The Cricket on the Hearth Charles Dickens Other Fiction

This is the first edition of the third Dickens Christmas book, an unrestored copy in the publisher s original illustrate red cloth, noteworthy both for condition and for presenting a bibliographic curiosity. This copy is a possible intermediate state between the first and second states of the first edition, with an apparently unrecorded variant of the publisher s advertisement leaf for Oliver Twist following the text. This leaf typically denotes first or second state of the first edition. Smith (II, 6) identifies two states of this leaf, the first with 10 lines, the second with 12. This copy has 11 lines, lacking the first line of the identified second state: "NEW EDITION OF OLIVER TWIST", but otherwise identical to the second state leaf. Irrespective of state, this copy is in marvelous condition. Condition approaches near fine. The elaborately gilt and blind stamped red cloth remains vividly bright, as well as square and clean, with only minimal shelf wear and a few trivial blemishes. Only the original, pale yellow endpapers show some soiling in an odd, triangular pattern, as from something once laid in that left a slight impression. The contents are otherwise lovely, with no spotting, no previous ownership marks, and only mild toning. We note a minor diagonal crease to the lower blank fore edge margin of the pp.3-4 leaf, and an original printer s/binder s flaw imparting a minor diagonal impression to the upper blank fore edge margins of pp.145-160. The gilt edges remain bright. The binding is protected beneath a clear, removable mylar cover.Although the title page of The Cricket on the Hearth is postdated 1846, publication was on 20 December 1845.Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic, widely viewed as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. "In October 1843 he had the sudden inspiration of writing a Christmas story intended to open its readers' hearts towards those struggling to survive on the lower rungs of the economic ladder and to encourage practical benevolence, but also to warn of the terrible danger to society created by the toleration of widespread ignorance and actual want among the poor. The result, written at white heat, was A Christmas Carol: in Prose, published by Chapman and Hall on 19 December as a handsomely bound little volume which met with marked success. The first edition sold out by Christmas Eve. By 1844, the novella had gone through 13 printings. Myriad editions, as well as stage and screen adaptations, continue to accumulate, with no apparent slackening of pace or interest over time.Christmas Carolwas only the first and foremost of several Christmas-themed stories. Dickens eventually produced five Christmas books. The Carol s "more overtly political successor" The Chimes followed in December 1844, The Cricket on the Hearth in December 1845, and The Battle of Life in December 1846. Dickens s fifth and final Christmas Book, The Haunted Man, was published in December 1848. The Christmas books, particularlyThe Chimes, TheCricket, and theCarol, were the centerpiece of Dickens public reading tours in the 1850s and 60s. "In The Cricket, the story centers on John and Dot Peerybingle, whose marriage is threatened by a wide difference in their ages. When confronted with the possibility of Dot's infidelity John consults the spirit of the Cricket on the Hearth whose chirping Dot has said brings luck. The cricket assures John that all will be well. In the end the misunderstanding is cleared up and the couple's happiness is restored. The story also features the Scrooge-like conversion of hard-hearted toymaker Tackleton."Reference: Smith II, 6; ODNB