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This beautiful boxed set contains five of Charles Dickens’ best loved works in a luxury case with padded cloth top and ribbon opener. Of period design, it features the author’s picture and signature. Each book is section-sewn, is full-bound in real cloth and has gilt edges, head and tail bands and a ribbon marker. The set makes a perfect gift for every generation and will also delight serious collectors of Charles Dickens’ books everywhere.

Book 1: A Christmas Carol

A Christmas Carol was an overnight success when first published in 1843, and was followed by two further Christmas books, The Chimes and The Cricket on the Hearth, also included in this volume. But A Christmas Carols Ebenezer Scooge is one of Dickenss most unforgettable characters, a miserable skinflint without equal. Even he, however, can be redeemed by the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Book 2: Great Expectations

One of Dickens's most renowned and enjoyable novels, Great Expectations tells the story of Pip, an orphan boy who wishes to transcend his humble origins and finds himself unexpectedly given the opportunity to live a life of wealth and respectability. Over the course of the tale, in which Pip encounters such famous characters as Miss Havisham, Herbert Pocket and Joe Gargery, he comes to realise that his money is tainted and the girl he loves will not return his affections; happiness must be found in the things he gave up in pursuit of a more sophisticated life.

Book 3: David Copperfield

Dicken's tale of David Copperfield follows him from birth through to his successful career as a novelist. The novel boasts a famously rich cast of outlandish characters: the glamorous Steerforth, the cheerful Mr Micawber, the villainous Uriah Heep and David's eccentric aunt Betsy Trotwood, among others. Dickens described this energetic and enjoyable novel as his 'favourite child' and it is easy to see why.

Book 4: Nicholas Nickleby

Nicholas Nickleby is one of Dickens's early novels, a popular melodrama with a rich list of characters. When his father dies penniless, Nicholas Nickleby, his mother and his sister Kate are thrown on the mercy of his corrupt uncle Ralph Nickleby. Sent away to teach at the infamous Dotheboys Hall, run by the sadistic Wackford Squeers, Nicholas eventually absconds, but not before rescuing the poor abused Smike. He returns home just in time to save his sister from the unwanted attentions of Sir Mulberry Hawk, and eventually his family's fortunes are restored.

Book 5: Bleak House

At the court of Chancery, the interminable law suit of Jarndyce and Jarndyce rolls on and on, encompassing so many diverse characters in its thrall like the fog that smothers the great city of London, including Esther Summerson, the heroine of the novel and one of Dickens' more feisty and characterful leading ladies. We are drawn in and fascinated by the complex set of relationships at all levels of society, from Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock, cocooned in their stately home in Lincolnshire, to Jo, the crossing sweeper in the hell hole known as Tom-All-Alone's. In none of Charles Dickens' other novels is the canvas broader, the sweep more inclusive, the linguistic texture richer and the gallery of comic grotesques more extraordinary. While Bleak House is a condemnation of the corruption at the heart of English society, it is also a love story and a murder mystery. And, it is wonderful entertainment.