DICKENS, Charles "Christmas Books" [Chapman and Hall, 1885]

DICKENS, Charles. Christmas Books.

London: Chapman and Hall, Limited, 1885. 7.5" x 5". With illustrations by F. Barnard. Publisher’s pictorial green cloth, upper cover stamped in black with dancing Fezziwig scene and facsimile signature of Dickens, rear cover with striking Bryant & May’s Matches advertisement design depicting a matchbox horse stand; spine lettered in black. Light rubbing and soiling to cloth with minor wear at corners and spine ends. Contemporary shelf marks to front pastedown and preliminary leaves. Hinges starting. Good.

An especially appealing Victorian Dickens volume, collecting the Christmas books in a highly decorative publisher’s binding and made particularly memorable by the unusual full rear-board advertisement for Bryant & May’s Matches. These advertising bindings are increasingly collected for their visual oddity and survivability, especially when paired with a strong Dickens holiday title and intact pictorial cloth this bright.