The history of Pendennis. His fortunes and misfortunes, his friends and his greatest enemy

First edition abundantly illustrated with 2 engraved titles with vignettes and very numerous in-text vignettes by the author, as well as 46 plates by Richard Doyle.
Contemporary English binding in half green calf with corners. Spine with false raised bands richly decorated. Brown shagreen title and volume labels. Rubbing to headcaps, joints and corners. Brown dampstain to engraved titles in margin, and to the first 3 plates, the dampstain becoming pale on all plates, more or less pronounced, sometimes minimal, sometimes present.
The tribulations of a young English gentleman seeking his place in society and in life, the novel is a satire of human nature and Victorian aristocratic society. Publication extended over 2 years due to the author's illness, who dedicated the second volume to his doctor. Thackeray is one of the most important authors of the 19th-century English literature, along with Dickens, of the following generation.