PICKWICK ABROAD, ILLUSTRATED AND HANDSOMELY BOUND

(DICKENS, Charles) REYNOLDS, George W.M. Pickwick Abroad; or the Tour in France. London: Henry G. Bohn, 1864. Thick octavo, early 20th-century three-quarter red morocco gilt, raised bands, top edge gilt. $600.

Early edition, with 40 steel engravings by Alfred Crowquill and John Phillips and 33 woodcut illustrations by Bonner, handsomely bound.

"Before the last number of Pickwick had appeared in its green paper covers, its plump and amiable little hero with his gaiters and benevolently glittering spectacles, together with Sam Weller and his other friends, had become more than national figures— they had become a mania… There were Pickwick chintzes, Pickwick cigars, Pickwick hats, Pickwick canes with tassels, Pickwick coats; and there were Weller corduroys, and Boz cabs. There were innumerable plagiarisms, parodies, and sequels— a Pickwick Abroad, by G.W.M. Reynolds" (Johnson, Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph). Pickwick Abroad continues to be the most widely known of the sequels and is generally considered to be the best. First published in 1839. Bookplate.

Plates and text fine, very minor wear to handsome morocco binding. A very attractive copy.