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There are few authors whose names can be as immediately identified by a large international public as that of Charles Dickens. Indisputably, to both his own time and all since, he is the greatest literary figure of Victorian England. To many readers, he is equally the English novelist par excellence. Indeed, part of the general significance of Dickens is that he, more than anyone else in the English-speaking world, ensured the triumph of the novel as the most highly regarded and widely read of literary genres, a position it has retained ever since. This edition of Dickens' major works includes, as a matter of course, all the novels and the most significant shorter fiction (Christmas books and stories, Sketches by Boz, etc.). It also includes two volumes of travel writing, considerable selections from Dickens' periodical writing, and his entire output of verse. CSP are particularly pleased to include in this edition, by permission of the editor's estate, the entirety of Prof. Ken Fielding's edition of Dickens's speeches, acknowledged as the standard edition but which has now been out of print for over twenty years. The contents of the volumes are as follows: Volume 1 (606 pp.): Introduction to the Works by Prof. Michael Hollington; Sketches by Boz and other sketches Volume 2 (707 pp.): The Pickwick Papers Volume 3 (774 pp.): Nicholas Nickleby Volume 4 (101 pp.): Master Humphrey's Clock Volume 5 (507 pp.): The Old Curiosity Shop Volume 6 (600 pp.): Barnaby Rudge Volume 7 (737 pp.): Martin Chuzzlewit Volume 8 (398 pp.): Oliver Twist Volume 9 (754 pp.): Dombey and Son Volume 10 (736 pp.): David Copperfield Volume 11 (758 pp.): Bleak House Volume 12 (255 pp.): Hard Times Volume 13 (746 pp.): Little Dorrit Volume 14 (344 pp.): A Tale of Two Cities Volume 15 (376 pp.): Great Expectations Volume 16 (749 pp.): Our Mutual Friend Volume 17 (237 pp.): The Mystery of Edwin Drood Volume 18 (362 pp.): complete Christmas books: A Christmas Carol, The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain Volume 19 (631 pp.): complete Christmas stories (including collaborative material) Volume 20 (197 pp.): Reprinted Pieces Volume 21 (232 pp.): Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, Bardell v. Pickwick, George Silverman's Explanation, Holiday Romance Volume 22 (216 pp.): American Notes Volume 23 (148 pp.): Pictures from Italy Volume 24 (341 pp.): A Child's History of England Volume 25 (301 pp.): The Uncommercial Traveller Volume 26 (660 pp.): Miscellaneous Papers Volume 27 (416 pp.): Uncollected Writings from Household Words Volume 28 (503 pp.): Speeches (ed. Ken Fielding) Volume 29 (72 pp.): Poems and Verses All the texts have been newly typeset for this edition.
The Chimes A Goblin Story of Some Bells that Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In, a short novel by Charles Dickens, was written and published in 1844, one year after A Christmas Carol. It is the second in his series of Christmas books five short books with strong social and moral messages that he published during the 1840's.
The Bloomsbury Christening is a short story by Charles Dickens.Charles John Huffam Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's most memorable fictional characters and is generally regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period. During his life, his works enjoyed unprecedented fame, and by the twentieth century his literary genius was broadly acknowledged by critics and scholars. His novels and short stories continue to be widely popular.Born in Portsmouth, England, Dickens was forced to leave school to work in a factory when his father was thrown into debtors' prison. Although he had little formal education, his early impoverishment drove him to succeed. Over his career he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas and hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.Dickens sprang to fame with the 1836 serial publication of The Pickwick Papers. Within a few years he had become an international literary celebrity, famous for his humour, satire, and keen observation of character and society. His novels, most published in monthly or weekly installments, pioneered the serial publication of narrative fiction, which became the dominant Victorian mode for novel publication. The installment format allowed Dickens to evaluate his audience's reaction, and he often modified his plot and character development based on such feedback. For example, when his wife's chiropodist expressed distress at the way Miss Mowcher in David Copperfield seemed to reflect her disabilities, Dickens went on to improve the character with positive features. Fagin in Oliver Twist apparently mirrors the famous fence Ikey Solomon; His caricature of Leigh Hunt in the figure of Mr Skimpole in Bleak House was likewise toned down on advice from some of his friends, as they read episodes. In the same novel, both Lawrence Boythorne and Mooney the beadle are drawn from real life—Boythorne from Walter Savage Landor and Mooney from 'Looney', a beadle at Salisbury Square. His plots were carefully constructed, and Dickens often wove in elements from topical events into his narratives. Masses of the illiterate poor chipped in ha'pennies to have each new monthly episode read to them, opening up and inspiring a new class of readers.
Charles Dickens was one of the great chroniclers of London life. From the colourful chaos of dances and gin-shops to the sparse destitution of the pawnshop and the penitentiary, he captured the grime and the glory of the English capital with singular brilliance. Orphans and beggars, lord mayors and murderers, actors, criminals, cab drivers and prostitutes; all rub shoulders in this wonderful selection from Sketches by Boz. Chosen and introduced by the playwright J. B. Priestley, these thirteen marvellous sketches are accompanied by George Cruikshank’s evocative illustrations. Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.
