Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)[1] was an English writer and a social critic who is regarded as one of the great English writers of the 19th century.
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| Born | Charles John Huffam Dickens 7 February 1812 Portsmouth, England |
| Died | 9 June 1870 (aged 58) Kent, England |
| Cause of death | Stroke |
| Resting place | Poets' Corner, Westminster Abbey |
| Nationality | English |
| Occupation | Writer. Social Critic |
Notable work | Sketches by Boz, Oliver Twist, A Christmas Carol, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Great Expectations |
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Early life
Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth, England.[1] His parents were John Dickens (1785-1851),[2] a naval pay clerk, and Elizabeth Barrow (1789–1863).[2]
When Dickens was born, he had dyslexia and so he could not read or write properly, unlike other kids. When Charles was 12 years old, his family moved to Camden, London. He worked in a blacking factory there while his father was in prison for debt. Dickens's hard times in the factory served as a foundation of ideas for many of his novels. Many of them, like Oliver Twist, later became famous. When his great-grandmother died and transmitted money, Charles' father paid off his debts and was released from prison. Charles did not like working and wished to stop after his father had been released. However, his mother said that the family needed the money and so Charles was forced to continue working. Charles then finished his schooling and got a job as an office boy for an attorney. After finding that job dull, he taught himself shorthand and became a journalist that reports on the government. Dickens was a Unitarian.[3]
Author
His first book was Sketches by Boz in 1836, a collection of the short pieces that he had been writing for the Monthly Magazine and the Evening Chronicle.[4] This was followed by The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club in 1837.[1] Both books became popular as soon as they were printed.[1]
Charles Dickens died of a stroke on June 9, 1870. He was buried in Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey. He died 5 years and 3 days after getting into a horrible train accident that killed 10 people and injured another 49.
Books
Charles Dickens wrote many books, including:
- Sketches by Boz (1836)
- The Pickwick Papers (1837)
- Oliver Twist (1838)
- Nicholas Nickelby (1838)
- The Old Curiosity Shop (1840)
- Barnaby Rudge (1841)
- Martin Chuzzlewit (1843)
- A Christmas Carol (1843)
- Dombey and Son (1846—1848)
- David Copperfield (1849—1850)
- Bleak House (1851—1853)
- Hard Times (1854)
- Little Dorritt (1855—1857)
- A Tale of Two Cities (1859)
- Great Expectations (1861)
- Our Mutual Friend (1865)
- The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1869—1870) (unfinished)
Charles Dickens Media
Charles Dickens's birthplace, 393 Commercial Road, Portsmouth
2 Ordnance Terrace, Chatham, Dickens's home 1817 – May 1821
The Marshalsea around 1897, after it had closed. Dickens based several of his characters on the experience of seeing his father in the debtors' prison, most notably Amy Dorrit from Little Dorrit.
Catherine Hogarth Dickens by Samuel Laurence (1838). She met the author in 1834, and they became engaged the following year before marrying in April 1836.
Frontispiece, Sketches by Boz—Boz being a family nickname—written by Dickens with illustrations by George Cruikshank, 1837
The wise-cracking, warm-hearted servant Sam Weller from The Pickwick Papers—a publishing phenomenon that sparked numerous spin-offs and Pickwick merchandise—made the 24-year-old Dickens famous.
Young Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise, 1839
Sketch of Dickens in 1842 during his first American tour. Sketch of Dickens's sister Fanny, bottom left
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References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Lansbury, Coral. Dickens, Charles (1812-1870). Australian Dictionary of Biography On Line Edition. Australian National University. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dickens Family Tree website
- ↑ "Charles Dickens". 25.uua.org. Archived from the original on November 23, 2013. Retrieved November 30, 2013.
- ↑ Cousin, John W. (1910). "Charles Dickens (1812-1870)". A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature. University of Adelaide. Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2010-03-16.
Other websites
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Source texts from Wikisource |
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Data from Wikidata |
| Library resources about Charles Dickens |
| By Charles Dickens |
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- Works by Charles Dickens at Project Gutenberg
- Charles Dickens mobile ebooks Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
- Charles Dickens Archived 2021-06-24 at the Wayback Machine at the British Library
- "Archival material relating to Charles Dickens". UK National Archives.
- Charles Dickens on IMDb