The Mystery of Edwin Drood
London: Chapman and Hall, 1870. First Edition. Leather. 8vo. Pp. 190. Engraved title. Engraved frontis. port. of Dickens by J. H. Baker after the 1863 photograph of Dickens taken by Mason & Co., with tissue guard. With 12 plates by L. [Luke] Fildes, also with tissue guards. Bound in old three-quarter red morocco over red textured cloth boards. Marbled endpapers and edges. With stray foxing. A handsome, presentable copy. Very Good+. Item #5578
First edition, bound from parts. Dickens sudden death left his great mystery novel only half finished. His ambition? To rival Wilkie Collins' Moonstone. Collins and Dickens had collaborated on a number of works; their mutual influence was great. And while Dickens affected almost all Western writers of his time, Collins has been declared the only writer who influenced Dickens. GLOVER & GREENE, Victorian Detective Fiction, p. 109. BARZUN & TAYLOR, Catalogue of Crime, p. 1103. ECKEL, p. 96. SMITH I, 114.
Price: $450.00