"Fagin in the condemned cell."

George Cruikshank

"Fagin in the condemned cell."

London

Richard Bentley, New Burlington Street

1838

First issued in monthly installments in Bentley’s Miscellany from February 1837 through April 1839, Oliver was a great success even though it had to compete with the Pickwick Papers for much of its serialization. Probably for the first time in his career as an illustrator, Cruikshank’s name does not appear on the title page.

Source: Oliver Twist or, the Parish Boy’s Progress. By “Boz.” In Three Volumes.

From the collection of Josephine Lea Iselin.