MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK (being, OLD CURIOSITY SHOP and BARNABY RUDGE)

3 volumes bound in one. First Edition in book form of the the three volumes of the work. With 198 drawings by George Cattermole and Hablot Browne. Royal, thick 8vo, bound in handsome period three-quarter black polished calf over marbled paper covered boards, the backing and corner-pieces tooled in gilt, the spine with gilt filleted double bands with gilt stippled chain trim, diced in blind, one compartment with gilt lettering. iv, 306; 306; 426 pp. A pleasing and handsome copy, the binding strong and in good order with a bit of normal wear at the extremities, very well preserved inside and out

Edizione: a pleasing and handsome copy of master humphrey’s clock, which was initiated as an experiment on dickens’ part. originally, he intended the work to be a miscellany which would contain a continuous narrative linked by reminisces of the narrator, master humphrey. he outlined his goals in a preliminary letter to chapman and hall: “to introduce a little club or knot of characters and to carry their personal histories and proceedings through the work; to introduce fresh characters constantly; to reintroduce mr. pickwick and sam weller; [xxx] to write amusing essays on the various foibles of the day as they arise; to take advantage of passing events; and to vary the form of the papers by throwing them into sketches, letters from imaginary correspondents, and so forth, so as to diversify the contents as much as possible.” dickens would use ideas from the outline of this form in several succeeding books. <br> as the originally-conceived miscellany, master humphrey’s clock failed to gain a substantial readership, so the project was quickly abandoned, the story transformed into a serial, and the character of master humphrey himself abandoned as a narrator in the midst of the old curiosity shop. according to eckel, the work was published in four distinct forms over the course of its creation: in 88 weekly parts, 30 monthly parts, a three-volume edition, and in separately bound volumes of the two stories, "the old curiosity shop" and "barnaby rudge." <br> "in the latter form," he states, "all the extraneous 'clock' matter had been expunged, but was retained in the other forms of publication." the three volume issues have become scarce indeed and especially so in such a pleasing and honest state of preservation.