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Great Expectations
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Great Expectations Mass market paperbound - 1961

by Charles Dickens; Afterword by Angus Wilson


About this book

Great Expectations is a classic novel by Charles Dickens, published in 1861. It tells the story of Pip, a young orphan boy brought up by his abusive sister and her blacksmith husband in rural England. Pip dreams of becoming a gentleman and escaping poverty, but his life takes a dramatic turn when he receives a large fortune from an anonymous benefactor. As he rises in society, he becomes involved with a host of colorful characters, including the eccentric Miss Havisham and her adopted daughter Estella, and learns valuable lessons about love, loyalty, and the true meaning of happiness. The novel is considered one of Dickens' greatest works and a masterpiece of English literature.

Summary

A terrifying encounter with an escaped convict in a graveyard on the wild Kent marshes; a summons to meet the bitter, decaying Miss Havisham and her beautiful, cold-hearted ward Estella; the sudden generosity of a mysterious benefactor - these form a series of events that change the orphaned Pip's life forever, and he eagerly abandons his humble origins to begin a new life as a gentleman. Dickens's haunting late novel depicts Pip's education and development through adversity as he discovers thetrue nature of his 'great expectations'.

From the publisher

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors’ prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and “slave” factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years’ formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney’s clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work.

First Edition Identification

Great Expectations by Dickens was first published on 6 July 1861 in London by Chapman and Hall. It is considered not only the rarest and most valuable of Dickens's works, but arguably his greatest. Copies in the original cloth are particularly desirable.

Published in 3 volumes, the first edition of Great Expectations has the original publisher’s violet wavy-grain cloth binding with floral decoration in blind on covers and spines lettered in gilt.

Five impressions of the first edition were printed, each of the latter four with a new edition statement on the title page.

The first edition first issue of Great Expectations’ rarity has been attributed to the probable small binding-up of copies with the first title page, coupled with the fact that the first edition was almost entirely taken up by the libraries.


Details

  • Title Great Expectations
  • Author Charles Dickens; Afterword by Angus Wilson
  • Binding Mass Market Paperbound
  • Edition 3rd Printing
  • Pages 536
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Signet Classics, E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.
  • Date September 1, 1961
  • ISBN 9780451525246 / 0451525248
  • Weight 0.56 lbs (0.25 kg)
  • Dimensions 6.88 x 4.16 x 0.97 in (17.48 x 10.57 x 2.46 cm)
  • Ages 14 to 14 years
  • Grade levels 9 - 9
  • Reading level 1200
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC
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Great Expectations (Signet classics)
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Great Expectations (Signet classics)

by Charles Dickens

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Great Expectations.
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Great Expectations.

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Signet Classics, Aug-86. Mass Market Paperback. Very Good. GREAT BOOK! NO SPINE CREASES, MODERATE WEAR & CORNER BENDS ON COVER. LIGHTLY AGED PAGES, NO WRITING OR MARKINGS IN TEXT. Description: The tale of the orphan, Pip, and his mysterious benefactor provides a grotesque but pointed comedy that explores the many levels of English society with insight and sympathy as well as a satiric eye. Considered by many to be Dickens's best novel, GREAT EXPECTATIONS is the story of a young man who rises out of a rough, deprived childhood to a life in which his expectations--or some of them--are fulfilled: he is a gentleman and a success, though he soon finds that happiness doesn't necessarily accompany money and position. The novel is full of fascinating scenes and characters, among them the coldhearted Estella, the vengeful and dotty Miss Havisham, Joe Gargery the noble blacksmith, the ever-lovable Herbert Pocket, and of course Magwitch, the grotesque and terrifying but ultimately benevolent… Read More
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Great Expectations
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Great Expectations

by Dickens, Charles; Wilson, Angus

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E Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.A.: New Amer Library, 1986. Pocketbook style paperback in nice condition. Slight tanning of the pages. Some scuff to the cover and page edge. A few pages have their corners folded together. Useful edition. PRESENTABLE!. Paperback. Good.
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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)
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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)

by Charles Dickens

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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)
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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)

by Dickens, Charles

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Great Expectations
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Great Expectations

by Dickens, Charles

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New York: New Amer Library, 1986. Book. Illus. by Cvr Art By William Maw Engley. Good++. Soft cover. 33rd Printing. Massmarket Paperback. Light edgewear. 531 pages, including the Afterword by Angus Wilson..
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Great Expectations

Great Expectations

by Charles Dickens

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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)
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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)

by Dickens, Charles

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Signet Classics, 1961-09-01. Mass Market Paperback. Very Good. Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE NEW boxes Very good. Some creasing. *
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Great Expectations (Signet Classics)
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

Great Expectations (Signet Classics)

by Dickens, Charles

  • Used
  • very good
  • Paperback
Condition
Used - Very Good
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 13
9780451525246
ISBN 10
0451525248
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Signet Classics, 1961-09-01. Mass Market Paperback. Very Good. Prompt shipment, with tracking. we ship in CLEAN SECURE NEW boxes very good clean copy minor creasing
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