Dickens' “A Tale Of Two Cities” Illustrated, with Publisher’s Ads, 1882.

DICKENS, Charles, [Browne, H. K. "Phiz," illustrations]. A Tale of Two Cities. London: Chapman & Hall, 1882.

First Edition thus, Victorian gift edition. Octavo (8vo). Publisher’s decorative blue cloth stamped in gilt with floral designs to spine and upper board. Publisher’s red top stain present. Illustrated by H. K. Browne “Phiz” with frontispiece and full-page engravings throughout. Sixteen (16) pages of publisher’s advertisements at rear, with additional advertisement leaf inserted after the title page. The Walter Scott Press, Newcastle-on-Tyne.

Contents generally clean and lightly toned, with scattered foxing to edges, endpapers, and occasional leaves. Top edge printer’s tint retained. One unopened leaf remains intact, reflecting limited handling since publication. Contemporary Christmas gift inscription to front endpaper dated 1901. Binding sound with slight lean; light to moderate rubbing and cockling to cloth, most pronounced at rear board. Minor fraying to corners and spine extremities. Overall, a solid Very Good- copy.

When first published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities achieved immediate popularity on both sides of the Atlantic and became one of Dickens’s best-selling works during his lifetime. Set against the violence of the French Revolution, the novel marked a departure from Dickens’s earlier works, adopting instead a tightly constructed narrative shaped by themes of revolution, sacrifice, and redemption. A Tale of Two Cities remains among the most influential works of Historical Fiction in English literature. Its memorable opening, “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” remains among the most widely recognized first lines in English literature.