DICKENS, Charles.

£8,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Nonesuch Dickens. First Nonesuch edition, number 51 of 877 sets with an original plate. This example includes the steel plate that was used in the first edition of Sketches by Boz (1836) to illustrate "Mr Minns and his Cousin". The story represents a revised version of Dickens's first published work of fiction, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" (The Monthly Magazine, December 1833).The limitation matches the 877 original plates that were used for the first editions and kept in the archives of Dickens's publisher, Chapman and Hall. Most of the plates were on steel, though they also included woodblocks. This plate, accompanied by a press pull as issued, illustrates a startled Mr Minns "casting a diabolical look at the dog" of his cousin as the canine climbs up the dinner table.The Nonesuch Dickens was the press's largest project and greatest triumph. The publisher boldly claimed that "it will never be possible for a more complete and perfect edition to be put upon the market".

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