A Tale of Two Cities, the Blair copy - photo 1
A Tale of Two Cities, the Blair copy - photo 2

A Tale of Two Cities, the Blair copy

Lot 78
27.06.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 22 680
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1236308
Lot 78 | A Tale of Two Cities, the Blair copy
Estimate value
$ 20 000 – 30 000
DICKENS, Charles (1812-1870). A Tale of Two Cities. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859.

The very handsome Blair copy of the first edition, first issue, in the first binding. A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens’s greatest and most-quoted novels “The force of the novel springs from its exploration of darkness and death but its beauty derives from Dickens’s real sense of transcendence, from his ability to see the sweep of destiny . . . this is what emerges most clearly from one of his shortest and most powerful novels” (Ackroyd). Dickens was emotionally vested in this great novel; he wrote, “It has had complete possession of me; I have so far verified what is done and suffered in these pages as that I have certainly done and suffered it all myself.” The quality and strength of the prose is some of the finest he was ever to produce, for example, “It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” Its serialization in Dickens’s weekly All the Year Round reduced the demand for the book and parts issues, and thus fine copies are scarce. The present copy has page 213 mis-numbered, sig. b present on the list of illustrations, and "affectionately" misspelled on page 134, points that were corrected in later copies of the edition.

Octavo (222 x 135mm). Etched frontispiece, vignette-title and 14 plates by Hablot K. Browne ["Phiz"]. Original red cloth. A little spotting to plates; front hinge starting, spine a trifle faded. Frontispiece and 14 plates. Custom box. Provenance: Mrs. J. Insley Blair (Sotheby’s, New York, 3 December 2004, lot 140) – A.W. Bulleu.
Artist:Charles Dickens (1812 - 1870)
Place of origin:England
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.06.2024 – 27.06.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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