Author: DICKENS,CHARLES
Title: Little Dorrit. With Illustrations by H.K. Browne
Description: London: Bradbury & Evans, 1857.. First hardback edition, first state. Two volumes in one. XIV + 625 p. engraved title, illustrated with 40 plates, incl. frontisp. by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz") HARDCOVER: (Orig. cloth blind stamped, gilt title, new endpapers.Text pages are clean and bright, though there are spots of foxing throughout.VERY GOOD copy) ¶ First edition, First issue. Two volumes in one. First issue with the points as called for including: the three line errata on page xiv, "William" for "Frederick" on page 317 line 27, "B2" instead of "BB2" on p. 371, "Rigaud" for "Blandois" on pp. 467, 469, 470, 472, and 473. Little Dorrit was originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea prison for debtors in London. Arthur Clennam encounters her after returning home from a 20-year absence, ready to begin his life anew. It satirises shortcomings of both government and society, including the institution of debtors' prisons, where debtors were imprisoned, unable to work and yet incarcerated until they had repaid their debts. The prison in this case is the Marshalsea, where Dickens's own father had been imprisoned. He is also critical of the impotent bureaucracy of the British government, in the form of the fictional "Circumlocution Office". Dickens also satirises the stratification of society that results from the British class system.

Keywords: Literature fine engravings fine printing collector's item


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