Charles Dickens | Sketches by Boz, 1836-1837, first edition [first series] and second series

Charles Dickens

Sketches by "Boz", illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People, [First Series] and Second Series. London: John Macrone, 1836-1837, comprising:

i) Sketches by "Boz", illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People [First Series]. London: John Macrone, 1836. FIRST EDITION OF DICKENS' FIRST PUBLISHED BOOK, 2 volumes, 12mo (189 x 118mm.), etched frontispieces and 14 plates by George Cruikshank, contemporary half calf, spines lettered in gilt with decorative bands, pp. 317-319 misbound,occasional slight spotting, a few corners lightly creased, upper hinge vol. 1 cracked, spines faded, extremities lightly rubbed;

ii) Sketches by "Boz", illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People, Second Series. London: John Macrone, 1837 [1836]. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, 3 volumes, 12mo (180 x 116mm.), without list of plates at Contents, etched frontispiece, pictorial title-page and 13 plates, contemporary half calf, spine lettered in blind with gilt raised bands, marbled edges, modern cloth slipcase, lacking half-title, some slight spotting, extremities lightly rubbed

One of a few copies of the Second Series with no list of illustrations and 13 lines text p. 1 of the Contents, and with Vol. III unerased on the plates.

Charles Dickens' first published book proved popular with four issues of the First Series swiftly printed, however Dickens' share of the profits was only £400, with the publisher Macrone receiving ten times as much. With the publication of Pickwick Papers proving a great success and Oliver Twist starting to appear in Bentley's Miscellany, Dickens realised he could do better with an alternative publisher. Backed by Chapman & Hall he negotiated outright purchase of the copyright of Sketches by "Boz" leading to its subsequent publication in parts in 1837.     

LITERATURE:

Smith I: 1,2; Eckel pp. 11-13; Sadleir 699, 700