FIRST EDITION The Chimes: A Goblin Story by Charles Dicken

The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells That Ring an Old Year Out and a New Year In. By Charles Dickens. London: Chapman and Hall, MDCCCXLV (1845).
 
 
This is a FIRST EDITION, second state (imprint below engraved title) of one of Dicken's famous Christmas books.  In the original deep red publisher's cloth with blindstamped vine and floral borders and gilt design to the front board, complete with all first edition identification points present as per Smith's bibliography, listed below.
 
The Chimes is Dickens' second 'Christmas Book', published after his popular A Christmas Carol .Like his other Christmas books, The Chimes has strong social and moral messages, typical of many Victorian fiction works, and deals with the sad disillusionment of a poor working-class man, Toby 'Trotty' Veck
 
First Edition Points (as mentioned in Smith II.): (all present)
 
- Unnumbered pages with no headlines: pp.49, 55, 88, 92, 125, and 135.
- pp.72, line 8, period after "master".
- pp.125 & 174, type loose in the last five lines.
- pp.149, 4 lines up, "him" loose.
- pp. 166, line 1, h in "mother" printed incorrectly with top part missing.
- pp.170, line 7, & pp.171, 2 lines up, some words closely spaced.
 
 
Size: 111 x 171 mm (approx.)
 
 
Condition: 
 
[(1), 1ff. (advertisement), half title, frontis, vignette title, t.p., 1ff. (list of illustrations), 175pp., 1pp., (1)]
 
Bound in the original red publisher's cloth binding, bright, and structurally secure with both boards securely attached, the binding secure, and without shelf lean. Some minor loss at the extremities of the backstrip. Some bumping to the corners. All edges gilt, very good. Collated as complete, including the original pale yellow endpapers. Without attached bookplates, but with a few ink ownership inscriptions to the front free endpaper dating between 1845 and 1900 and so extensively tracing the early provenance of this copy. Mildly toned throughout, some light spotting to preliminaries, ending at the main title page, else very clean throughout, internally very good to near fine. A superior copy of this scarce Dickens first edition.
 
 
[Smith II., 5].