Charles Dickens – The Christmas Books, 1844–1848 From the Library of Lila Vanderbilt Field with her distinctive bookplate on four of the five volumes. 
 
A splendid uniformly bound set of Dickens’s five iconic Christmas books, each richly illustrated, housed in full red Morocco by Worsfold with spines gilt in six compartments and top edges gilt. Each volume retaining its original red cloth covers and spines, thoughtfully preserved and bound in at the rear, as requested by the original owner—Lila Vanderbilt Field who along with husband William B. Osgood Field, were renowned bibliophiles and members of two of America’s most distinguished families.
 
Titles and Editions:
A Christmas Carol (1844, fourth printing, Bradbury & Evans): With ‘Stave One’ on p.1, 3 hand-colored plates and 4 woodcuts by John Leech, 4 plain woodcut vignettes by Linton after Leech. Blue and red title page, 8vo. 266pp. + 2pp. ads. Some spotting, loss at spine tip, repairs to inner hinges, hinge cracked at Title page.
The Chimes (1845, eleventh edition, Chapman & Hall): 8vo. 175pp. Binding wear and notable staining/foxing to front board and prelims.
The Cricket on the Hearth (1846, FIRST EDITION, first state ad, Bradbury & Evans): 8vo 174pp. + 2pp. ads. Inner hinge repairs, some spotting.
The Battle of Life (1846, FIRST EDITION, fourth state vignette, Bradbury & Evans): 8vo 175pp. + 2pp. ads. recent leather front board replaced, front endpapers refreshed, repairs to spine and hinges.
The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain (1848, FIRST EDITION, Bradbury & Evans): 8vo 188pp. Heavy foxing to preliminary matter, hinge repairs.
All volumes include original red silk bookmarks and show signs of sympathetic restoration, typical for their age.
 
Provenance:
From the personal library of Lila Vanderbilt Field (1878–1934), philanthropist and daughter of Emily Thorn Vanderbilt and William Douglas Sloane. Together with her husband, William B. Osgood Field—distinguished collector and author—she assembled a refined library reflecting deep literary and historical interest.
 
A remarkable association set, ideal for collectors of Dickens and Victorian literature, holiday traditions, or those seeking to own a piece of the transatlantic Gilded Age’s cultural legacy.