Books

First one-volume edition of Dickens's second novel. This single volume was substantially revised by Dickens, who had bought back his copyright from the original publisher Bentley; many of his revisions were in the direction of a more dramatic rendering of the text, in light of his experience of public readings. Oliver Twist was first published serially between February 1837 and April 1839 in Bentley's Miscellany, and as a three-volume book by Richard Bentley in 1838 (six months before the initial serialization was complete). "Oliver Twist was originally conceived as a satire on the new poor law of 1834 which herded the destitute and the helpless into harshly run union workhouses, and which was perceived by Dickens as a monstrously unjust and inhumane piece of legislation (he was still fiercely attacking it in Our Mutual Friend in 1865). Once the scene shifted to London, however, Oliver Twist developed into a unique and compelling blend of a 'realistic' tale about thieves and prostitutes and a melodrama with strong metaphysical overtones. The pathos of little Oliver (the first of many such child figures in Dickens), the farcical comedy of the Bumbles, the sinister fascination of Fagin, the horror of Nancy's murder, and the powerful evocation of London's dark and labyrinthine criminal underworld, all helped to drive Dickens's popularity to new heights" (ODNB). Octavo. Original blue cloth, spine lettered and blocked in gilt, covers panelled in blind, gilt garland to front cover, repeated in blind to rear cover, light yellow endpapers. Frontispiece and 23 steel-engraved plates by George Cruikshank. Spine sunned, light wear to cloth around extremities and some superficial splitting to rear joint, some minor marks within but on the whole clean and fresh, very good condition overall. Gimbel A39; Carr B98.

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.