8vo (219 x 139 mm). Half-title, 10 plates, numerous in-text illustrations, EXTRA ILLUSTRATED by the addition of approximately 75 portraits and plates. (Some occasional spotting or minor chipping.) Contemporary red crushed levant gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut, stamp-signed by Bayntun (some minor spotting, a few small chips, front hinge starting).

FIRST EDITION of Kitton’s biography of John Leech (1817-1864), the first illustrator of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, and caricaturist for Punch. Kitton also served as an illustrator for many of Dickens’ works, and went on to publish many works related to Dickens’ life and works, as well as a work on another prominent Dickensian illustrator, Hablot Knight Brown (“Phiz.”)