LITTLE DORRIT
by Charles Dickens
First edition in book form bound from the first issue parts. 
London: Bradbury and Evans, 1857. In contemporary, half-leather binding, with all first issue points present inside in keeping with Smith Bibliographical Catalogue of Charles Dickens.
 
Good Condition
 
Octavo (22 cm); xiv, 625 pages, and 40 engraved plates by H.K. Browne (a.k.a. Phiz). In contemporary half-leather binding: Black leather and grey/blue cloth covered boards. Black leather spine has five raised bands and is adorned with gold-gilt motifs, lines, and title text: LITTLE DORRIT.
 
All (40) illustration plates are present. In some places. the original pin holes are visible where this was previously bound in parts. (See photo). Please note, this volume does not contain advertisements or original blue covers.
 
Condition: Good Condition
 
Outside Cover: Several spots of rubbing on the spine, particularly near the bottom with some light loss of leather and disruption in bottom two lines of gold gilt.  Heavy bumping of book corners with exposure of boards, most noticeable on front cover bottom right corner. See close up photo. 
 
Inside: The binding is Very Good. Sign of glue from a repair in the front cover joint. Cosmetic cracking to binding from the front of the book to page 2. The stitching remains tight in this area. 
Moderate foxing throughout, with a heavy foxing spot over the word "Dickens" on the vignette title page and a foxing along the edges of the first few pages. 
 
Cream endpapers. Endpapers: Some staining around the edges, and stain marks noticed throughout the frontend papers.
About the Story
Originally published in serial form between 1855 and 1857, Little Dorrit is about Amy Dorrit, the youngest child of her family who is born and raised in the Marshalsea Prison for debtors in London. In Little Dorrit, Dickens’s satirizes the ridiculous system of imprisoning debtors (thus prohibiting their ability to work) until they paid off their debts. Dickens’s own father had been in debtors’ prison and it was, sadly, a situation known all too well to Dickens.