This lot contains three books about Charles Dickens, two written by prominent authors and the third a valuable resource for anyone dong research about Dickens. One was written by G. K. Chesterton, an English writer who dabbled in crime novels; the second by Francis Hopkinson Smith, who descended from one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence and helped build the foundation for the Statue of Liberty; and the third is about the Dickens material housed at Yale University’s library.
a) Appreciations And Criticisms Of The Works Of Charles Dickens, By G K Chesterton, London: 1911 J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd. and New York: E.P. Dutton, a first edition (the 1911 date on the title page matches the 1911 date on the copyright page), with dark green cloth, gilt lettering on the spine, an embossed cover with gilt lettering, blank endpapers, a frontis portrait of Dickens from an oil painting by R. J. Lane, with a tissue guard protecting the portrait, 8 illustrations including the frontispiece, the book is 243 pages long, the top edge is gilt, and the book measures 8 7/8 x 6 1/8 in. wide. G. K. Chesterton (1874 - 1936) was an English writer, theologian, and literary critic who created the fictional priest-detective Father Brown that we know from the television series by the same name.
b) In Dickens’s London, By F. Hopkinson Smith, Illustrated With Charcoal Drawings By The Author, New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons 1916, with 1914 on the copyright page, which makes this a second printing, green cloth with title stamped in gilt on the spine and the front cover and a green wreath below the title on the front, blank endpapers with the bookplate of Charles Irving Thayer and a small label at the bottom of the front free endpaper saying “Chas. E. Lauriat Co.” in Boston, where the book was sold, there are 23 illustrations and 5 documents and photographs in the book, the book is 8vo. and measures 9 5/8 x 6 1/2 in. wide, with a total of 127 pages; Francis Hopkinson Smith
was an American author, artist and engineer who is credited with designing the foundation for the Statue of Liberty.
c) Dickens And Dickensiana. A Catalogue Of The Richard Gimbel Collection In The Yale University Library, By John B. Podeschi. New Haven: Yale University Library, 1980. A first edition - the dates on the title page and copyright page match, making this a first edition - and the catalogue includes information about major and minor editions by Dickens, translations and adaptations, periodicals, manuscripts, autographed letters and documents, sheet music, playbills and much more. An absolutely great resource for collectors and people wanting to do research on Dickens. Green boards with a paper label on the spine, brown endpapers, with 532 pages of text and a 37-page index at the end. The book measures 9 7/8 x 6 1/4 in. wide, clean and tight, and a great resource for for students and enthusiasts about Dickens.