18 Volume Charles Dickens Library, illustrated by Harry Furness, 1910

A full set of the Charles Dickens Library edition, published by The Educational Book Company in 1910 to celebrate the centenary of Dicken’s birth. It contains 1200 illustrations, including five hundred special plates drawn expressly for this edition by Punch illustrator Harry Furniss.

Unique to this set is Volume 17 which gives a fascinating write up on all Dickens’ illustrators and is packed with 409 pages of superb illustrations. Volume 18 is a first edition Dickens Companion which contains Dickens In Anecdote and Criticism; Guide To The Novels; Chronology; & Bibliography.

This testimonial set has gilt page tops and is edited by J A Hammerton with an introduction to each story. The books are covered in blue book cloth with gilt writing and a gilt logo on the front with the initials CD.

The books are in good, unread condition. The cloth covers have minor rubbing to the spine tops and bottoms but are otherwise in excellent condition with bright gilding. The page ends have some foxing, but this generally does not impinge on the pages which are clean and white.

This superb set comprises the following volumes: 1. Sketches by Boz 2. Pickwick Papers 3. Oliver Twist 4. Nicholas Nickleby, 5. Old Curiosity Shop & Hard Times 6. Barnaby Rudge & Master Humphrey’s Clock 7. Martin Chuzzlewit 8. Christmas Books etc 9. Dombey and Son 10. David Copperfield 11. Bleak House 12. Little Dorrit 13. A Tale of Two Cities 14. Great Expectations & Reprinted Pieces 15. Our Mutual Friend 16. Christmas Stories, Christmas Memories 17. The Dickens Picture Book – With chapters on Dickens illustrators and 600 illustrations 18. The Dickens Companion – A Book of Anecdote and Reference