Little Dorrit by Dickens, Charles - 1857

London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857. First Edition in book form. Full calf. Octavo (21 x 13.5cm), pp. (2) blank, xiv, 625, (2) blank, 40 illustrations by H.K. Browne including the vignette title page and eight dark plates. All internal flaws present as called for by Smith. Handsomely bound in full tan polished calf with five raised bands to the spine, tooled and gilt blocked panels, title panel in slightly darker tan and author panel in black leather, gilt lettered, double gilt borders on the boards, marbled endpapers, gilt dentelles, silk bookmark, bookplate of Leonard Daneham, Cunliffe. Some foxing to the frontispiece and illustrated title page, otherwise clean throughout with just the occasional fox mark or finger mark. A very good copy in a fine binding. (Smith 1:12). First appearing in serial from between 1855-57, Little Dorrit was first published in book form on May 30, 1857. The novel satirises the shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work, until they repaid their debts. In spite of critical opposition it was very popular with the reading public, with the second part reaching a circulation of 35,000. (Eckels p.82).

Leonard Daneham Cunliffe was a British banker who, together with his brothers, established the merchant bank Cunliffe Brothers in 1890.