Books

London: Chapman & Hall, 1859. First edition in book form, first issue. Leather Bound. Very Good. H. K. Browne. 254pp. Octavo [21.5 cm] Bound in a contemporary Bayntun binding of full brown leather, with gilt stamped ornamental designs on the spine, the publication date at the foot of the spine, and double gilt-ruled borders on the covers. All edges gilt. Turn-ins gilt. Vignette title page. Two brown silk ribbon page-markers. Spine title label chipped. Author spine label perishing. Light rubbing to the extremities. 1 and 1/2" crack to the front joint at the head of the spine. Faint numerical notation to front free endpaper. Paper repair to recto of frontispiece along the inside margin. Plate at p. 72 trimmed shorter along the fore-edge margin, and the plates at p. 102 and p. 168 are just a trifle shorter at the fore-edge. All plates present. Bound without advertisements. Page 213 numbered "113." Signature "b" printed on the list of plates. With "affetcionately" on p. 134. All…

A Tale of Two Cities is a historical novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. The novel tells the story of the French Doctor Manette, his 18-year-long imprisonment in the Bastille in Paris and his release to live in London with his daughter Lucie, whom he had never met. The story is set against the conditions that led up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

First editions of 'A Tale of Two Cities' can be identified by the presence of the publisher's name, Chapman & Hall, on the title page. Additionally, the phrase 'All the Year Round' on the title page indicates that it might be a first edition as the book was serialized there alongside its initial publication in book form.