First edition. Two volumes. Original dark green cloth with gilt titles on the spine. Yellow coated end papers. Sixteen steel engraved plates by George Cruikshank. A fine set, crisp and bright, with just a trace of wear to one corner at the base of the spine of volume I and to the very tips of the outer corners. Internally, exceptionally fresh and clean with no browning to text or plates and all hinges in perfect condition. An exceptionally well preserved set of Dickens's rare first work. Housed in old quarter leather chemises and slipcases.

Dickens's career as a writer of fiction began in 1833, when as a political journalist, he wrote a series of 'sketches' or observations on society, under the pen name of Boz, to be published in The Monthly Magazine. In 1835, acquaintance and young publisher John Macrone approached Dickens with the idea of publishing his stories in book form, offering £100 for the copyright. As Dickens's income at the time was £382 a year, this was a princely sum, and he approached the project with some enthusiasm, rewriting a number of the previously published stories and adding some new ones, notably 'A Visit to Newgate' and 'The Black Veil'. A further feather in the caps of both author and publisher was securing the services of the much better known George Cruikshank to illustrate the book, which instigated a relationship that was to be mutually fruitful throughout much of Dickens's and Cruikshank's careers.
Sketches by Boz was published in 1836, to glowing reviews, helped in no small way by Dickens's own literary and journalistic contacts, and sold smartly, so that a second edition was published within the year, followed by a third in the following year. The book was the catalyst to Dickens's meteoric rise to literary fame that would in due course lead to him being regarded as the foremost writer of the Victorian age.
Exact publication numbers are not known, but Macrone was a small establishment, so it is unlikely that each edition consisted of much more that a thousand copies. Sadleir ranked this second in his list of comparative scarcities for Dickens in original cloth and nice copies are now very infrequently encountered.

Smith 1&2; Sadleir 699

Stock ID: 40154