Dombey and Son.

DICKENS, Charles (1812-1870), [BROWNE, H.K., illustrator].

Philadelphia: Lea and Blanchard, 1848. [Literature] FIRST US EDITION. Octavo (24 x 16cm), pp.viii [2] 9-320 [2]. With 38 plates by Browne as well as a frontispiece and title-page vignette. Publisher's neatly restored dark brown cloth, decoration blind-stamped to boards, gilt title and illustration to spine. Moderate spotting and toning throughout as usual, heavier to plates. Small institutional inscriptions in black ink to the top of most plates as well as the title-page and two front blanks. Some additional notation in brown ink to front pastedown and some erosion, possibly due to the removal of a bookplate/signature. Boards neatly respined with the original overlaid. A few light marks, mild edgewear. Very good. This landmark novel weaves together a number of stories concerning a self-important merchant and his two children. Dickens takes aim at arranged marriages, and along the way deals with child cruelty, broken and abusive familial relationships, and the fears elicited by the advent of the railway - which, towards the end of his life, Dickens was to experience for himself while writing Our Mutual Friend. Item #71659

Price: £350.00