Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol, With First Edition Title Page and Finely Bound by Riviere & Son

Charles Dickens. A CHRISTMAS CAROL. IN PROSE. BEING A GHOST STORY OF CHRISTMAS. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. Rebound in red calf with French fillet, spine with raised bands, and gilt-tooled and lettered with ornaments set within compartments, all edges gilt, with red marbled endpapers; stamped "BOUND BY RIVIERE & SON LONDON" on front endpaper verso. Collation: A4 B-L8 M4; [i-viii], [1]-166, [2]pp. With final two pages of advertisements, and (8) illustrations by John Leech, including four hand-colored steel engravings (including frontispiece) and four textual woodcuts engraved by W.J. Linton. Mixed edition with half-title printed in blue, title page printed in blue and red, "STAVE I' on the first page of the text, and some internal flaws per Smith, but the balance corrected. The majority of the book seemingly from various editions, including possibly the 11th (with semicolon added after "fervour" on p. 48 line 1). Smith II, 4; Gimbel A79.

6 1/2 x 4 1/4 in.

A Private North Carolina Collection

This book is famously bibliographically complex. In part due to changes prior to publication, mixed states and mixed editions of the work are fairly common. This copy has the first edition half-title, title page, and first page of text (Gimbel's first edition, second state), but with corrections made to the text.

Although the half-title and title page were first printed in red and green, Dickens made the change to blue and red prior to publication. It is important to note that "it was Dickens's final decision and intent that the book be published with a red and blue title page..." (Smith, p. 23).

Light scuffing to leather boards, minor rubbing to spine ends with two extremely small tears; very light toning with rare spot of foxing (mostly at rear endpapers), and some mild wear at inner margin on first page of text; an extremely attractive and well-preserved copy of this important and well-known Christmas story.