Charles Dickens / George Cattermole ; Hablot Knight Browne - Master Humphrey's Clock - Barnaby Rudge - 1840-1841

Original edition of this collection of short stories published from April 1840 to December 1841 and issued in three formats: initially in 88 weekly installments or 20 monthly installments, then in 3 volumes.

Our copy of the third form, comprising the three volumes in a single, thick in-8 volume.

Each volume is illustrated with a frontispiece, and the entire set contains nearly 200 in-text illustrations by George Cattermole and Hablot Knight Browne.

This edition presents all the texts in the order of their initial publication: a few short stories followed by the novels "The Old Curiosity Shop" (p. 37 of volume 1) and "Barnaby Rudge" (p. 229 of volume 2). As early as 1848, in a preface to The Old Curiosity Shop, Dickens declared that the story should no longer be linked to the other works originally published in Master Humphrey's Clock. This edition thus remains the only collection of these works.

Master Humphrey's Clock is entirely written by Charles Dickens: a complete journal, with a main story featuring Master Humphrey, a solitary Londoner of a certain age, a manuscript collector who keeps his manuscripts carefully in an old clock at the corner of the fireplace. One fine day, he decides to establish a small circle, 'Master Humphrey's Clock', whose members will take turns reading their manuscripts. The Pickwick Papers are included, followed by several short stories, then the novels Barnaby Rudge and especially The Old Curiosity Shop, one of Charles Dickens' major texts.

Period binding in half-light calf with corners, spine with raised bands, title on a piece of black leather. Gilded roll tools on the raised bands.
Condition: worn leather, perforated corners (solid volume). Interior fresh, few foxing spots, mainly on the guards. Good example.

Charles Dickens / George Cattermole ; Hablot Knight Browne
Master Humphrey's Clock - Barnaby Rudge
London, Chapman and Hall, 1840-1841
3 volumes in 1 book. Large in-8 (25.5 x 17.5 cm); 306-306-420 pages.