Vie et aventures de Nicolas Nickleby

First French edition translated by P. Lorrain with the authorization and approval of the author contained in Charles Dickens's bilingual preface, dated January 17, 1857.
Contemporary half red shagreen binding. Spine with false flat raised bands decorated with gilt and blind fillets. Gilt titles and volume numbers. Boards rubbed. 4 signatures slightly proud in volume 1. Signature 251 with 2 loose pages in the second volume. Corners bumped. Some foxing.
It was in 1856 that Louis Hachette acquired the rights to Charles Dickens's works, with P. Lorrain as collection director and translator, he would greatly develop the offering of foreign literature in France, and notably English literature with Lorrain's help. Many of Dickens's works had indeed not yet been translated into French while they had achieved success in Germany for example. Thus, Nicholas Nickleby had not yet received a complete translation although the work dates from 1839.