David Copperfield by Charles Dickens (1980 Leather Franklin Library Edition) David Copperfield is a novel written by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to maturity. It was first published as a serial in 1849 and 1850 and as a book in 1850. David Copperfield is also an autobiographical novel: "a very complicated weaving of truth and invention", with events following Dickens's own life. Of the books he wrote, it was his favorite. Called "the triumph of the art of Dickens", it marks a turning point in his work, separating the novels of youth and those of maturity. The novel has a primary theme of growth and change, but Dickens also satirizes many aspects of Victorian life. These include the plight of prostitutes, the status of women in marriage, class structure, the criminal justice system, the quality of schools, and the employment of children in factories. Book Designed by Robert Freese. vii + 805pp Charles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. Paul Degen (1941?2007) was a Swiss illustrator, caricaturist, painter and sculptor. He is mostly known for the cartoons he did for The New York Times and his 34 title illustrations for The New Yorker magazine in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1992 he was awarded the Basel Innovation Prize for inventing the "ROMA Birth Wheel" Hardcover has leather boards, gold lettering and designs on front and spine, but no dust jacket. Page-edges tinted gold. Interior is tight, clean and unmarked. Seldom, if ever, read. No marks of any kind. Copyright 1980. Printed in U.S.A. Stated first publication of Paul Degen paintings for David Copperfield. No other print-run or edition info found. No ISBN, LCCN nor MSR.