Charles Dickens : his tragedy and triumph
1952, 1st edition. Boston ; Toronto : Little, Brown. Near fine copies in the original gilt-blocked cloth. Slightest suggestion only of dust-dulling to the spine bands and panel edges. The set remains particularly well-preserved overall; tight, bright, clean and strong. Item #416673
Physical description: 2 volumes : illustrations, facsimile, genealogical tables, portraits ; 22 cm. Notes: Includes bibliographical references (v. 2, pages xcix-cxv). Contents: Volume one. Part one: The anvil and the iron, 1812-1833. Birth and background ; The happy time ; The challenge of despair ; Ambition's ladder ; First love -- Part two: Climb to fame, 1833-1837. The career takes shape ; Boz is born ; Catherine ; "Pickwick triumphant" ; Knight of the joyful countenance -- Part three: Troubles and triumphs, 1837-1839. Metamorphosis of a journalist ; Lost love ; Ascent of the rocket ; The break with Bentley ; The will in command -- Part four: Deeper cast, 1839-1841. The thieves' den and the world ; Master Humphrey's clock strikes one ; Emergence of a radical ; The neglected and misused ; Triumph in Scotland and the eve of a new departure -- Part five: The New World, 1842. The American dream ; Conquest ... with undertones ; "Not the republic of my imagination" ; Return journey ; Home again: valedictory on America -- Part six: Crescendo of restlessness, 1843-1846. Year of disappointment ; Selfishness and the economic man ; Battles and Italian air-castles ; From the bells of Genoa ... ; ... to the chimes of London ; Last days in Italy ; Birth pangs of the Daily news. Volume two. Part seven: At grips with himself, 1846-1851. Difficulties with Dombey ; The "want of something" ; The world of Dombeyism ; A haunted man ; "Myself in the shadowy world" ; His favorite child ; Household words ; Splendid barnstorming -- Part eight: The darkening scene, 1851-1858. Fog over England ; The anatomy of society ; "The heaviest blow in my power" ; Critique of materialism ; "Fire bursts out" ; "Nobody's fault" ; "Old hell shaft" ; The prison of society ; Breaking point -- Part nine: The last assay, 1858-1865. "The track of a storm" ; Surface serene ; The tempest and the ruined garden ; Intimations of mortality ; The great dust-heap -- Part ten: The bottom of the cup, 1865-1870. Pilgrim of Gad's Hill ; To the loadstone rock ; Last rally ; The dying and undying voice ; The narrow bed. -- Appendix: Genealogical charts. Subjects: Dickens, Charles 1812-1870; Novelists, English 19th century; Biography.
Price: €125.00