Hard Times. For These Times.

DICKENS, Charles.

Item Number: 108032

London: Bradbury & Evans, 1854.

First edition in book form of Dickens’ attack on the living conditions of England’s mid-19th century industrial cities. Octavo, original green cloth blindstamped with gilt titles to the spine including the “Price 5/-” in gilt at the base of the spine and p.244 misnumbered as 44. From the library of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ stepfather, Hugh D. Auchincloss. Auchincloss married Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ mother Janet Lee Bouvier in 1942. His great grandfather John W. Auchincloss built the 28-room Victorian mansion Hammersmith Farm in 1887 which would later become Jaqueline’s childhood home and the site of the reception of her 1953 wedding to John F. Kennedy. With the previous owner, Albert Henry Wiggin’s card laid in. American banker Albert H. Wiggin amassed a large fine art and book collection in the early to mid 20th century, much of which he later donated to the Boston Museum of Fine Art and Boston Public Library. In very good condition with the half-title present, which is often lacking. Housed in a custom chemise slipcase.

Initially published serially in Household Words between April and August of 1854, Hard Times was published in book form almost immediately following the final serial in 1854. Viewed as a departure from Dickens' previous tales, the work presents what was to become an increasingly somber picture of contemporary society in Dickens’ works. Critics such as George Bernard Shaw and Thomas Macaulay focused on Dickens' treatment of trade unions and his post–Industrial Revolution pessimism in regards to the divide between capitalist mill owners and undervalued workers during the Victorian era. F. R. Leavis, a great admirer of the book, included it – but not as a whole – in his Great Tradition of English novels.