Monday, December 08, 2008

Holiday Gift Books: THE NONESUCH DICKENS


The magnificent Nonesuch Dickens is a favorite of book editors and critics this holiday season. Here's a sampling of some recent notices:

"This six-volume set spotlights some of the author's greatest works: Bleak House, the Christmas Book series, David Copperfield, Great Expectations/Hard Times, Nicholas Nickleby, and Oliver Twist. And the books — modeled after 1937's Nonesuch Dickens collection — don't look too shabby on shelves either." - Entertainment Weekly

"As we catapult into the Age of the Kindle, it's heartening to know that there are still publishers willing to embrace the grand bookmaking projects of an earlier age. In 1937, Nonesuch Press published a limited-edition set of the complete works of Charles Dickens, using the rare woodblock and steel plates fashioned by Dickens' original printers. Only 877 copies were made - you can score a set on AbeBooks.com for $12,500 and up. Overlook Press is launching a series of facsimile editions of "The Nonesuch Dickens," beginning this fall with nine novels, including "David Copperfield," "Bleak House" and "A Tale of Two Cities." The books are handsomely made, with sewn bindings and leather spines, but they're worth the price if only for the crisply reprinted illustrations - of such legendary characters as Miss Havisham, Mr. Pecksniff and Wilkins Micawber - by Dickens' collaborators Phiz, George Cruikshank and others." - Newsday

"The Overlook Press has just published a new set of Dickens called the Nonesuch Dickens, based on an 1867 edition supervised by the man himself. The original Nonesuch Dickens, featuring illustrations selected by Dickens, came out in 1937 as a limited series and sold out fast. These new ones aren't cheap — the "Christmas Books" that include "A Christmas Carol" is $35 and "Little Dorrit," the Dickens novel for true Dickens lovers, is $40 — but they do look and feel great. " - Portland Oregonian

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