The Christmas Books: The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain.

DICKENS, Charles.

$2,000.00

Item Number: 132035

London: Chapman and Hall/Bradbury & Evans, 1845-1848.

First editions of the four final novellas in Charles Dickens’ Christmas Book series. Octavo, 4 volumes bound in three quarter morocco over marbled boards with elaborate gilt tooling to the spine in six compartments within raised gilt bands, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, marbled endpapers, top edge gilt. The set is comprised of a first edition of The Chimes [London: Chapman & Hall, 1845 (1844)] Half-title and 13 illustrations, including frontispiece and vignette title, by Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle, John Leech and Clarkson Stanfield. Second state of the vignette title; First edition of The Cricket on the Hearth [London: Bradbury & Evans, 1846 (1845)] Half-title and 14 illustrations, including frontispiece and vignette title, by Leech, Doyle, Stanfield, Maclise and Edwin Landseer; 2 pp. advertisements at rear (second state); first edition of The Battle of Life[ London: Bradbury & Evans, 1846] Half-title, 13 illustrations, including frontispiece and vignette title, by Maclise, Doyle, Leech and Stanfield, fourth state of the vignette title, 2pp. advertisements at rear, fourth state of vignette title; first edition of The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain [London: Bradbury & Evans, 1848] with 17 illustrations, including frontispiece and vignette title by Leech, Stanfield, Tenniel and Stone. In very good condition.

Following the immense success of A Christmas Carol, which first appeared in December of 1843, Dickens published four other Christmas tales: The Chimes (1844), The Cricket on the Hearth (1845), The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848); these were secular conversion tales which acknowledged the progressive societal changes of the previous year, and highlighted those social problems which still needed to be addressed. The public eagerly bought the later books, each published in an attractive bright red cloth with fine gilt vignettes and elaborate illustrations.