8vo (189 x 121 mm). (Some light chipping to a few edges repaired.) Original green moire cloth, ruled in blind on covers, gilt-lettered on spine (rebacked preserving original spine, recornered, some browning or wear). Provenance: Mrs. Lawrence (gift inscription from W. E. Gucker, 1854); Stanley Wall (bookplate).

 

FIRST EDITION IN BOOK FORM, IN THE FIRST BINDING. Hard Times, Dickens's tenth novel, was first serialized in Household Words in 1854. It is the only novel of Dickens', besides Great Expectations that was published without illustrations. Gimbel A136; Sadleir 689; Smith I:11.

 

Property of an Illinois collector