to the photographs for the condition of the binding and contents.
Year: 1844
Edition: First Edition in book form
Publisher: Chapman and Hall, 193 Piccadilly, London
When Martin Chuzzlewit began appearing in monthly instalments in 1843, Dickens was already one of the most famous writers in Britain. Yet this novel gave him an opportunity to turn his attention to a subject that fascinated him throughout his career: selfishness disguised as respectability.
At the centre of the novel stands the wealthy old Martin Chuzzlewit, surrounded by relatives whose affection is complicated by their expectations of inheritance. Around him Dickens constructed an extraordinary gallery of characters — none more memorable than Seth Pecksniff, the architect whose outward morality conceals breathtaking hypocrisy.
Then the novel crosses the Atlantic.
Dickens had visited the United States in 1842 and returned deeply disappointed by aspects of American public life. In Martin Chuzzlewit, those experiences became satire. Young Martin travels to America seeking his fortune, only to encounter speculation, boosterism, dubious journalism and the disastrous settlement of Eden, where the promise of prosperity proves very different from reality.
The resulting American chapters became controversial, but they are now among the most historically fascinating passages in Dickens’s fiction: a Victorian Englishman’s highly critical portrait of the rapidly expanding United States.
The book also contains one of Dickens’s great transformations. The cheerful, apparently simple Tom Pinch gradually emerges as the moral centre of the novel — an antidote to the greed, vanity and hypocrisy surrounding him.
The illustrations are inseparable from that world. Dickens and Hablot Knight Browne (“Phiz”) formed one of the defining author-illustrator partnerships of Victorian literature. Phiz did not simply decorate Dickens’s novels; his images helped Victorian readers visualise their characters as the stories first entered popular culture.
This is a first edition in book form of a major Charles Dickens novel, published by Chapman and Hall in 1844 and retaining its suite of characteristic Phiz illustrations.
Its appeal extends beyond the text itself. The contemporary calf binding, elaborate gilt spine and marbled endpapers give the volume the appearance and physical character expected of a Victorian gentleman’s library.
The dated Christmas 1869 ownership inscription provides an additional layer of provenance, showing that the book was already being owned, read and perhaps given as a Christmas gift within a generation of its publication.
For Dickens collectors, Martin Chuzzlewit occupies an important position in the author’s development. It combines his characteristic humour and social criticism with one of his most controversial subjects — nineteenth-century America — while introducing enduring Dickensian characters including Pecksniff, Tom Pinch, Mark Tapley and Mrs. Gamp.
A handsome and highly displayable example of Dickens in first edition, combining literary significance, celebrated illustration and an attractive period binding.
