8vo. [12], 83pp, [1]. With half-title and 11 engraved plates by Robert Seymour. Uncut in original publisher's cloth-backed green paper boards. printed paper lettering-piece to spine. A trifle rubbed, otherwise a fine copy. Endpapers lightly browned.

The first edition of an illustrated volume dedicated to dissecting the controversial contributions of artist Robert Seymour to Dickens' famous Pickwick Papers. Seymour, the novel's original illustrator, committed suicide shortly after collaboration began on the second volume, amidst ominous circumstances and disagreements with Dickens over the tone and contents of further illustrations. The study was compiled by Samuel W. Lambert, Dean of Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons from 1904-1919, rare book collector, and angling enthusiast; Lambert argues against the erasure and plagiarism of Seymour's work, both by Dickens and future publishers, and defends his vital contributions to the Pickwick Papers.