The Letters of Charles Dickens

by Charles Dickens

Overview

Charles Dickens is considered one of the greatest English authors of all time. Dickens often used the pen name Boz. Much of his work first appeared in periodicals and magazines in serialized form. Unlike many writers of his time Dickens wrote the entire novel before serializing it. He made frequent use of the cliffhanger to keep the public interested. A strong sense of the need for social reform runs through his works.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781438533742
Publisher:	Book Jungle
Publication date:	12/31/2009
Pages:	286
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.20(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) is probably the greatest novelist England has ever produced, the author of such famous books as A Christmas Carol, Hard Times, Great Expectations, David Copperfield, and Oliver Twist. His innate comic genius and shrewd depictions of Victorian life — along with his indelible characters — have made his books beloved by readers the world over. Dickens was born in Landport, Portsea, England and died in Kent after suffering a stroke. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know hunger, privation, and the horrors of the infamous debtors' prison and the evils of child labor. These unfortunate early life experiences helped shape many of his greatest works.

Date of Birth:

February 7, 1812

Date of Death:

June 18, 1870

Place of Birth:

Portsmouth, England

Place of Death:

Gad's Hill, Kent, England

Education:

Home-schooling; attended Dame School at Chatham briefly and Wellington

Table of Contents

PrefaceBiographical TableAbbreviations and SymbolsThe Letters 1865-1867 Appendixes:A. The Public ReadingsB. Draft Agreement between the Editors of All the Year Round and the author of "Aunt Margaret's Trouble" [Mrs Frances Trollope], [late 1866]C. Charles Dickens to John Forster [24 September 1867]D. "Dickens in America", from Our Special Correspondent, New York Daily Tribune, 6 September 1867, dated London, 20 August 1867Index

Editorial Reviews

Praise for the series and individual volumes: "The editors have done a miraculous job in the face of such an embarrassment of riches, and as a result they have set an example of literary scholarship to which all of us may aspire."—Peter Ackroyd, The Times, (London)

"It teems with...lovely squiggles of detail. At times we seem to breathe the very air of mid-Victorian London.... It confirms what the Pilgrim editors should never tire of hearing, that this is one of the great undertakings of modern scholarship."—Anthony Quinn, Observer

"What distinguishes the Pilgrim edition is that it is enormous fun to read. Its bulging footnotes expose the whole cavalcade of Victorian life, the scandals and personalities, the circuses, theatres, fashions, politics and crimes, the social sweep from slum to palace. But most captivating of all is Dickens's personality, which fizzes and sparkles on every page.... Like its predecessors, this new volume of the Pilgrim edition is a model of imaginative scholarship."—John Carey, Sunday Times

"[A] towering and meticulously edited series, which every learned library, every literary historian, must find indispensable."—Alethea Hayter, Times Literary Supplement

"Each volume of this edition wins acclaim as it appears, and it is right that it should do so. Kathleen Tillotson, Graham Storey and their team are deserving of every word of praise accorded to them for their meticulous and wide-ranging research."—Claire Tomalin, London Review of Books

From the Publisher