1838 ❧ George Cruikshank's Copy. DICKENS, CHARLES. 1812-1870. Memoirs of Joseph Grimaldi. Edited by 'Boz'. With Illustrations by George Cruikshank. London: Richard Bentley, 1838. 2 volumes, 8vo (200 x 125 mm). Half-titles, engraved portrait frontispiece of Grimaldi by William Greatbatch after Samuel Raven, and 12 etched plates by George Cruikshank; 36 pages of publisher's advertisements at end of volume II. A folding playbill for a play benefiting Grimaldi tipped into volume 1. Some soiling. Original publisher's pink floral embossed cloth. Rebacked with original spine laid down, a bit of wear. Provenance: George Cruikshank (signature on half-titles dated aug 26th 18?9); Charles Whittingham Chiswick Press Office (bookplate); John Francis Neylan (1885-1960) Prominent California attorney and business manager of William Randolph Hearst. (bookplate). FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE, 'The Last Song' plate without the grotesque border added in the later issue, and the List of Embellishments correctly calling for the sixth plate at p. 182. IN AN EARLY [FIRST?] ISSUE BINDING of pink cloth. GEORGE CRUIKSHSHANK'S OWN COPY OF A WORK ILLUSTRATED BY HIM. Grimaldi's own autobiographical notes had been substantially revised by Thomas Egerton Wilks before Dickens was commissioned by Richard Bentley to reshape the material for publication. Dickens supplied the preface, introductory material and concluding chapter, bringing to the project his own childhood enthusiasm for the celebrated clown, whom he had seen perform as a boy. Eckel, pp. 140-142; Gimbel B64; Cohn 237. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing