Sketches of Young Gentlemen and Young Couples: with Sketches of Young Ladies by Edward Caswall

by Charles Dickens, Paul Schlicke (Introduction)

Overview

Following the phenomenal popularity of Sketches by Boz and The Pickwick Papers, Dickens produced two short volumes of Sketches of Young Gentlemen and Young Couples, in response to the appearance of Sketches of Young Ladies by 'Quiz'. Each volume purports to dissect the characteristics of familiar types such as 'The Bashful Young Gentleman', 'The Literary Young Lady', and 'The Couple who Coddle themselves'. Whimsical, satirical, witty and exuberant, the sketches ridicule the behaviour of their subjects with perfect comic effect, rendering Mr Whiffler, Mrs Chopper and their companions instantly recognizable. They offer intriguing glimpses of courtship rituals and relations between the sexes at the outset of the Victorian era, and fascinating evidence of a writer learning his craft and refining his style. This edition includes the original illustrations by Phiz, and an introduction that examines the appeal of the sketch, a literary genre in which Dickens excelled throughout his career.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191622236
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	11/10/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	20 MB
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About the Author

Paul Schlicke is editing the Clarendon edition of Sketches by Boz. For Oxford World's Classics he has introduced and annotated Hard Times and Nicholas Nickleby. He was President of the Dickens Society of America in 1994, President of the Dickens Fellowship 2003-5, and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Charles Dickens Museum, 2005-9.

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

Editorial Reviews

"By presenting these little-known Dickens sketches in the company of the work that preceded and partially inspired them, Paul Schlicke recovers their contemporary literary milieu and allows us to see them as more than mere harbingers of future greatness. It would be difficult to find a better qualified editor for this work." —Review 19

"The young Dickens at his most playful, writing anonymously and slyly observant of the manners and morals of the 1830s, when he was himself a young gentleman and one member of a young couple. Paul Schlicke's delightful edition includes the original Phiz illustrations." —Claire Tomalin, author of Charles Dickens: A Life

"So little known they qualify as 'new Dickens,' and as hugely enjoyable socio-comic writing from his most exuberant phase. Paul Schlicke is to be thanked for bringing them to our attention in his handsomely embellished volume." —John Sutherland, author of How Literature Works

"I've loved reading the Sketches - a delicious and illuminating part of the vast hidden forest of unknown Dickens, enchanting and surprising, and beautifully introduced by Dr Schlicke." —Simon Callow

"A taxonomy of archetypes that is at once amusingly outdated and surprisingly timely. Though its blend of humor and astute cultural observation captures a bygone era beautifully, its tease-points could easily apply to today's crop of hipsters, techies, and other social performative roles we all don." — Brain Pickings

"Interesting and fun to read. This inexpensive volume will lead many readers to a slightly more detailed picture of Dickens's earliest years as a writer." —Dickens Quarterly

"An especially welcome addition to the list of this year's dickens publications." —Recent Studies in the Nineteenth Century

From the Publisher