3 volumes, 8vo (192 x 118 mm). Half-titles to vols. I&II with advertisements verso, publisher's advertisements vols.I&III. Etched frontispiece to each volume and 21 plates after George Cruikshank. (Some minor offsetting or spotting.) 20th-century polished calf gilt, red and green morocco lettering-pieces gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut, stamp-signed by Zaehnsdorf (some minor rubbing).

FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE OF THE FIRST ENGLISH NOVEL TO FEATURE A YOUNG CHILD AS A PROTAGONIST, with "Boz" on the title-page and the "Fireside" plate. When Bentley decided to publish Olive or Twist in book format before completing its completion 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, p.59-60; Gimbel A27; Smith I:4.