THACKERAY'S SIX CHRISTMAS BOOKS, FIRST EDITIONS, MANY WITH COLOR PLATES, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND

(THACKERAY, William Makepeace) TITMARSH, M.A. The Christmas Books: Mrs. Perkins's Ball; Our Street; Doctor Birch and His Young Friends; Rebecca and Rowena; The Kickleburys on the Rhine; The Rose and the Ring. London: Chapman and Hall; Smith, Elder & Co., 1847-50; 1855. Six volumes. One volume small quarto, five volumes octavo, early 20th-century full crimson morocco skillfully rebacked with elaborately gilt-decorated spines neatly laid down, raised bands, all edges gilt; original wrappers bound in at rear. Housed together in a custom leather-edged slipcase. $3500.

First editions of all six of Thackeray's illustrated Christmas books, all but one illustrated by Thackeray himself—the other illustrated by Richard Doyle—and all but one with hand-colored plates (the other with uncolored wood-engravings—there was no colored issue), beautifully bound in full morocco-gilt by Riviere & Son with original paper wrappers bound in at the rear of each volume.

While not as well-known today as Charles Dickens' Christmas books, thanks to the enduring popularity of A Christmas Carol, Thackeray's Christmas books were equally popular in their day. This complete set of six titles includes: Mrs. Perkins's Ball (1847 first issue), with 22 hand-colored plates. Our Street (1848) includes 16 hand-colored plates. Doctor Birch and His Young Friends (1849) contains 16 hand-colored plates. Rebecca and Rowena (1850) is "a humorous sequel by Thackeray to Scott's Ivanhoe" (Drabble, 814), and features eight hand-colored illustrations by Richard Doyle. The Kickleburys on the Rhine (1850) features 15 hand-colored plates. The Rose and the Ring (1855) contains eight full-page and 48 in-text wood engraved illustrations. "In its day [The Rose and the Ring] rivaled A Christmas Carol in public esteem… In its small way it is as complete and harmonious a marriage of story and illustration as Vanity Fair itself" (Ray, 77). This final Christmas book is at times not present, as it was published five years after the others, by a different publisher, and was issued only with the plates uncolored—the only one of Thackeray's Christmas books so issued.

Thackeray published these humorous pieces under the pseudonym Michael Angelo Titmarsh: "Thackeray's use of pseudonyms allowed him to develop a remarkable range of ventriloquist voices" (ODNB). As an illustrator, "his illustrations have the transcending merit of coming directly from the mind that created the work… Thackeray deserves his place beside Cruikshank, Phiz, Leech, and Doyle" (Ray, 74). Van Duzer 140, 157, 51, 181, 104, 185. Ray, The Illustrator and the Book in England, 74-77). Bookplate.

Interiors clean and fine, full morocco-gilt bindings expertly refurbished and quite beautiful. An exceptional set.