The Personal History of David Copperfield

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1850. First Edition. Near Fine. Early 20th century three quarters blue crushed morocco over marbled boards with gilt to spine. Top edge gilt. Marbled endpapers. Bookplates of Jeffrey Stern and Christopher Clark Geest to front pastedown. Original wrappers for parts IV and VII at front (laid in and bound in, respectively). Spine gently sunned and light rubbing to extremities. Generally clean internally with only a few spots of foxing to a handful of plates. A handsome copy of one of Dickens' best, and his most autobiographical novel.

Early issue without the misprint: "screamed" for "screwed" on page 132 line 20 (often lacking from first edition copies); but with the other issue points, including: Chapter XXVII is on page 282 rather than page 283 as listed in the table of contents; 16: 1 and 225: 22 both read "recal" rather than "recall"; 19: 39 reads "cha pter ; ut"; 387: 45 reads "coroboration" rather than "corroboration"; 472: 37 has no closing of the quotation marks; and the first state of the engraved vignette title page (dated) is present.

"David Copperfield has always been among Dickens' most popular novels and was his own 'favorite child.' The work is semi-autobiographical and although the title character differed from his creator in many ways, Dickens used him to relate early personal experiences that had meant much to him -- his work in a factory, his schooling, and his emergence from parliamentary reporting into successful novel writing" (Britannica). Like many of Dickens' novels, David Copperfield uses an individual, tracing his widening system of relationships as he moves through life, to explore the interconnectedness of humans, the way race, gender, and class can affect their paths, and the degree to which we have free-will. Near Fine.