DICKENS, CHARLES. A Christmas Carol. Hand-colored etched frontispiece and three plates by John Leech, four wood engravings in the text by W.J. Linton after Leech. Half-title printed in blue, title-page printed in red and blue, verso printed in blue, 2 page publisher's advertisement at end, green coated endpapers. 8vo, original vertically-ribbed brown cloth, all edges gilt, spine and front cover gilt-stamped, touch of fraying to head and foot of spine, one small ink blot at top of rear board; dampstain at front confined to front pastedown and endpaper, signature stressed between pp. 80-81, some occasional narrow tidemarks to blank margins, ownership signature to title, Kimbolton Castle shelf label to front pastedown; slipcased. A handsome copy of the first edition, first issue with "Stave I" as the first chapter heading, and balance of text uncorrected. With Todd's first binding state (the closest interval between blind decorative border on the left and the left extremity of the gilt cartouche measuring 14-15 mm and the "D" of Dickens unbroken). "Dickens' changes of mind [regarding the production] led to a period in December of 1843 when there were on hand at the printers and the binders different endpapers, title-pages, half-titles and text pages already printed, though not yet cased--a situation that led to copies going out with mixed features" (Lee Biondi, Firsts, September 1997, p. 30). Eckel pp.110-115; Smith II:4. London: Chapman & Hall, 1843