Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing

748 Pages·2009·5.74 MB·English

by  Michael Slater

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CHARLES DICKENS
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C D 6
HARLES ICKENS
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M I C H A E L S L A T E R 5
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YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS
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NEW HAVEN AND LONDON
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Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this book
are not available for inclusion in the eBook.
Copyright © 2009 by Michael Slater
All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced in whole or in part, in any form (be-
yond that copying permitted by Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except
by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
For information about this and other Yale University Press publications please contact:
U.S. Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.com
Europe Office: [email protected] www.yalebooks.co.uk
Set in Minion by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd.
Printed in the United States of America.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Slater, Michael.
Charles Dickens : a life defined by writing / Michael Slater.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–300–11207-8
1. Dickens, Charles, 1812–1870. 2. Authors, English—19th
century—Biography. I.Title.
PR4581.S6155 2009
823'.8—dc22
[B]
2009026834
ISBN 978–0–300–11207–8
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
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This book is dedicated to the memory of
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Kathleen Tillotson
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1906–2001
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mentor and friend
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Contents 6
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List ofillustrations in the text ix 2Tex
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List ofplates xi
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Preface xiv 5
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Acknowledgements xv
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Note on monetary values xvii 8
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1 Early years:from Portsmouth to Chatham,1812–1822 1 20
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2 Early years:London,1822–1827 14
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3 ‘The Copperfield days’,1828–1835 31 3
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4 Break-through year,1836 59
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5 Editing Bentley’s Magazine,1836–1837 85
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6 Periodicals into novels,1837–1839 110 7
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7 The Master Humphreyexperiment,1840–1841 140
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8 America brought to book,1842 175 30
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9 ‘The turning-point ofhis career’:England,Italy,
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England,1842–1845 207
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10 An interlude:‘daily nooses’and the noose itself,1846 241 4
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11 Dombeyand other dealings,1846–1848 254
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12 From Dombeyto Copperfield,1848–1849 275 7
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13 Interweaving and conducting:writing David Copperfield
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and beginning Household Words,1849–1850 289
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viii CONTENTS
1 14 The year ofthe Guild,1850–1851 319
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15 Writing Bleak House,1852–1853 340
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4 16 Writing ‘For These Times’,1853–1854 363
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17 Writing Little Dorrit– among other things,1855–1857 387
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7 18 Drama and dénouement:performing The Frozen Deep
8 and finishing Little Dorrit,1857 416
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19 Writing offa marriage,1857–1858 432
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20 Stories into scripts:the public readings,1858 461
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2 Text 21 Serials,series and stories:writing for All the Year Round,
3 1859–1861 469
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22 Christmas numbers,public readings,and ‘uncommercial’
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travels,1861–1863 498
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7 23 Back to the ‘big brushes’:writing Our Mutual Friend,1864–1865 521
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24 Last Christmas numbers,1865–1867 545
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20 25 Writing,and reading,for America,1867–1868 561
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26 Disappearances and deaths,1868–1870 585
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3 27 Charles Dickens’s explanations 615
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Abbreviations and select bibliography 624
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6 Notes 627
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Index 671
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Illustrations in the text
1 Letter written by Dickens at Wellington House Academy 2
2 Ordnance Terrace,Chatham 6
3 No.16 Bayham Street,Camden Town 15
4 Old Hungerford Stairs 21
5 Maria Beadnell as milkmaid 35
6 ‘Mrs Joseph Porter’(Sketches by Boz) 38
7 William Harrison Ainsworth 55
8 ‘Public dinners’(Sketches by Boz) 60
9 Mary Hogarth 69
10 Hablot Knight Browne (‘Phiz’) 73
11 ‘Ned Twigger in the kitchen ofMudfog house’(Bentley’s Miscellany) 87
12 Pictorial heading ofThe Extraordinary Gazette 92
13 The cancelled ‘fireside’plate (Oliver Twist) 125
14 Mile End Cottage,Alphington 132
15 From the prospectus advertising Master Humphrey’s Clock 147
16 Publication day,Master Humphrey’s Clock 151
17 Dickens portrayed by Count d’Orsay in 1841 174
18 The S.S.Britannia 179
19 The ‘Boz Ball’in New York 183
20 Dickens,Catherine and Georgina Hogarth 198
21 The Palazzo Peschiere,Genoa 227
22 Dickens reading The Chimesto his friends 232
23 Dickens as Captain Bobadil in Ben Jonson’s Every Man in His Humour 237
24 ‘Titania Dickens to Bottom – The Daily News’ 244
25 Rosemont,Lausanne 255
26 Sketches for Mr Dombey by H.K.Browne 258
27 ‘The rising generation’by John Leech 282
28 Drouet’s baby-farming establishment at Tooting 286
29 Jacob’s Island,Bermondsey 303
30 ‘Mr Peggotty’s Dream Comes True’(David Copperfield) 311
31 Royal performance ofNot So Bad As We Seemat Devonshire House,
16 May 1851 330
32 Admission ticket to an Amateurs’performance in aid ofthe Guild of
Literature and Art 342