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The Personal History of David Copperfield -
Charles DIckens, H. K. Browne aka Phiz (Illustrator)
1850 - Bradbury &, London - First Edition
‘Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.’
A handsomely bound first edition of arguably Charles Dickens’ most acclaimed work, wonderfully illustrated throughout with 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ‘Phiz’.
‘In this book of David Copperfield, [Dickens] has created creatures who cling to us and tyrannise over us, creatures whom we would not forget if we could, creatures whom we could not forget if we would, creatures who are more actual than the man who made them.’ – G. K. Chesterton
The story of a boy making his way in the world, and finding himself as a man and as a writer. In the first half, before Dickens's irrepressible storytelling kicks in and the motor of the novel starts to hum with incident, we find him almost meditating on his literary beginnings. The second half displays Dickens at his magnificent, and often uneven, best. There are the characteristic prose arpeggios, the virtuoso similes and metaphors, and the parade of timeless characters: Mr Micawber, Mrs Gummidge, Betsey Trotwood, Barkis, Uriah Heep, Steerforth, Mr Spenlow (of Spenlow and Jorkins) and Miss Mowcher.
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Price HK$ 22,000
1850 - Bradbury &, London - First Edition
‘Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.’A handsomely bound first edition of arguably Charles Dickens’ most acclaimed work, wonderfully illustrated throughout with 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ‘Phiz’.
‘In this book of David Copperfield, [Dickens] has created creatures who cling to us and tyrannise over us, creatures whom we would not forget if we could, creatures whom we could not forget if we would, creatures who are more actual than the man who made them.’ – G. K. Chesterton
The story of a boy making his way in the world, and finding himself as a man and as a writer. In the first half, before Dickens's irrepressible storytelling kicks in and the motor of the novel starts to hum with incident, we find him almost meditating on his literary beginnings. The second half displays Dickens at his magnificent, and often uneven, best. There are the characteristic prose arpeggios, the virtuoso similes and metaphors, and the parade of timeless characters: Mr Micawber, Mrs Gummidge, Betsey Trotwood, Barkis, Uriah Heep, Steerforth, Mr Spenlow (of Spenlow and Jorkins) and Miss Mowcher.
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Price HK$ 22,000
The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit -
Charles DIckens, Hablot Knight Browne Phiz (illustrator)
1844 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ satirical comedy of hypocrisy, selfishness, and greed, the picaresque story of young Martin Chuzzlewit who, together with the scheming architect Pecksniff, journeys to America to seek his fortune.
With 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz").
‘Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well drest’.
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Price HK$ 12,000
1844 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ satirical comedy of hypocrisy, selfishness, and greed, the picaresque story of young Martin Chuzzlewit who, together with the scheming architect Pecksniff, journeys to America to seek his fortune.With 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz").
‘Any man may be in good spirits and good temper when he’s well drest’.
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Price HK$ 12,000
Dombey and Son -
Charles DIckens, Hablot Knight Browne (illustrator)
1848 - Bradbury and Evans, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition, Illustrated throughout with 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ‘Phiz’.
‘Dombey and Son is both a firm and a family and the ambiguous connection between public and private life lies at the heart of Dickens' novel. Paul Dombey is a man who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business: calculatingly, callously, coldly and commercially.
Through his dysfunctional relationships with his son, his two wives, and his neglected daughter Florence, Dickens paints a vivid picture of the limitations of a society dominated by commercial values and the drive for profit and explores the possibility of moral and emotional redemption through familial love.’
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Price HK$ 10,000
1848 - Bradbury and Evans, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition, Illustrated throughout with 39 engraved plates and engraved title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ‘Phiz’.‘Dombey and Son is both a firm and a family and the ambiguous connection between public and private life lies at the heart of Dickens' novel. Paul Dombey is a man who runs his domestic affairs as he runs his business: calculatingly, callously, coldly and commercially.
Through his dysfunctional relationships with his son, his two wives, and his neglected daughter Florence, Dickens paints a vivid picture of the limitations of a society dominated by commercial values and the drive for profit and explores the possibility of moral and emotional redemption through familial love.’
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Price HK$ 10,000
Bleak House -
Charles DIckens, Hablot Knight Browne (illustrator)
1853 - Bradbury and Evans, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ best and most popular works, described by Claire Tomalin (Charles Dickens: A Life) as a ‘masterpiece, with the best opening page and the richest plot, part detective story, part attack on the abuses of the legal system and sexual hypocrisy as he lays out the condition of England, moving from child workers to comfortable aristocrats’.
Wonderfully illustrated with 38 engraved plates and title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ”Phiz”.
Introducing Inspector Bucket, the first English fictional detective, who was probably based on C.K. Field of the recently formed Scotland Yard.
‘As the interminable case of 'Jarndyce and Jarndyce' grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.’ – from the Penguin Classics introduction.
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Price HK$ 14,000
1853 - Bradbury and Evans, London - First Edition
A handsomely bound first edition of Dickens’ best and most popular works, described by Claire Tomalin (Charles Dickens: A Life) as a ‘masterpiece, with the best opening page and the richest plot, part detective story, part attack on the abuses of the legal system and sexual hypocrisy as he lays out the condition of England, moving from child workers to comfortable aristocrats’.Wonderfully illustrated with 38 engraved plates and title page vignette by Hablot Knight Browne aka ”Phiz”.
Introducing Inspector Bucket, the first English fictional detective, who was probably based on C.K. Field of the recently formed Scotland Yard.
‘As the interminable case of 'Jarndyce and Jarndyce' grinds its way through the Court of Chancery, it draws together a disparate group of people: Ada and Richard Clare, whose inheritance is gradually being devoured by legal costs; Esther Summerson, a ward of court, whose parentage is a source of deepening mystery; the menacing lawyer Tulkinghorn; the determined sleuth Inspector Bucket; and even Jo, the destitute little crossing-sweeper. A savage, but often comic, indictment of a society that is rotten to the core, Bleak House is one of Dickens's most ambitious novels, with a range that extends from the drawing rooms of the aristocracy to the poorest of London slums.’ – from the Penguin Classics introduction.
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Price HK$ 14,000
Our Mutual Friend -
Charles DIckens, Marcus Stone (illustrator)
1865 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
Handsomely bound first edition of Charles Dickens’s last complete novel and a glorious satire spanning all levels of Victorian society. Illustrated with forty engraved plates by Marcus Stone.
‘Our Mutual Friend centres on an inheritance – Old Harmon’s profitable dust heaps – and its legatees, young John Harmon, presumed drowned when a body is pulled out of the River Thames, and kindly dustman Mr Boffin, to whom the fortune defaults. With brilliant satire, Dickens portrays a dark, macabre London, inhabited by such disparate characters as Gaffer Hexam, scavenging the river for corpses; enchanting, mercenary Bella Wilfer; the social-climbing Veneerings; and the unscrupulous street-trader Silas Wegg. The novel is richly symbolic in its vision of death and renewal in a city dominated by the fetid Thames, and the corrupting power of money’.
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Price HK$ 10,000
1865 - Chapman and Hall, London - First Edition
Handsomely bound first edition of Charles Dickens’s last complete novel and a glorious satire spanning all levels of Victorian society. Illustrated with forty engraved plates by Marcus Stone.‘Our Mutual Friend centres on an inheritance – Old Harmon’s profitable dust heaps – and its legatees, young John Harmon, presumed drowned when a body is pulled out of the River Thames, and kindly dustman Mr Boffin, to whom the fortune defaults. With brilliant satire, Dickens portrays a dark, macabre London, inhabited by such disparate characters as Gaffer Hexam, scavenging the river for corpses; enchanting, mercenary Bella Wilfer; the social-climbing Veneerings; and the unscrupulous street-trader Silas Wegg. The novel is richly symbolic in its vision of death and renewal in a city dominated by the fetid Thames, and the corrupting power of money’.
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Price HK$ 10,000
My Late Wives. Another Adventure of Sir Henry Merrivale -
Carter Dickson (John Dickson Carr)
1947 - William Heinemann Ltd, London Toronto - First English Edition
A fine first English edition.
Featuring Sir Henry Merrivale and the grumbling Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters of Scotland Yard.
‘All Roger Bewlay’s wives had four things in common: no near relatives – a hunger for romantic love – an idylic honeymoon – and, after their honeymoon, nobody ever saw them again . . .’
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Price HK$ 1,400
1947 - William Heinemann Ltd, London Toronto - First English Edition
A fine first English edition.Featuring Sir Henry Merrivale and the grumbling Chief Inspector Humphrey Masters of Scotland Yard.
‘All Roger Bewlay’s wives had four things in common: no near relatives – a hunger for romantic love – an idylic honeymoon – and, after their honeymoon, nobody ever saw them again . . .’
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Price HK$ 1,400
Run River - Signed -
Joan Didion
1963 - Ivan Obolensky, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of Joan Didion’s debut novel, in a superior example of the dust jacket and signed by Didion to the title page.
‘Run River’ begins with a murder on the bank of the Sacramento River--a murder that is at once an act of vengeance and a blind attempt to shore up a disintegrating marriage. Out of that act, Didion constructs a tragic and beautifully nuanced work of fiction.
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Price HK$ 21,000
1963 - Ivan Obolensky, New York - First Edition
A fine first edition of Joan Didion’s debut novel, in a superior example of the dust jacket and signed by Didion to the title page.‘Run River’ begins with a murder on the bank of the Sacramento River--a murder that is at once an act of vengeance and a blind attempt to shore up a disintegrating marriage. Out of that act, Didion constructs a tragic and beautifully nuanced work of fiction.
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Price HK$ 21,000
Crimson Friday - Inscribed -
Dorothy Cameron Disney
1943 - Random House, New York - First Edition
Inscribed “For Grace W Cahill, I hope you get a shiver during these hot days, Sincerely Dorothy Cameron Disney, June 17,1943. Washington, D.C.”
Grace W Cahill was the wife of actor and radio star Lou Krugman (1914-1992) who played the bad guy in ‘No for Hire’, ‘The Wild Wild West’ and ‘I Love Lucy’ he also appeared in hundreds of radio shows, usually as a villain.
‘Dorothy Cameron’s novels remain quite fresh and readable, not only because they are fast-paced but also because the major characters are full drawn and believable... The surprising note for the period, and for the white-collar, upper-middle class milieu Disney favors, is that the women of the novels, in spite of hats, hats, gloves, dresses, and apparently conventional attitudes, are liberated. Her females are actresses, doctors, successful businesswomen, civil servants – and villains.’ – Neysa Chouteau, Martha Alderson, Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers.
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Price HK$ 3,500
1943 - Random House, New York - First Edition
Inscribed “For Grace W Cahill, I hope you get a shiver during these hot days, Sincerely Dorothy Cameron Disney, June 17,1943. Washington, D.C.”Grace W Cahill was the wife of actor and radio star Lou Krugman (1914-1992) who played the bad guy in ‘No for Hire’, ‘The Wild Wild West’ and ‘I Love Lucy’ he also appeared in hundreds of radio shows, usually as a villain.
‘Dorothy Cameron’s novels remain quite fresh and readable, not only because they are fast-paced but also because the major characters are full drawn and believable... The surprising note for the period, and for the white-collar, upper-middle class milieu Disney favors, is that the women of the novels, in spite of hats, hats, gloves, dresses, and apparently conventional attitudes, are liberated. Her females are actresses, doctors, successful businesswomen, civil servants – and villains.’ – Neysa Chouteau, Martha Alderson, Twentieth-Century Crime and Mystery Writers.
More details
Price HK$ 3,500