Books

First US edition. This was the copy of the bibliographer Walter Smith, with his pencilled ownership signature on the title page, and is the copy photographed and described in his bibliography of Dickens. The Haunted Man was the fifth and final Christmas book by Dickens, and was first published in Britain on 19 December 1848. This US edition was published on 6 January 1849, closer to the British publication than other US editions of the Christmas books - Harper paid Dickens £5 for advance sheets. For the other Christmas Books several American publishers competed to be first, but for this title since Harper had a headstart, no other publishers attempted to compete. "The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain is concerned with the power of memory, with family life which is destroyed and replaced only by the wretched anxieties of a distinguished but solitary man... It has been said that in this autobiographical fragment Dickens is only suppressing his feelings of hurt and jealous rage, but it seems more likely that he was actively involved, after Fanny's death, in the process of transcending them" (Ackroyd, p. 553). Octavo. Original brown wrappers. Housed in custom brown leather chemise and box. Recent bookplate of collector Peter Russell mounted to inside cover of box. Very minor chipping at wrapper extremities, lightly stained throughout, still a very good copy of this fragile publication. Gimbel A120; Smith, Charles Dickens: A Bibliography of His First American Editions: The Christmas Books, pp. 104-7. Peter Ackroyd, Dickens, 1990.

The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain, a Christmas novella by Charles Dickens, was published in 1848. It follows the story of Professor Redlaw who is haunted by a ghost that offers to erase his memories of sorrow and grief.