A Christmas carol by DICKENS, Charles - 1843

London: Chapman & Hall, 1843. FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Four inserted hand-colored steel-engraved plates by and after Leech and four black and white text wood-engravings by W.J. Linton after Leech. Full green morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe with intricate gilt stamping on front and back including the letter "E" and 1908 in the top corners and "Xmas 1908" in the bottom corners, all in gilt, spine in compartments with gilt lettering and ornaments, all edges gilt; title page printed in red and blue, and half title printed in blue. Tipped in is a leaf of thick paper with an elaborate multi-colored and gold pen and ink illustration of a London street scene with the words, "To Edmund From" and dated Christmas, 1908. The street is in Central London and shows numerous shops, including the bookstore of the well-known London bookseller Walter Spencer. It is quite probable that the illustration was done by Alberto Sangorski, the brother of Francis (who founded the bindery) and a well-known illustrator. The fly-leaf is signed by Francis Sangorski, George Sutcliffe, and Spencer (fl. 1860-1880), who was friends with Dickens. The original brown publisher's cloth binding is bound in on 3 separate leaves (front, back and spine). A unique, exquisite copy.