Gaskell but only Sadleir owned a copy of Cranford in first edition and his copy had restoration to the endpapers. The two major collectors of 19th century fiction, Michael Sadleir and Robert Lee Wolf, both spent many years assembling large and impressive libraries of Victorian period novels and published detailed catalogues of their collections. More often than not the book has been rebound, as in the case of the copy I have at the moment, in leather. Most copies that do turn up in the cloth have had repairs and restoration of some sort. It is an attractive little book, although copies in this original cloth binding are rarely found in good condition. This is the term used to descibe a stamped impression without any gilt, or any other colouring, used to accent the design. The boards were decorated with a decorative 'Blind' block.

It measured just 6.9 x 4.5 inches), it was issued in an attractive green cloth binding with gilt lettering and blocking on the spine. A small book (I have recently sold a copy of this first edition. The collection of these pieces into one novel was originally published anonymously, the title page just listing it as 'by the Author of Mary Barton,' 'Ruth,' &c.'. Mrs Gaskell was a favourite of Dickens and a regular contributor, including the story Lizzie Leigh which was serialised in the first issues of March and April 1850. Household Words was a popular journal started under the editorship of Charles Dickens in 1850. The work had originally been published as a series of stories in various issues of Household Words magazine between 13th December 1851 and 21st May 1853. A gentle insight into life in mid nineteenth century England, specifically Knutsford in Cheshire, it is as popular today as it was when it first appeared over 150 years ago.Ĭranford was first published in book form in 1853, by Chapman & Hall of London. One of the most popular Victorian novels I try to keep in stock is Cranford, by Mrs.

The cranford collection books