Master Humphrey's Clock.

1840. London, Chapman and Hall, 1840-1841. Bound in 3 uniform contemporary half calfs with gilt lettering and ornamentation to spines. Hinges with minor wear and a few nicks to the leather on the boards, otherwise a fine and clean copy. First edition of the three-volume edition (Printed same year as the original 20 monthly parts) of Master Humphrey's Clock, a weekly periodical edited and written by Charles Dickens and published from April 4, 1840-December 4, 1841. "The publication of these stories in the form presented was one of the first of several experiments which the Author applied to several succeeding books. Dickens feared that his readers had become weary of stories in monthly issues on account of the lapse of time between the numbers. At the request of Chapman & Hall he outlined his planspartially in a letter when he wrote among other things: "To introduce a little club or knot of characters and to carry their personal histories and proceedings through the work; to introduce fresh characters constantly; to re-introduce Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller; x x x to write amusing essays on the various foibles of the as they form of the papers by throwing them into sketches, letters from imaginary correspondents, and so forth, so as to diversify the contents as much as possible." (Eckel, p. 67).Hatton and Cleaver, Pp. 163-182.