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Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist

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Oliver Twist - 1838

by Dickens, Charles

  • Used
  • first

Description

1838. London: Richard Bentley, 1838.

3 vols. Original cloth, yellow endpapers, backstrip titled in gilt with Bentley imprint also in gilt. Very good copy with some areas of sun fading and spotting to the cloth and plates foxed as usual. Neat early name on front pastedown in each vol.

§ First edition in original cloth, with the title page credited to "Boz" rather than Dickens, and with the Fireside plate facing p. 312 in volume three. The first edition of Oliver Twist in original cloth is a cornerstone in any Dickens collection. Publication of the serial in Bentley's Miscellany began in 1837, and "when Bentley decided to publish Oliver Twist in book form before its completion in his periodical, Cruikshank was forced to complete the last few plates in haste. Dickens did not review them until the eve of publication and objected to the "Fireside" plate...and also disliked having "Boz" on the titlepage. He voiced these objections prior to the publication and the plate and the titlepage were. changed between November 9 and 16" (Smith, 34). Smith I, 4. Eckel, pp. 59-62.
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Ships from John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller (California, United States)

Details

About John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller California, United States

Biblio member since 2005

John Windle Antiquarian Bookseller offers an exceptional selection of rare books and manuscripts from medieval times through the twentieth century; we specialize in illustrated material, particularly the work of William Blake and his circle. Located in downtown San Francisco, we have served an international clientele of private collectors, libraries, and institutions for 35 years.

We are actively purchasing books and manuscripts in all fields, especially medieval illuminated and text manuscripts; material on California, Hawaii, and Pacific voyages; illustrated books and fine bindings from the 15th through the 20th century; and fine press printing. William Blake, Mary Wollstonecraft, and Thomas Frognall Dibdin remain special interests. We are members of the ABAA, ILAB, and PBFA, and we subscribe to the code of ethics endorsed by reputable antiquarian booksellers worldwide.

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About this book

Oliver Twist, published in 1838, became one of English writer Charles Dickens's better-known stories and was the first Victorian novel with a child protagonist. 

Oliver Twist
(Parish Boy's Progress) focuses on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the "Artful Dodger", a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by an elderly criminal Fagin. The book shows an unromantic portrayal of criminals and the treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid-19th century.

First Edition Identification

Oliver Twist was first published as a serial from 1837 to 1839 and released as a three-volume book in 1838 before the serialization ended.

The first edition was published by Richard Bentley in London, 1838. Octavo, three volumes, original reddish-brown cloth, gilt titles to the spine, front and rear panels marked with a stamp. Features 24 illustrated plates by George Cruikshank. 

The first issue has the "Fireside" plate in volume 3 and "Boz" listed as the author on all title pages. It was issued on November 9, 1838. At Dicken's insistence, the Fireside plate was replaced with the "Church" plate, and Dickens's name replaced "Boz". The book was then reissued in three volumes 7 days after the first issue, on November 16.

The First US Edition of Oliver Twist was published in New York by Jemima M. Lewer in 1838, as two volumes, bound in modern brown quarter-leather bindings, with marbled paper boards.

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