Dombey and Son — Dickens, Heritage Press 1957

📖 Dombey and Son by Charles Dickens (1957, The Heritage Press, New York) — the Heritage Press illustrated edition of Dickens’s novel of family pride and Victorian commerce, with full-color and duotone plates by Henry C. Pitz. This copy is complete with its original pink paper-covered slipcase and the enclosed Heritage Club Sandglass issue Number XI: 21 (dated 1957).

QUICK FACTS

• Author: Charles Dickens (1812–1870)
• Illustrator: Henry C. Pitz (1895–1976)
• Publisher: The Heritage Press, New York
• Year: 1957 (Heritage Club Sandglass issue Number XI: 21)
• Format: Hardcover in original pink paper-covered slipcase
• Pages: 798 (cited in dealer listings) | ISBN: None (pre-ISBN era)
• Condition: Book Very Good+ (VG+)/Near Fine (NF), slipcase Very Good (VG) — full report below

THE STORY

Dombey and Son centers on Paul Dombey, the proud London merchant whose shipping firm gives the novel its name, and on Florence, the daughter he cannot bring himself to value. Published in monthly parts between 1846 and 1848, it pairs Dickens’s critique of commercial vanity with some of his richest comic characters, among them the guileless Captain Cuttle. The book has been adapted for television repeatedly, but the Victorian text itself remains the draw for readers and collectors.

THIS EDITION

George Macy founded the Heritage Press in 1935 as the more affordable companion to his Limited Editions Club (established 1929), reissuing illustrated classics for sale through bookstores rather than by subscription. Heritage Press books were issued with two features collectors look for today: a decorated slipcase and the Sandglass — a four-page members’ pamphlet discussing the illustrator and the book. Heritage Press editions are generally considered reissues of Limited Editions Club titles, and copies that still carry their Sandglass are increasingly uncommon. This one retains both: the original pink slipcase and the Sandglass for this issue.

ILLUSTRATIONS & DESIGN

Henry C. Pitz provided the illustrations, and this copy shows them at their best. The book is bound in off-white cloth stamped with reddish-brown geometric borders, with a gilt-stamped spine medallion, character vignette panels, and a central Dickens monogram; the front board carries the same stamped framing seen on the spine. Full-color plates include the frontispiece “Mr. Dombey Lays Down the Law,” “On the Beach at Brighton,” and “Florence Lost in the City,” all still vivid and sharply detailed. Chapter openings carry small monochrome head-piece drawings (for example Chapter XXVII, “Captain Cuttle Does a Little Business for the Young People”), and the title page bears a sepia line vignette beneath the imprint: The Heritage Press, New York.

WHY IT MATTERS

• Pitz (1895–1976) was an American illustrator credited with more than 160 books; an original Dombey and Son illustration from this 1957 Heritage Press edition is preserved in his papers at the de Grummond Collection, University of Southern Mississippi.
• In the same year, Pitz’s Dombey and Son also appeared in a two-volume Limited Editions Club set signed by the illustrator — this Heritage Press edition is the trade counterpart to that limited issue.
• The included Sandglass (issue 21, 1957) carries the feature “Tycoon, 1846 Model,” on Dickens’s early family life and his father’s imprisonment in the Marshalsea.

FREQUENTLY ASKED

What edition is this? New York: The Heritage Press, 1957, illustrated by Henry C. Pitz, with original slipcase and Sandglass issue Number XI: 21 (dated 1957).

Is the slipcase included? Yes — the original pink paper-covered slipcase, graded Very Good, with light edge-rubbing; full report below.

Is it signed? No signature is noted; this is the unsigned Heritage Press edition (the companion Limited Editions Club set of the same year was the signed issue).

FOR COLLECTORS

A complete Heritage Press package: book, slipcase, and the 1957 Sandglass, plus the Dickens-related ephemera the original owner tucked into the pages — those pieces ship in their positions as found. Clean off-white cloth with gilt spine work and undulled color plates make this a presentable mid-century Dombey for a shelf that gets looked at.

Book Details

• Author: Charles Dickens
• Illustrator: Henry C. Pitz
• Publisher: The Heritage Press
• Binding: HARDCOVER
• Edition Points: Heritage Press edition with original pink paper-covered slipcase and enclosed Heritage Club Sandglass issue Number XI: 21 (dated 1957).

Condition Report

• Overall Grade: Book: Very Good+ (VG+)/Near Fine (NF) / Slipcase: Very Good (VG)
• Cover & Spine: Pristine off-white patterned cloth boards with central Dickens monogram and bright gilt-stamped spine medallion with character vignette panels; spine cloth is lightly tanned, board corners are sharp all around
• Dust Jacket: None as issued; housed in original slipcase showing light edge-rubbing and faint sunning along the open edges. Seams are all intact around, wrapping paper is split at the bottom edge of the mouth, but stable.
• Text Block & Pages: Clean, supple cream pages throughout; full-color plates remain vivid and sharply detailed; text block shows faint off-white/cream toning consistent with fine vintage rag paper. Tight, neatly penciled short annotations in front and back endpapers. 5 or 6 Dickens related ephemera inserted here and there by the original owner, will be shipped along with the book in their positions as found!
• Binding: Square and tight with intact hinges and sturdy structure. Quite nice indeed!

See accompanying images for full condition details. Will ship promptly, carefully packaged.

HFB-SEO-v1: 2026-10-09

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