A Message From the Sea (in the Original Self-Wrappers)

London: London, Strand, 1860. First Edition, First Printing. Self-Wrappers. Very good +. A Very Good or better copy of this Extra Christmas Number of All The Year Round, a periodical conducted by Charles Dickens, showing with the leaves dog-eared -with some slight corner loss - and showing a few marginal tears. Dickens was the Editor of his periodical named "Household Words" published by Bradbury and Evans. Having a petty dispute with the Publisher in 1859, Dickens found himself subject to their whim and so decided to publish his own weekly magazine which he titled "ALL THE YEAR ROUND". William Henry Wills had been a sub-editor of Household Words under Dickens, but left with Dickens to take the same position at ALL THE YEAR ROUND and held a quarter-share in the new enterprise. According to the site of The Victorian Web: "full title was All the Year Round. A Weekly Journal. Conducted by Charles Dickens. With Which is Incorporated “Household Words” --in many respects continued where Household Words (1850-59) left off, its emphasis on serial fiction by leading authors was a pronounced departure. So much about it must have seemed familiar to the subscribers of the earlier journal: the bannerhead and title drawn from Shakespeare (specifically, the subtitle paraphrases Othello, Act One, Scene Three, Lines 128-29); its 24-page, double-columned format; its tuppenny price and lack of illustration; and even the periodical's Wellington Street North address (although the offices were now at No. 26 rather than at No. 16)."
The first number was published in 1859, and issues were published weekly. Along with the weekly issues (which debuted Saturday 30 April 1859), a special Christmas Number was published annually. This "Extra Christmas Number" (which wears its original self-wrapper and is dated December 13,1860 on each leaf) was published for Christmas of the following year, making it the Second Christmas Number of the magazine. Both Dickens and Collins contributed to the tale with Chapters I, II and V, plus passages in other chapters, being written by Charles Dickens, and with Wilkie Collins authoring the balance of the work. SCARCE INDEED