The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit: With a Frontispiece from a Drawing By Frank Stone

12mo; xvi, 496 pages; Contents clean and secure in contemporary 19th century red leather spine and corners over marbled boards with faded gilt lettering at spine; scattered light foxing; leather rubbed with small chips. Frontispiece illustration of young Martin after a drawing by Frank Stone. Date on titlepage 1850. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between January 1843 and July 1844. While he was writing it Dickens told a friend that he thought it was his best work thus far. Several characters in this novel gained popularity, including Pecksniff and Mrs Gamp. The main theme of the novel, according to Dickens's preface, is selfishness, portrayed in a satirical fashion using the members of the Chuzzlewit family, with two of Dickens's great villains -- Seth Pecksniff and Jonas Chuzzlewit. Dickens introduced one of the first literary private detective characters, Mr Nadgett, in this novel. It was dedicated to Angela Georgina Burdett-Coutts, a friend of Dickens.…