The Personal History

First published in 1849-50 as the Personal History of David Copperfield, this novel is narrated by David from a childhood under the Murdstones, through a London warehouse and a charity school, into work as a proctor and writer. Peggotty, Steerforth, little Em'ly, Dora, Agnes, Micawber, and Uriah Heep form the circle in which he learns what kindness, seduction, and fraud cost. Yarmouth, Canterbury, and London are the chief places. The book is a first-person novel of a life assembled in retrospect, not an autobiography of its author.

Quarter-bound in blue buckram with brown paper sides, cover blocked in gilt on cover with a phrase. Brown endpapers. Blue slipcase.