A Tale of Two Cities. In Three Books (3 books in a single volume)

London: Chapman & Hall, 1859. First edition in book form, first issue. Leather Bound. Very Good. H. K. Browne. 254pp. Octavo [21.5 cm] Bound in a contemporary Bayntun binding of full brown leather, with gilt stamped ornamental designs on the spine, the publication date at the foot of the spine, and double gilt-ruled borders on the covers. All edges gilt. Turn-ins gilt. Vignette title page. Two brown silk ribbon page-markers. Spine title label chipped. Author spine label perishing. Light rubbing to the extremities. 1 and 1/2" crack to the front joint at the head of the spine. Faint numerical notation to front free endpaper. Paper repair to recto of frontispiece along the inside margin. Plate at p. 72 trimmed shorter along the fore-edge margin, and the plates at p. 102 and p. 168 are just a trifle shorter at the fore-edge. All plates present. Bound without advertisements. Page 213 numbered "113." Signature "b" printed on the list of plates. With "affetcionately" on p. 134. All internal flaws listed in Smith are present. Smith 13. Eckel, pp. 86-90. Collins (extract from the third volume of The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature), p. 804. One of Dickens's most treasured works. A story set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution, with vivid scenes of large-scale mob violence. Dickens's novel not only condemns aristocratic tyranny, but it criticizes revolutionary excess at the same time. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The final work illustrated by "Phiz" for Dickens, after an artistic partnership which lasted 23 years. (Inventory #: 67709)