Description

The first American edition of Charles Dickens’ Pickwick Papers was published in Philadelphia between November 1836 and September 1837, before the English book edition in November 1837. This scarce edition consists of five volumes, with the first four appearing initially and the fifth in December 1837. Only about 1,500 copies of the first volume were issued. As Dickens’ popularity grew, later volumes were printed in greater quantities, and volumes 1 and 2 were re-issued.

The set once belonged to the Suzannet collection of Dickens, with volume 1 in its rare first state and volume 2 in its second issue form. A letter from the Rosenbach Company offered this set to Count de Suzannet in 1932 for $585, a substantial price at the time.

The volumes include various advertisements, with specific details of the first and second issues of volume 1 and 2 respectively, along with additional information on the later volumes.