Dombey and Son. With Illustrations by H. K. Browne

DICKENS, Charles. Dombey and Son. With Illustrations by H. K. Browne. 8vo, 19/20 parts, in original printed wrappers, illustrated with 40 etched plates. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846-48.

First Edition, issued in monthly parts. With identifiable original owner's signatures on all wrappers (see below*). Two of the three misprints noted by Hatton & Cleaver as indicating early copies are here: part 11, p. 324, "Capitan" for "Captain"; part 14, p. 426, ":if" is not present; p. 431, the page number is present (H & C says the earliest issue has the number omitted).

Agrees with Hatton & Cleaver, pp. 227-250, with the following exceptions: In part 4 only two of the four-fold ad sheet "Letts Diary" and the specimen leaves for it are not here; part 7, no slip for "Cheap Edition of the Works of Mr. Charles Dickens," similar to slip in part 6; part 8, no ads for "Gilbert's Dictionary of the English Language," and the same is true for part 10; part 11, no ad-slip for Letts & Son; part 15, ad pages 3-10 not present, and there is no ad-slip for "New Story by Douglas Jerrold."

This set has all other ads called for, and is complete with all text and plates, although, oddly, the text and plates for parts 9, 10, and 11, are bound in the wrong wrappers: 11 bouind in 12; 12 in 13; 13 in 11. The mistakes surely happened when the sheets were bound in the wrappers at the publisher's as the paper spines are intact and show no sign of ever having been monkeyed with in any way.

An entirely unsophisticated set in original parts, with no repairs, each part *except the parts I and II with original owner's signature at top of each front wrapper: "Mrs. Jones Chosen House." Mrs. Jones was the wife of the Rev. Edward Jones (1773-1847) of Chosen House, Brockworth, Gloucester, Rector of Micheldean and Vicar of Brockworth, magistrate and deputy lieutenant for Gloucester, who recieved his B. A. and M. A. from King's College, Cambridge. The text is free from foxing, and there is minimal foxing to the plates of about 5 parts, the others clean. Most spines intact, or mostly so, with minimal damage to others at lower end, most noticible being part 1 and half of part 15. Wrappers generally very clean, except part 11 which is a little soiled. In rather fragile pull-off morocco back box, the pull-off part being damaged.