THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB by DICKENS, CHARLES. (EXTRA-ILLUSTRATED BOOKS). (BINDINGS - SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE) - 1837

London: Chapman and Hall, 1837. First Edition in Book Form. 218 x 134 mm. (8 1/2 x 5 1/4"). xiv, [2] (directions to the binder and errata), 609 pp. Three volumes..
MOST ATTRACTIVE GREEN MOROCCO, GILT, BY SANGORSKI & SUTCLIFFE (stamp-signed on rear turn-in), covers bordered by gilt fillets, upper covers with inlaid maroon morocco medallion with gilt lion and author's initials, raised bands, spine compartments lavishly gilt, volume I with BROWN MOROCCO DOUBLURE at front, SET WITH A COSWAY-STYLE OVAL PORTRAIT OF DICKENS under glass, other pastedowns with brown silk embellished with gilt facsimile of Dickens' signature, top edges gilt. Housed together in a fine fleece-lined green morocco-backed pull-off box with raised bands (to resemble a set of books). With 43 plates, as called for, the title and frontispiece in first state, the other 41 plates all present with letters, and 40 of the plates (all except the first Buss plate) in one (14 plates) or two (26 plates) additional states, 32 IN ECKEL'S FIRST STATE (107 plates total); the set EXTRA ILLUSTRATED with the 32 plates by Onwhyn from the pirated 1837 edition, 12 hand-colored color plates by Onwhyn created the following year but published in the 1894, and 72 ORIGINAL WATERCOLORS BY "KYD" (Joseph Clayton Clarke) depicting characters from the book, a portrait of Dickens, a wrapper from the parts at front of volume II, and a title page from the 1838 first Paris edition in volume III; A TOTAL OF 192 ILLUSTRATIONS. A handwritten list of the extra illustrations (likely prepared by the owner or binder) bound in a front of volume I, occasional early 20th century pencilled bibliographical notes to foot of plates. Green I, 3; Podeschi A-16; Grolier English 78. For the plates: Eckel, pp. 51-56; Podeschi H-1120, H-1130 (Onwhyn); Gimbel H-1712 ("Kyd"). ◆Occasional minor foxing or insignificant stains, other trivial imperfections, but A FINE SET, both the text and added material clean and fresh, and THE BINDINGS UNWORN.

This is an extravagantly illustrated edition of Dickens' first important work, showing the beloved characters as imagined by three noted 19th century illustrators, the whole in handsomely bound volumes by Sangorski & Sutcliffe, including one using a Cosway-style design. Dickens (1812-70) was still quite a young man when he published "The Pickwick Papers"; full of droll characters and rollicking humor, it was the funniest book he ever wrote and the work that made him famous. After two of the original 20 parts of this work had been issued, Robert Seymour, the initial artist employed for "Pickwick," committed suicide, with just seven plates having been completed. Following an ensuing false start with the illustrator Robert William Buss (whose two rejected plates are included here), the fledgling author entrusted the completion of the work's engravings to the unknown Hablot Knight Browne (1815-80), who signed his work "Phiz." At not quite 21 years old, he was two years younger than Dickens himself, and their collaboration here was the successful beginning of a famously sympathetic pairing of writer and artist that continued for many years. Like Phiz, artist Thomas Onwhyn (1814-86) first came to public notice for his "Pickwick" illustrations (many of them signed with the name of Pickwick's servant, Sam Weller), produced for a pirated edition of "Pickwick" issued in eight monthly parts by E. Grattan in 1837. According to Houfe's article in DNB, Onwhyn was known for "illustrating the comic side of everyday life," and it is intriguing to contrast his take on Dickens' characters with that of Phiz. In 1838, Onwhyn produced a set of 12 color plates for another (unauthorized) edition, but those were set aside in favor of lithographs of his 1837 illustrations. The plates were eventually sold by Onwhyn's family to publisher Alan Jackson, who issued them in several states, including the hand-colored version included here, in 1894. Also appearing in the 1890s was the collection of 72 character sketches by Joseph Clayton Clarke (1857-1937), known as "Kyd," who created sets of watercolors for a number of Dickens titles; the Pickwick set was the most extensive. Kyd's watercolors (including the one of Mr. Pickwick) were reproduced in the 12 stamps issued by the Royal Mail for Dickens' centennial in 2012. The "Cosway" binding, with painted miniatures inlaid in handsome morocco, apparently originated with the London bookselling firm of Henry Sotheran about 1909, the year G. C. Williamson's book entitled "Richard Cosway" was remaindered by Sotheran and presumably given this special decorative treatment, with designs by Sotheran's manager J. H. Stonehouse, portrait miniatures by Caroline Currie, and bindings executed by Riviere & son. The name "Cosway"--referring to the British miniature painter, Richard Cosway (1742-1821)--was then used to describe any book so treated, whoever its author. The style became popular and was adopted by Riviere's great rival, Sangorski & Sutcliffe..