3 volumes, 8vo (178 x 121 mm). Half-titles in vol.1&2 with advertisements verso as issued. 4pp. publisher's ads at end of vol.1; etched frontispiece to each volume and 21 plates after George Cruikshank. (Light marginal spotting, a few plates toned, some offsetting to text from plates.) Original decorated brown cloth, spines lettered in gilt, uncut (spines leaned and sunned, fore-corners a bit worn, small split to rear joint near head on vol.3, textblocks a bit shaken).

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST ENGLISH NOVEL TO FEATURE A YOUNG CHILD AS A PROTAGONIST with "Boz" on the title-pages and the "Fireside" plate in vol.3. When Bentley decided to publish Oliver Twist in book format before completing its publication in Bentley's Miscellany magazine, Cruikshank had to rush to complete the illustrated plates. Dickens didn't review the plates until the eve of publication, and he objected to the "Fireside" plate (present here), which depicted Oliver at Rose Maylie's knee with Harry and Mrs. Maylie gathered around the living room fire. Cruikshank revised the illustration, using the same title ("Rose Maylie and Oliver"), to show Rose and Oliver standing before Oliver's mother's church memorial. The altered plate was used in later issues of Oliver Twist in book form, as well as in the conclusion of the periodical run. Eckel notes that the first edition was bound in brown cloth, with the spines bearing the title and “Boz” in gilt, and “London, Bentley” at the foot. This copy bears the first two features, but the foot of the spine is blank. Eckel, pp.59-60; Gimbel A27; Smith I:4.