"POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB (London: Chapman and Hall, 1837) First edition, very early issue with most first issue points, with "Veller" on engraved title, 1837 on both the printed and engraved title pages and with "S. Veller" on page 342, line 5, "his friends" page 400 line 21, line 29, page 260, "holding" and including the scarce half-title. EXTRA ILLUSTRATED, with the normal set of 43 illustrations by R. Seymour and PHIZ plus with the 32 ADDITIONAL plates by Thomas Onwhyn printed by E. Grattan in 1837 also bound in. 8vo, in a beautiful signed Riviere binding of full red crushed morocco, the boards with double-ruled gilt borders, the spine elegantly gilt decorated in a morning-glory motif surrounding large floral central tools in three compartments, 3 additional compartments gilt lettered and decorated, each between tall gilt ruled raised bands, additional gilt work at the head and tail of the spine, board edges gilt ruled, turn-ins richly decorated in Riviere's best style, fine marbled endpapers and gilt to all edges round out this fine and handsome binding. xiv, 609 pp. A beautiful copy, internally fine fresh and clean, unusually so for this title, the textblock sturdy, firm and straight, the binding very handsome indeed, with the scarce half-title included. FIRST EDITION, BEAUTIFULLY BOUND BY RIVIERE AND EXTRA ILLUSTRATED WITH 32 ADDITIONAL PLATES. In this copy the illustrations have been supplemented by the series of "illegitimate" designs, which are the famous Onwhyn plates. These were published separately in 1837, when the book was in the full tide of success. They consist of thirty-two etchings on steel, the majority of which are signed "Samuel Weller," though a few have Onwhyn's initials. The plates were published by E. Grattan in eight monthly installments at a shilling each. Onwhyn's work shows considerable humour, and these uninvited designs now add great lustre to this volume. "Pickwick" was issued when Dickens' name was just beginning to be recognized by readers in search of entertainment and to excite the attention of prescient publishers. The publication of "Pickwick", which ran through twenty numbers, made for all time an English classic--a book representative of its age, exhibiting the life and the ideals of an important class of English folk, on the threshold of the Victorian era. Now, well over a century and a half later, "Pickwick" holds its assured place in the literature of our tongue, and, among all its author's works, seems to have the best chance of achieving what is known as immortality. The book was an improvisation. Dickens was led by his genius and by the indulgence of his jocuse fancy into picturing all the popular life which his varied experience in and out of London had made familiar to him. And it is a book that appeals throughout life--to the child and to the person of late years.' (Gissing) Like others of Dickens' creations, it is a masterpiece"--Buddenbrooks catalog.