The Cricket on the Hearth

Early, softcover copy of "THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH" - A Fairy Tale of Home by Charles Dickens. Though there is no date of publication stated, this copy was likely printed in 1846, the same year as the publication of the 1st American edition. Published by Jordan and Wiley in Boston. "The Cricket on the Hearth" is the third of Dickens's five Christmas books; its chapters are referred to as "chirps."

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH
John Peerybingle, a carrier, lives with his young wife Dot, their baby boy and their nanny Tilly Slowboy. A cricket chirps on the hearth and acts as a guardian angel to the family. One day a mysterious elderly stranger comes to visit and takes up lodging at Peerybingle's house for a few days.

Condition:
Note - this copy is incomplete...the back cover and a few pages at the end are not present (the last page ends with page number 36 [of 42]). Light soiling to the front cover; creases at the outer corners; there are 2 names written in pen at the upper-right corner; tear at the base of the spine and along the bottom edges of the pages. The inner pages are mostly clean and white with occasion foxing and stain spots; some pages have tears at the outer edge. The book had originally been bound by three threads at the center - the top thread is not present. Overall a very nice reading copy, but not a collector's copy due to the missing pages at the back of the book.