BLEAK HOUSE.
London: Bradbury and Evans, 1853. 1st book edition. xvi, 624 pp. Frontis, engraved title & 38 inserted plates by Hablot K. Browne. 8vo. 8-1/2" x 5-1/2". Custom bound in a deep,and lovely, full hunter-green leather binding by Bayntun, elaborate gilt decorated spine, gilt stamped Dickens bust to front board, gilt facsimile signature to rear board, gilt dentelles, AEG, marbled eps. Text - VG+ [some foxing, though the plates appear to have been washed sometime in the past]. Binding - Fine. A handsome volume. Item #634.19
At the centre of Bleak House is a long-running legal case in the Court of Chancery, Jarndyce and Jarndyce, which comes about because a testator has written several conflicting wills. In a preface to the 1853 first edition, Dickens said there were many actual precedents for his fictional case. One such was probably Thellusson v Woodford, in which a will read in 1797 was contested and not determined until 1859. Though many in the legal profession criticised Dickens's satire as exaggerated, Bleak House helped support a judicial reform movement that culminated in the enactment of legal reform in the 1870s.
Price: $1,750.00