Dickens, Charles

MASTER HUMPHREY’S CLOCK

London: Chapman and Hall, 1840-1. First edition in book form. Royal octavo, three volumes: iv, 306 p. + vi, 306 p. + vi, 426 p. with illustrations by George Cattermole and Hablot Browne. In one-quarter green morocco over green cloth bindings, with decorative gilt stamping, five raised bands, and marbled endpapers and edges. The contents are clean and bright. Some minor edgewear to the boards, including a bit of rubbing along the joints; otherwise very good.

A key, though often overlooked, part of the Dickens canon, containing the first appearances of both The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge, and resurrecting Samuel Pickwick, Samuel Weller, and other memorable characters. Master Humphrey’s Clock ran weekly from April 4, 1840 to December 4, 1841.