Bleak House

First edition, illustrated with an engraved title with vignette, 39 plates by H. K. Browne including 10 mezzotints, including the frontispiece. All the drawings were executed according to very precise recommendations by Dickens, the mezzotint engravings expressing despair and the dark sides of the novel while the caricatural figures express joy and humor. As with all of Dickens's works, this novel first appeared in serial form (March 1852 to September 1853). First printing points: "elgble" p19, line 6; "chair" p209, line 23; "counsinship" p275, line 22
English binding in half burgundy shagreen with small corners. Spine with false raised bands richly decorated. Brown shagreen title label. Traces of rubbing to joints, headcaps, bands, corners and edges. Boards also rubbed. While the text paper is rather clean, despite yellowing of some margins near the figures, that of the engravings constantly shows browning, sometimes heavy, mainly in the margins, an almost systematic case in Dickens editions due to the use of more acidic paper for the engravings. A few small stains or foxing in the text. Good copy, well bound, a rare case for these popular editions.
The ninth novel published by Dickens and the first of the great panoramic novels depicting society, Bleak House came to life in France in 1858 under the title: La maison d'âpre-vent. A profound originality at the time, the novel uses two narrators, one in the third person, the other in the first. The opposition of the two narrations stigmatizes the relationship of the individual to the functioning of society. Many critics see it as one of the author's finest creations.
Bookplate of Syan Siennen.