The Great International Walking-Match of February 29, 1868.

Broadside, 380 x 565 mm. [sheet size], 335 x 410 mm. [to printed border]. Restrike[] printed in black, red, and blue with gilt double ruled border. Folded, with a slight split in the central fold. Signatures in facsimile printed in blue. Verso has a pencil note: 13 [corrected from 12] 15 1/2 x 11 5/8; perhaps relating to the number of copies printed. During his visit to America, Dickens’s friends challenged him to an International walking match to lift his spirits: England versus America. Charles Dickens as the Gad’s Hill Gasper, and George Dolby [the Man of Ross] versus James Fields [Massachusetts Jemmy] and James Osgood [the Boston Bantam]. Dickens, a passionate walker, won of course, even through the New England snow. Dickens wrote this piece as a sporting narrative and a small number of copies were printed for presentation to the participants and guests at a celebratory dinner on the evening of the 29th. The original edition is rare with probably no more that 15 copies printed and is usually described in all authorities as the only edition. From old auction records and library catalogues it has been possible to ascertain that a facsimile was produced, probably in Boston in around 1912. It is even possible that some of the copies which have appeared at auction over the years may have actually been this facsimile rather than the original edition. In any event, this edition is also uncommon and may present the only alternative to the original for most pockets; the last copy traced of the original was in a Jarndyce catalogue in 2010 at £20,000.

Product Info

Publisher: Boston: Privately Printed, 1868 [but c. 1912]

Type: Used

Binding: Softcover

Seller Info

MichaelKempBookseller

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Country: United Kingdom