Sketches by Boz and Other Early Papers, 1833-39 (v. 1) (Dickens' Journalism) - Hardcover

Dickens, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0814206298 ISBN 13: 9780814206294

Publisher: Ohio State University Press, 1994

Synopsis

London in the 1830s was undergoing great changes. In the streets old hackney coaches jostled with new omnibuses, night watchmen gave way to the new police, the poor crowded into inner-city slums, and the middle classes colonized genteel new suburbs.
This was young Dickens's city, and he reported it all - the gin palaces, pleasure gardens, streets, shops, prisons, and law courts - as though he were, in Walter Bagehot's words, "a special correspondent for posterity." It was as a journalist that he first made his mark. His very first book, published when he was only twenty-four, was a collection of sketches that had first appeared in newspapers and magazines written under the pen name "Boz." Sketches by Boz was an instant bestseller.
Dickens's knowledge of London was "extensive and peculiar" - like Sam Weller's in Pickwick Papers. "He knew it all, from Bow to Brentford," said one of his friends. In his Sketches the future novelist was marking out his territory, just as, in the pamphlet Sunday Under Three Heads, also included here, the lifelong campaigner against injustice and class oppression was finding his unique voice.
This is the first of four volumes of Dickens's greatest journalism - the first ever annotated edition to be published.

About this title

About the Author

Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. In 1824, his father was imprisoned for debt, so Charles was sent to work in a shoe-dye factory. He later became a clerk in a law firm, a shorthand reporter in the courts, and a parliamentary and newspaper reporter. In 1833, Dickens began to contribute short stories and essays to periodicals, heralding the start of a glittering and prolific literary career. He married Catherine Hogarth in 1836, with whom he had nine surviving children before they separated in 1858. Dickens died suddenly at home on June 9, 1870, leaving behind an internationally acclaimed canon of work, including Oliver Twist (1837), Nicholas Nickleby (1838), David Copperfield (1849-50), Bleak House (1852-53), Little Dorrit (1855-57), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860-61) and Our Mutual Friend (1864-65). He was buried in Westminster Abbey. Michael Slater is Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College in the University of London. He was editor of The Dickensian (1968-77) and President of the International Dickens Fellowship (1988-90). He has published many books and articles on Dickens. Michael Slater is Professor of Victorian Literature at Birkbeck College in the University of London. He was editor of The Dickensian (1968-77) and President of the International Dickens Fellowship (1988-90). He has published many books and articles on Dickens.

Synopsis

London in the 1830s was the city of the young Charles Dickens', and he reported it all - the gin palaces, pleasure gardens, streets, shops, prisons and law courts - as though he was, in Walter Bagehot's words, "a special correspondent for posterity". It was as a journalist that Dickens made his initial mark. His first book, published when he was only 24, was a collection of sketches that had originally appeared in newpapers and magazines under the pen name, "Boz". "Sketches by Boz" was an instant bestseller. This annotated edition is the first of four volumes of Dicken's greatest journalism. It includes "Sketches by Boz", as well as other early journalism, such as "Sunday Under Three Heads".

About this edition

• Publisher: Ohio State University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0814206298
• ISBN 13: 9780814206294
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 624
• Editor: Slater Michael