(Philadelphia: Jesper Harding, 1847).

AN ESPECIALLY HANDSOME COPY OF THIS SCARCE IMPRINT, AN EARLY AMERICAN PRINTING OF MASTER HUMPHREY S CLOCK, which was initiated as an experiment on Dickens part. This printing includes the author's preface of 1840. MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK is a collection of several interrelated short stories followed by the novels 'The Old Curiosity Shop' and 'Barnaby Rudge'. Although Dickens' original intent was to keep all the stories together, this issue does not include Barnaby Rudge. This is perhaps due to the tremendous popularity of 'Curiosity Shop' in America when it was first published in serial installments. Dickens fans were reported to have stormed the piers in New York City, shouting to arriving sailors (who might have already read the final chapters in England), "Is Little Nell alive?" Item #31428

Two volumes bound in one. Scarce, the first edition under this imprint and a very early edition presented in one volume format but with both title pages for the volumes included. 8vo, in the publisher's original brown cloth, the boards with lovely embossed panel in blind, the spine with blind embossed bands and gilt lettering. 224; 216 pp. A beautiful copy, the original cloth in especially fine and fresh condition with no fading whatsoever, vivid bright gilt, and virtually no wear, sharp corners, hinges firm. The text-block is clean with no foxing, the paper still quite fresh and bright, especially so for an American imprint of the period.