Books

London: Richard Bentley, 1838. First edition, first issue of Dickens' classic work with "Boz" title pages and the "Fireside" plate. Octavo, three volumes bound in three quarter leather over marbled boards, morocco spine labels lettered in gilt, all edges speckled red, illustrated with 24 plates by George Cruikshank. In very good condition. Text blocks trimmed, without half-titles or advertisements, or list of illustrations. "Dickens turned in Oliver Twist to the novel of crime and terror Some characters are drawn with humorous realism, but for the most part humor is dimmed by gloomy memories of the author’s own neglected childhood and sensational scenes are shrouded in an atmosphere genuinely eerie and sinister That Dickens shared with his contemporaries the conviction that the novel should be an instrument of social reform is evident in Oliver Twist" (Baugh).

Oliver Twist; or, the Parish Boy's Progress is Charles Dickens's second novel, and was first published as a serial from 1837 to 1839. The story centers on orphan Oliver Twist, born in a workhouse and sold into apprenticeship with an undertaker. After escaping, Oliver travels to London, where he meets the 'Artful Dodger', a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets led by the elderly criminal Fagin.