Anatine
Charles Dickens Profile

Charles John Huffam Dickens
Keynotes

  Born:  Portsea, Hampshire, 1812.

  Died:  1870.

  English novelist noted for his rich characterisation and his witty observations of social conditions in Victorian Britain.  His novels were all originally published in serial form.

  Born in Portsea in 1812, the son of a clerk, Charles Dickens had little formal education.  During 1824, Dickens worked in a blacking factory in South London while his father was in prison for debt.  After this he spent three years in a private school before becoming a lawyer's clerk.

  Dickens began his writing career as a reporter for the Morning Chronicle where he worked for four years.

  The Pickwick Papers, which first appeared in 1836, were originally intended to accompany a series of sporting illustrations, but soon grew to overshadow them and established Dickens' reputation as a writer.  Just three days after the publication of the first of The Pickwick Papers, Charles Dickens married Katherine Hogarth.

  His success was compounded by a series of novels concerning social reform: Oliver Twist (1838), Nicholas Nickleby (1838), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840 - 41), and Barnaby Rudge (1841).

  In 1842 he visited the USA where he received a mixed welcome having previously attacked the practices of US publishers who were regularly producing pirate copies of English books.  Dickens reflected on his experiences in the USA in American Notes and Martin Chuzzlewit, both published in 1843.

  The first of his Christmas books was A Christmas Carol, published in 1843.  This was followed by The Chimes (1844) which was written in Genoa, and by Cricket on the Hearth (1845).

  Following the publication of David Copperfield in 1850, Dickens founded the weekly magazine, Household Words, which, in 1859, became All the Year Round.

  Dickens separated from his wife, Katherine, in 1856, and his sister-in-law stayed with him to look after his children.  He died in 1870 following a stroke.

Works with dates:

The Pickwick Papers (1836 - 7)
Oliver Twist (1838)
Nicholas Nickleby (1838 - 9)
One Pair of Hands (1839)
The Old Curiosity Shop (1840 - 1)
Barnaby Rudge (1841)
A Christmas Carol (1843)
Martin Chuzzlewit (1843 - 4)
The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
Dombey and Son (1846 - 8)
David Copperfield (1849 - 50)
Bleak House (1852 - 3)
Hard Times (1854)
Little Dorrit (1855 - 7)
A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
Great Expectations (1860 - 1)
Our Mutual Friend (1864 - 5)
The Mystery of Edwin Drood [Unfinished]

 
 

Links

Spartacus - a biography of Charles Dickens
http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/
PRdickens.htm

The Charles Dickens Museum, London
http://www.dickensmuseum.com/

Guardian Unlimited - Charles Dickens
http://books.guardian.co.uk/authors/
author/0,5917,-58,00.html

Victorian Web - Charles Dickens
http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/
dickens/dickensov.html

BBCi - Dickens
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arts/dickens/

The Millennium Library - Charles Dickens
http://www.millenniumlibrary.co.uk/millib/reference/
notes.php?entry=Charles+Dickens&fromdb=2

Postaprint - Charles Dickens Biography
http://www.antiquemapsandprints.com/charles-dickens.htm

David Perdue's Charles Dickens Page
http://www.fidnet.com/%7Edap1955/dickens/

The Dickens Fellowship
http://www.dickens.fellowship.btinternet.co.uk/index.html

A selection of books by Charles Dickens available from W.H. Smith:
 

The Pickwick Papers  (paperback)

Oliver Twist  (paperback)

Oliver Twist  (hardback)

Nicholas Nickleby  (paperback)

Nicholas Nickleby  (hardback)

The Old Curiosity Shop  (paperback)

The Old Curiosity Shop  (hardback)

The Old Curiosity Shop  (hardback)

Barnaby Rudge  (paperback)

Christmas Books A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth.  (paperback)

A Christmas Carol  (hardback)

Christmas Carol: the Original Manuscript

Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit  (paperback)

Martin Chuzzlewit  (hardback)

Dombey and Son  (paperback)

Dombey and Son  (hardback)

David Copperfield  (paperback)

David Copperfield  (hardback)

David Copperfield  (hardback)

Bleak House  (paperback)

Bleak House   (hardback)

Hard Times  (paperback)

Hard Times  (hardback)

Little Dorrit  (paperback)

Little Dorrit  (hardback)

A Tale of Two Cities  (paperback)

A Tale of Two Cities  (hardback)

Great Expectations  (paperback)

Great Expectations  (hardback)

Great Expectations  (hardback)

Our Mutual Friend  (paperback)

Our Mutual Friend  (hardback)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood  (paperback)

The Mystery of Edwin Drood  (hardback)

American Notes for Genral Circulation  (paperback)

"American Notes" and "Pictures From Italy" With All the Original Illustrations

American Notes and Pictures from Italy  (hardback)

Contributions to All the Year Round

Speeches, Letters and Sayings of Charles Dickens