The Works of Charles Dickens. Including [The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain, Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Facts & Figures from Italy, Our Mutual Friend, Oliver Twist, Hard Times, A Child’s History of England, and Edwin Drood]. by Dickens, Charles - 1837-1870

1837-1870. Finely bound set of Dickens' works containing 23 first editions of Dickens' novels in book form. Octavo, 26 volumes, bound in full morocco, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, elaborate gilt tooling to the spines in six compartments within raised gilt bands, double gilt ruling to the front and rear panels, gilt turn-ins and inner dentelles, marbled endpapers, all edges gilt, ribbons bound in, illustrated. The collection includes first editions in book form of: The Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, Dombey and Son, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Little Dorrit, A Tale of Two Cities, Great Expectations [fifth impression with no full stop after 'robbery', p.42, line 5 in vol. 1. and p.149, line 21 with a faulty 's' in 'earnings.' Smith notes that "the first five issues were probably printed at a single impression and published with altered title-pages to imply and encourage a rapid sale."], Facts & Figures from Italy, and Our Mutual friend and early printings of Oliver Twist; Hard Times; A Child's History of England; and Edwin Drood. In near fine condition. An exceptional set. English writer and social critic Charles Dickens created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognized him as a literary genius.