Dickens, Charles. The life and adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. With illustrations by Phiz (d. i. Hablot Knight Browne). London, Chapman and Hall 1844. Gr.-8° (22 x 13 cm.). XIV, [1] Bl. (″Errata“), 624 S. mit gestoch. Frontispiz und illustr. Titel und 38 Radierungen. Moderner Halblederband mit goldgepr. Rückenschild, 5 unechten Bünden, Linienvergoldung und Goldschnitt.

Eckel 71 ff. Hatton-Cleaver S. 183 ff. Rümann, Das illustr. Buch im 19. Jhdt., S. 82. – Erster Druck der ersten Buchausgabe (Titelvignette mit dem Steckbrief „£ 100 Reward“ und das „£“-Symbol ist nicht auf dem Erratablatt erwähnt). – Dickens bereiste 1842 im Auftrag seiner Verleger die Vereinigten Staaten. Voller Enthusiasmus aufgebrochen, war er bald von den vorgefundenen Zuständen enttäuscht. Nach einem Aufenthalt in „Cairo, einem Elendsnest am Zusammenfluß von Ohio und Mississippi, das durch den Grundstücksschwindel der ‚Cairo Company‘ traurige Berühmtheit erlangt hatte (zu den Geschädigten soll Dickens selbst gehört haben), schwand seine Amerikabegeisterung vollends“ (KNLL). – „Dickens’ funniest novel“ (William Boyd). – „Considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between January 1843 and July 1844. While he was writing it, Dickens told a friend that he thought it was his best work thus far, but it was one of his least popular novels, judged by sales of the monthly instalments. Characters in this novel gained fame, including Pecksniff and Mrs Gamp. Like nearly all of Dickens’s novels, Martin Chuzzlewit was first published in monthly instalments. Early sales of the monthly parts were lower than those of previous works, so Dickens changed the plot to send the title character to the United States. Dickens had visited America in 1842 in part as a failed attempt to get the US publishers to honour international copyright laws. He satirized the country as a place filled with self-promoting hucksters, eager to sell land sight unseen. He also unfavourably highlighted slavery and featured characters with racist attitudes and a propensity to violence. In later editions, and in his second visit 24 years later to a much-changed US, he made clear in a speech that it was satire and not a balanced image of the nation and then included that speech in all future editions“ (Wikipedia). – Frontispiz, das illustrierte Titelblatt und die Tafeln im Rand teils stärker braunfleckig, sonst gutes dekorativ gebundenes Exemplar.
First printing of the first edition of the book (the title vignette featuring the “£ 100 Reward” wanted poster and the “£” symbol is not mentioned on the errata sheet). – The frontispiece, the illustrated title page, and the plates in the margins are in places more heavily stained with brown spots; otherwise, this is a fine, decoratively bound copy.

• Kategorie: Literatur und Literaturwissenschaft / Illustrierte Bücher / Pressendrucke
• Schlagwörter: Illustrated books · Illustrierte Bücher · USA
• Sprache: Englisch
• Erstausgabe
• Bestellnummer: 109727BB

Unser Preis: EUR 140,--