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(iii)-xvi, 624 pp. Illustrated with 40 steel-etched plates, including frontispiece and added pictorial title page; plus numerous wood engravings within the text. (8vo) later full polished calf, spine gilt, all edges gilt, housed in a custom red cloth slipcase. First Edition in Book Form, first issue, bound from the original parts.

An important landmark in Victorian literature, Vanity Fair epitomized the turn towards realism and psychological truth. Contains the following first issue points: No street address imprint on the title page verso, dedication leaf in small type with last line measuring 2-1/8 inches, the heading on page [1] is in rustic type, and “Mr. Pitt” rather than “Sir Pitt” on page 453; woodcut of the Marquis of Steyne on page 336. The first issue is especially valuable for the preservation of Thackeray's illustrations in their original state, as the plates were altered for later editions. Van Duzer 231; Wolff 6699.