8vo, FIRST BOOK EDITION, 43 steel engraved plates by Hablot K. Browne and Robert Seymour (including frontispiece and additional vignette title), original purplish black fine-diaper cloth, pale yellow endpapers, covers and spine panelled in blind, spine lettered in gilt, preserved in specially made matching quarter morocco folding box, offsetting of frontispiece onto engraved title page, some plates darkened at edges, spine and part of lower cover sunned, lower hinge starting, further slight wear to corners and edges of binding

G. & J. Robinson Booksellers, Liverpool, contemporary label on upper paste-down; Robert Ellison Harvey, of Walton Priory in Lancashire, contemporary ownership signature in pencil on front endpaper; Comte Alain de Suzannet, engraved bookplate, sale of his Dickens collection removed from La Petite Chardière, Lausanne, Sotheby's, 22-23 November 1971, lot 24; Christie's New York, 15 December 1995, lot 9

Smith I:3; Sadleir 698

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing unless otherwise stated
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

THE SUZANNET COPY OF THE FIRST BOOK EDITION OF "THE PICKWICK PAPERS" IN CLOTH. The French scholar and bibliophile Comte Alain de Suzannet (1882-1950) formed his great Dickens collection over a period of more than fifty years. The 1971 sale at Sotheby's also included copies of Pickwick in wrappers, three copies of the first book edition in morocco bindings, the first American edition, and foreign editions.