DICKENS (CHARLES) A Strange Gentleman. A Comic Burletta in Two Acts by Boz, First performed at the St James's Theatre on Thursday 29 September 1836, FIRST EDITION, Chapman & Hall 1837[DICKENS (CHARLES)]A Strange Gentleman. A Comic Burletta in Two Acts by "Boz", First performed at the St James's Theatre on Thursday 29 September 1836, FIRST EDITION, with the mispelling "somehting" on p.5., etched frontispiece by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"), extra-illustrated with an etched plate by and after F.W. Pailthorpe, without final blank, frontispiece restored at lower margin, title slightly shaved at fore-edge, spotting to final leaf, brown morocco gilt by Riviere, gilt dentelles, t.e.g., a few small surface abrasions [Eckel, pp.154-156; Gimbel A26], 8vo (182 x 115mm.), Chapman & Hall, 1837FIRST EDITION, WITH THE RARE FRONTISPIECE, OF THE "SCARCEST AND THE COSTLIEST OF ALL DICKENS PAMPHLETS" (Eckel). The Strange Gentleman, the first of the author's plays to be performed publicly, was adapted from "The Winglebury Duel" in Sketches by Boz, as a vehicle for Dickens' friend, the comic actor John Pritt Harley. The play was very well received and reviewed, running for over fifty nights.Provenance: Frederick Burgess, Burgess Hall, Finchley, bookplate; Christie's South Kensington, 1 June 2009, lot 104.