[DICKENS, Charles (1812–1870)]. Sunday Under Three Heads […] by Timothy Sparks. London: Chapman and Hall, 1836. [With:] Early facsimile by Pearson of Manchester.

“Excessively scarce” first edition of Dickens' anonymous political pamphlet (Kitton). The de Suzannet copy in original wrappers. “Dickens found time in the midst of his work on Pickwick to write his views on the freedom of the Sabbath for the poor man and give them form in a printed booklet” (Eckel, p. 102). Both Pickwick and Sunday contain depictions of cricket; Dickens refers to the sight of a “very animated game of cricket” in the last part of his pamphlet, however, the famous cricket plate shows not the game itself but an old man coaching “a sun-burnt young fellow” whose eyes inevitably fall on the old man's extremely pretty grand-daughter. In Dickens's view, Sunday can undoubtedly be a day for both cricket and courtship. He not only argued for the preservation of popular recreations but for the opening of museums and art galleries on Sundays. Facsimile editions of this rare pamphlet appeared first in 1884 by Jarvis & Son and later by Pearson of Manchester, a copy of the latter is present here. Eckel pp.102–03; Kitton p.61 ("excessively scarce”).

Octavo (165 × 107mm). Half-title, etched frontispiece and 2 plates after Hablot K. Browne, three woodcut heads on title-page repeated on front wrapper (small stain at bottom of preliminaries, erased “Charles Dickens” attribution in pencil on title-page, small marginal tear in frontispiece). Original wrappers (rebacked, lightly soiled); quarter red morocco slipcase and cloth chemise.

[With:]

Facsimile edition by Pearson of Manchester. Octavo (163 × 101mm). Etched frontispiece and 2 plates after Hablot K. Browne, three woodcut heads on title-page repeated on front wrapper (small marginal tear in frontispiece, lightly toned). Original wrappers (backstrip and edges chipped, losses to backstrip, creases and small tears, spotted and toned).

Henry William Poor, 1844–1915 (leather booklabel)
Comte Alain de Suzannet, 1882–1950 (bookplate; his sale, Sotheby’s, London, 22 November 1971, lot 13).