Morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven [Conn.]) 1848-1894, 1888-07-31

of three post octave volumes published bv
Bentley in 1888. The story was illustrated
(twenty-four plates) by George Cruikshank,
and the title page bore 'fOliver Twist; or the
Parish Boys Progress. By Boz" The last
of the plates, representing Rose Maybe, Har-
~ and Oliver sitting in front of the fire, so
much disappointed Dickens that he ordered
it to be cancelled, and accordingly in the
next edition its place was taken by another
showing Rose Maybe and Oliver standing at
Agnes tomb. A copy of the first edition, if
it be clean and contains the Cancelled plate,
Is worth about six pounds But before Oil
yer came out in full glory he had taken the
town by storm as he appeared piecemeal in
BentleY's Miscellany.
Anecdotes of the effect produced by the
tale upon the public generally, and upon
prominent men of the day in particular, are
many and well known. but none perhaps is
more fetching than that which tells how Tai
fourd, the celebrated lawyer, pleaded on be-
half of the Artfu1 Dodger as vehemently and
as earnestly as ever he did for prisoner ac-
tually at the bar. Dickens wrote 'tOliver
Twist" at 4S Doughty street, and wrote it
while it was running in the Miscellany.
John Foster relates that as the story shaped
itself it took an extraordinary hold upon its
author, who could hardly leave it; working
more frequently after dinner and until later
hours than was his custom with any other
of his novels. At one point he wrote to
Foster: ''Nancy is no more. Ishowed what
I have done to Kate (bis wife) last night; and
from the state which she was in, and from
my own impression, I augur well. When
have sent Sykes to the devil must have
your impression
The second edition, which came very short
ly after the first, has nothing remarkable
about it, except that the substituted plate
already mentioned appeared In it. It's pres
ent market value is from four pounds and
ten ahi1IinOS tn five r1Ouuds 7 IN 1890 two
other editions were issued, and in the next
year another followed. In 1S41 Dickens re-
pented having let the copyright go out of his
hands. He repurchased it from Bentley at,
the price of twenty-five hundred and fifty
pounds. and almost Immediately Messrs.
Chapman and Hall published a sixth edition.
Sixth edition it was in reality, but it is called
the s'third' on the title page, apparently be-
cause the third, fourth and fifth issues were
Identical in every respect with the second.
However, it can be easily distinguished from
all previous editions by reason of the pre-
face by Dickens which it contains. IL also
had list of plates at the beginning of the
first volume, and this feature it shares only
with the original edition. It can be bought
for three pounds and ten shillings or four
pounds.
There is one other "Oliver' which deserves
remark. In 1916 Messrs. Bradbury & Evans
published the tale in ten monthly parts, oc-
The wood cuts were the work of Cruikshank,
but before the issue was complete the plates
wore down and printed very badly. Unfor-
1 tunately Cruikshank, for some reason or 9th
l er, was not called to the rescue; a bungler
repaired the plates-and spoiled them. Con
l sequently the Impressions are wretched in
very many copies. Of course this affects
their price; and while an early copy with the
| wood cuts well printed sometimes sells for as
much as ten pounds, and seldom for less thar
| six pounds, later one rarely costs more than
a couple of soyereigns. Since 1916 the name
of the editions is legion.
It is much to be regretted that in literary
circles Dickens is at present underrated, bu
critical essayists may determine with the ut
most nicely what they term the Limitation!
of his genius"-they do not stop the sale O
his works. "Beshrew the general public,
says the airy author of ''Obiter Dicta.
"What in the name of the Bodleian has tn.
general public to do with literaturea Thil
much, beshrewed and bebodleianized and all
| thew nav for il u