
The Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol; The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain.
by Charles Dickens
- Used
- hardcover
- First
- Condition
- See description
- Seller
-
Palm Beach, Florida
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
London: Chapman and Hall, 1843-48. Complete set of Charles Dickens' Christmas Books. Octavo, 5 volumes, bound in the original cloth with gilt titles and tooling to the spine and front panels, all edges gilt. A Christmas Carol, in Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas is a sixth edition with the half-title printed in blue, title-page printed in red and blue, verso printed in blue, hand-colored etched frontispiece and three hand-colored etched plates by John Leech, four wood-engravings in-text by W.J. Linton after Leech, 2pp. publisher's advertisements at rear. In very good condition with a contemporary gift inscription to the verso of the front panel. First edition of The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year with the advertisement, half-title, engraved frontispiece and additional first state pictorial vignette title page. In near fine condition. First edition of The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home with half-title, frontispiece and vignette title page with tissue guard present, first state ad leaf. In near fine condition with ownership inscriptions. First edition of the Battle of Life: A Love Story with half-title, advertisements, frontispiece and fourth state vignette title page. In near fine condition with an autograph letter bound in and period catalogue descriptions affixed to the half-title. First edition of The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain: A Fancy for Christmas-Time with advertisements, frontispiece and vignette title page. A nice set. A Christmas Carol "may readily be called the Bible of Christmas It was issued about ten days before Christmas, 1843, and 6000 copies were sold on the first day"(Eckel, 110). "It was a work written at the height of Dickens great powers, which would add to his considerable fame, bring a new work to the English language, increase the festivities at Christmastime, and contain his most eloquent protest at the condition of the poor" (John Mortimer). "Suddenly conceived and written within a few weeks, [A Christmas Carol] was the first of Dickens Christmas books (a new literary genre thus created incidentally) it was an extraordinary achievementthe one great Christmas myth of modern literature.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Raptis Rare Books
(US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 104873
- Title
- The Christmas Books: A Christmas Carol; The Chimes; The Battle of Life; Cricket on the Hearth; The Haunted Man and The Ghost’s Bargain.
- Author
- Charles Dickens
- Book condition
- Used
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Chapman and Hall
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1843-48
- Keywords
- Charles Dickens First Edition, Christmas Books First Editions, Christmas Carol Charles Dickens First Edition
- Note
- May be a multi-volume set and require additional postage.
Terms of Sale
Raptis Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed.
About the Seller
Raptis Rare Books
Biblio.com member since 2012
Palm Beach, Florida
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About Raptis Rare Books
Founded by Matthew and Adrienne Raptis, Raptis Rare Books is an antiquarian book firm that specializes in literature, children's books, economics, photo books, signed and inscribed books, and landmark books in all fields. Our business model is simple: we strive to handle books that are in exceptional condition and to provide exceptional customer service. We are proud members of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America (ABAA) and the International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB) and exhibit at major book fairs in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Boston, as well as other regional fairs.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the... [More]
- vignette
- A decorative design or illustration placed at the beginning or end of a ... [More]
- first state
- used in book collecting to refer to a book from the earliest run of a first edition, generally distinguished by a change in some... [More]
- Cloth
- "Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched... [More]
- title page
- A page at the front of a book which may contain the title of the book, any subtitles, the authors, contributors, editors, the... [More]
- edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a... [More]
- verso
- The page bound on the left side of a book, opposite to the recto page.
- spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf.... [More]
- gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in... [More]
- octavo
- Another of the terms referring to page or book size, octavo refers to a standard printer's sheet folded four times, producing... [More]
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"... [More]
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in... [More]