Machiavelli, A Christmas Carol, and The Velveteen Rabbit at Bellmans

A first edition, first issue of Charles Dickens's 1843 A Christmas Carol leads Bellmans’ Printed Books, Maps & Manuscripts auction on December 3.

This copy is still in its rare, original brown vertically-ribbed cloth, the title and author's name within a wreath of holly and ivy stamped in gold on the upper cover. This issue is also the only one with "Stave I" as the first chapter heading. Featuring four hand-coloured plates by John Leech, it has an estimate of £5,000-£8,000.

A presentation copy of the first edition of Margery Williams’s The Velveteen Rabbit Or How Toys Become Real (London, 1922), with seven colour plates by William Nicholson is also included in the sale. Williams (1881-1944) and painter-illustrator Sir William Nicholson (1872-1949) collaborated on this book and this copy was given by Nicholson to the 27-year-old Ada Squires (1895-1972), nanny of his daughter Elizabeth from his second marriage who was born in 1920. 

Ada was the vendor's great grandmother and the half title is inscribed: "1922. For Ada Squires on her birthday, from William Nicholson." There is also a very faint child's pencil drawing, possibly by a young Liza, on the blank recto of the final plate, possibly representing Humpty Dumpty. Copies of the first edition signed or inscribed by either the author or the illustrator are scarce and this copy has an estimate of £5,000-£8,000.

Other highlights include:

• Niccolò Machiavelli’s The Arte of Warre (London, 1560), the first edition in English and the earliest translation of any of Machiavelli’s works, in good condition but ends on folio C.viii of the seventh book (estimate: £700-£1,000)
• A Note by William Morris on his Aims in Founding the Kelmscott Press, one of only 525 copies, printed in 1898 two years after his death, and illustrated by Edward Burne-Jones (estimate: £1,500-£2,500