OUR MUTUAL FRIEND by DICKENS, Charles - 1865

1865. Paperback. 2. DICKENS, Charles. OUR MUTUAL FRIEND. With Illustrations by Marcus Stone. In Two Volumes. Vol. I. [II.] London: Chapman and Hall, 1865. [i.e., May 1864-November 1865]. First edition in monthly parts, twenty numbers bound in nineteen. Octavo: xii,320; viii,312 pp. Green paper wrappers, illustrated. Forty plates inserted, engraved on wood by Dalziel and W. T. Green. Many of the parts have been carefully rebacked and, when collated against Hatton and Cleaver, seven back wrappers have been substituted. Our Mutual Friend contains a greater volume of advertising material than any of the other works in original parts; this copy contains 252 p. out of a total of 320 in the "Advertiser" sections and 79 of the 89 insets. Some of the "Advertiser" pages and insets are misbound and/or missing; in addition, it contains one duplicate inset and three other insets which are not called for. (A detailed description of the substitutions and omissions is available upon request.) Text and plates are generally clean and bright, with some occasional marginal spotting. The wrappers are faded at spines and show occasional light soiling overall; as expected, they are a little tired at the edges, showing some chipping and early paper repairs. A good copy (only because of the missing advertising material; the text and illustrations are very good or better) of Dickens's last completed novel. (Hatton & Cleaver, p. 345-370).