3V Charles Dickens CHRISTMAS BOOKS Cricket on Hearth Haunted Man Battle of Life 1846 1848 First & Early States First Editions Fairy Tale Tetterby

This auction lot includes the following group of titles:

‐ The Cricket on the Heath: A Fairy Tale of Home by Charles Dickens ‐ Dated 1846 by Bradbury and Evans ‐ Bound in Victorian style, this is a novella by Charles Dickens, with illustrations by Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield and Edwin Henry Landseer. It is the third of Dickens′s five ″Christmas Books,″ preceded by ″A Christmas Carol (1843) and ″The Chimes″ (1844), and followed by ″The Battle of Life″ (1846) and ″The Haunted Man and the Ghost′s Bargain″ (1848). Dickens described the novel as ″quiet and domestic [...] innocent and pretty.″ It is subdivided into chapters called ″Chirps″, similar to the ″Quarters″ of ″The Chimes″ or the ″Staves″ of ″A Christmas Carol.″

This handsome volume is one of dozens in a uniform collection we are offering during this auction, all coming from a private estate library. The books contain first and early printings of works by Charles Dickens and are all uniformly‐bound in fancy three‐quarter crimson leather with deep red marbled paper for endpapers and over the balance of the boards. The materials used for the bindings date the binding work to around 1890 and a bookplate is present on the front paste‐down endpapers of most of the books, belonging to Julius Franke (1868‐1936). Franke was a prominent New York City architect whose work included designing the Wurlitzer Building and it seems likely that he commissioned these bindings. Peruse our catalog to view additional offerings from this collection.

This beautifully bound volume shows very well, with mild shelfwear concentrated at the extremities. The binding and text block are sound. The pages are clean and bright with some mild edge toning.
‐ The Haunted Man and the Ghost′s Bargain. A Fancy for Christmas‐Time. by Charles Dickens ‐ Dated 1848 by Bradbury and Evans ‐ First Edition ‐ This beautiful book contains the novella that is the fifth and last of Dickens′s ″Christmas Books.″ The story is more about the spirit of the holidays than about the holidays themselves, harking back to the first in the series, ″A Christmas Carol.″ The tale centers on a Professor Redlaw and those close to him. This copy is an example of the first state of the first edition of this work.

This handsome volume is one of dozens in a uniform collection we are offering during this auction, all coming from a private estate library. The books contain first and early printings of works by Charles Dickens and are all uniformly‐bound in fancy three‐quarter crimson leather with deep red marbled paper for endpapers and over the balance of the boards. The materials used for the bindings date the binding work to around 1890 and a bookplate is present on the front paste‐down endpapers of most of the books, belonging to Julius Franke (1868‐1936). Franke was a prominent New York City architect whose work included designing the Wurlitzer Building and it seems likely that he commissioned these bindings. Peruse our catalog to view additional offerings from this collection.

This beautifully bound volume shows very well, with mild shelfwear concentrated at the extremities. The binding and text block are sound. The pages are clean and bright with some mild edge toning.
‐ The Battle of Life. A Love Story. by Charles Dickens ‐ Dated 1846 by Bradbury and Evans ‐ First Edition ‐ This attractively bound work is among Dickens earliest publishings. It is a novella, being the fourth of Dickens′ five ″Christmas Books,″ coming after ″The Cricket on the Hearth″ and followed by ″The Haunted Man″ and ″The Ghost′s Bargain.″ The setting is an English village that stands on the site of an historic battle. Some characters refer to the battle as a metaphor for the struggles of life, hence the title. Battle is the only one of the five Christmas Books that has no supernatural or explicitly religious elements. The story bears some resemblance to ″The Cricket on the Hearth″ in two respects: it has a non‐urban setting, and it is resolved with a romantic twist. It is even less of a social novel than is Cricket. As is typical with Dickens, the ending is a happy one. This copy is a fourth state of the first edition.

This handsome volume is one of dozens in a uniform collection we are offering during this auction, all coming from a private estate library. The books contain first and early printings of works by Charles Dickens and are all uniformly‐bound in fancy three‐quarter crimson leather with deep red marbled paper for endpapers and over the balance of the boards. The materials used for the bindings date the binding work to around 1890 and a bookplate is present on the front paste‐down endpapers of most of the books, belonging to Julius Franke (1868‐1936). Franke was a prominent New York City architect whose work included designing the Wurlitzer Building and it seems likely that he commissioned these bindings. Peruse our catalog to view additional offerings from this collection.

This beautifully bound volume shows very well, with mild shelfwear concentrated at the extremities. The binding and text block are sound. The pages are clean and bright with some mild edge toning. The ads at the rear were not included in the custom binding.

For lots which include only books, our shipping charge applies to any address within the fifty United States. For lots which are not books, the stated shipping cost in this listing will apply only to addresses within the continental 48 states. Within those parameters, the shipping cost for this lot will be: $6.50