The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

London: Chapman and Hall, 1839. First edition. Very Good. Bound in the original publisher's deluxe full green morocco binding, gilt titles, stamped in gilt and blind, yellow end papers, all edges gilt. A Very Good copy with creasing and wear to the spine (one short tear at the head), some foxing to the plates. Armorial bookplate of Henry Gillett on the front paste-down. Bound without the half-title, otherwise complete with the engraved frontis and 39 plates by Phiz.

Nicholas Nickleby, Dickens' third novel, was originally serialized in monthly parts, then issued as a book in cloth. The publishers also had a small number of copies bound up in the present morocco both for presentation - a census of copies inscribed by Dickens on publication show them all to be in the green morocco binding - and for sale to the public at a higher price. This copy with most of the issue points outlined in Smith, but with a few typographical errors corrected.

"Dickens' third novel has always been a favourite with the general public. Indeed, it was the book's huge sales that enabled Dickens to give up parliamentary reporting and become a full-time writer...The theatricality of the novel attracted new and more appreciative critical attention [and it] demonstrates the inextricable link between public and private" (Bannerjee). A satire tackling the injustices faced by both women and men within the Victorian class system that relied so heavily the social status of the patriarch, the novel follows Nicholas Nickleby as he seeks to support his mother and sister after his father's death. When Nicholas' father dies after losing all of the family's money, it is up to the young man to emerge as the new and more morally sound patriarch. Dashing and likable, Nicholas ultimately prevails, dodging shady characters along the way and securing a respectable life in Devonshire for his extended family. A favorite among Dickens' works, Nicholas Nickleby has been adapted into a much-loved film. Very Good.