1846 – The Cricket on the Hearth – Charles Dickens | First Edition, Christmas Literature

Beginning with A Christmas Carol in 1843, Charles Dickens wrote and published five Christmas books for the holiday season. The third installment in this series is The Cricket on the Hearth and “it is said to rank (only) second in importance as a Christmas Book” after ‘Carol.’ (Eckel, 119).  This is a valuable and rare first London edition Dickens.

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home
• Author(s): Charles Dickens
• Illustrator(s): John Leech; Richard Doyle; Daniel Maclise; Edwin Landseer
• Publisher: London: Bradbury and Evans
• Edition: First Edition. 1846.
  • Second state: three lines of italicized text on page of ads at the end
• Binding: Red cloth, hardcover
• Format: (12mo), single volume
• Size:  6.75 in × 4.5 in (17 cm × 11 cm)
• Collation: [8], 174, [2] pp.
• Illustrations: 14 illustrations including frontispiece and engraved title
• Contents Include:
  • Full-text of Dickens
• Reference(s): Smith II:6; Gimbel A92; Eckel, 119

Condition:

Hardcover binding in red cloth, gilt lettering present. Spine with mild age toning. Binding firm and secure. Preliminary leaves show moderate foxing, interior otherwise clean. Good overall.

Why Collect This?

• First edition of Dickens’s third Christmas book
• Original 1846 Bradbury and Evans publication
• Complete with all fourteen original illustrations

Item Number: # 29727