DICKENS, CHARLES. A Christmas Carol. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1844. Title-page printed in red and blue, 4 hand-colored lithographed plates after John Leech by P.S. Duval, and 4 woodcuts after Leech. 12mo, original tan cloth, upper cover with double gilt-ruled border surrounding open inner border comprised of gilt floral, leaf, and star tools, within which the title is gilt-stamped, lower cover similarly decorated in blind, spine gilt-decorated with floral and spray gilt ornaments at ends, while retaining gilt title/author decoration used on the spine of the English edition, stamp-signed by binder within outer rule border "J.C. Russell, Binder" on both covers, yellow glazed endpapers, spine ends repaired, some minor spotting and soiling; some scattered browning and staining. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, in rare signed "holiday" gift binding. In this edition the four text illustrations which appeared in the English edition are now converted into full page illustrations. Very few copies are recorded in this variant binding. Gimbel A80.4 describes a similarly bound copy by Russell in blue cloth; no copies noted in Suzannet or Van der Poel catalogues, nor is it mentioned in Edgar & Vail's checklist of Early American Editions of the Works of Charles Dickens (New York, 1929).

Details

DICKENS, CHARLES. A Christmas Carol. Philadelphia: Carey & Hart, 1844. Title-page printed in red and blue, 4 hand-colored lithographed plates after John Leech by P.S. Duval, and 4 woodcuts after Leech. 12mo, original tan cloth, upper cover with double gilt-ruled border surrounding open inner border comprised of gilt floral, leaf, and star tools, within which the title is gilt-stamped, lower cover similarly decorated in blind, spine gilt-decorated with floral and spray gilt ornaments at ends, while retaining gilt title/author decoration used on the spine of the English edition, stamp-signed by binder within outer rule border "J.C. Russell, Binder" on both covers, yellow glazed endpapers, spine ends repaired, some minor spotting and soiling; some scattered browning and staining. FIRST AMERICAN EDITION, in rare signed "holiday" gift binding. In this edition the four text illustrations which appeared in the English edition are now converted into full page illustrations. Very few copies are recorded in this variant binding. Gimbel A80.4 describes a similarly bound copy by Russell in blue cloth; no copies noted in Suzannet or Van der Poel catalogues, nor is it mentioned in Edgar & Vail's checklist of Early American Editions of the Works of Charles Dickens (New York, 1929).