DICKENS, Charles (“Boz”) (1812-1870). Our Mutual Friend. London: Chapman and Hall, May 1864 - November 1865.

20 parts in 19, 8vo. Half-titles, frontispiece and 39 wood-engraved plates after Marcus Stone by Dalziel and W. T. Green. (Slight toning, chipping to a few leaves not affecting text.) Original green pictorial printed wrappers, uncut and part 15 unopened (a few spines neatly repaired, slight soiling, a few short tears touching the image); pull-apart case, stamp-signed by Morrell.

FIRST EDITION IN ORIGINAL MONTHLY PARTS, FIRST ISSUE. NEARLY COMPLETE WITH ALL TEXT, PLATES, WRAPPERS, SLIPS, AND ADVERTISEMENTS as called for in Hatton & Cleaver, except for the rare "Mutual Friend… Economic Life Assurance Society" 4pp. slip, which is lacking after the plates in part 14. In the first state, with the following first issue points: the part 1 front wrapper is without the printer's imprint at the foot; p. 13 of Advertiser in part 10 is misprinted as “31” (rare); with the scarce slip addressed to the reader in part 1. Our Mutual Friend was Dickens’ fourteenth and final completed novel and contains more advertisements in the Advertiser than any of Dickens’ other works with 320 pages as well as 89 insets and slips at the end of the parts. Eckel, pp. 94-95; Hatton & Cleaver, pp. 343-370; Yale/Gimbel A149.

DICKENS, Charles (“Boz”) (1812-1870). Our Mutual Friend. London: Chapman and Hall, May 1864 - November 1865.