Sketches by Boz

Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People (usually known as Sketches by Boz) is a collection of short pieces written by Charles Dickens. The book was published in 1836. The first edition was illustrated by George Cruikshank.

Sketches by Boz

Frontispiece of the first edition, February 1836. Illustration by George Cruikshank
Author	Charles Dickens ("Boz")
Original title	Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People
Illustrator	George Cruikshank
Cover artist	George Cruikshank
Country	England
Language	English
Series	20 Monthly parts: November 1837 - June 1839
Subject	Social criticism
Publisher	John Macrone; St. James's Square
Followed by	The Pickwick Papers

Publications

The first edition of Sketches by Boz was published by John Macrone in two series. The first series was a two-volume set which was published in February 1836. This was just a month before the publication of the first parts of The Pickwick Papers (1836-37). The "Second Series" was published in August 1836. After Dickens became famous, he could buy out his agreements with Macrone. Macrone died unexpectedly at 28. Dickens helped to publish a book called The Pic-Nic Papers to help Macrone's widow and children.

Contents of the installments

Most of the fifty-six sketches that appear in the 1839 edition were originally published individually in various newspapers and periodicals. These included The Morning Chronicle, The Evening Chronicle, The Monthly Magazine, The Carlton Chronicle and Bell's Life in London, from 1833 to 1836:

• • "Mr. Minns and his Cousin" (SB 46), originally, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" in The Monthly Magazine, 1 December 1833.
  • "Mrs. Joseph Porter, Over the Way" (SB 53), originally in The Monthly Magazine, January, 1834.
  • "Horatio Sparkins" ( SB 49), originally in The Monthly Magazine, February, 1834.
  • "The Bloomsbury Christening" (SB 55), originally in The Monthly Magazine, April, 1834.
  • "The Boarding-House" (SB 45), originally in The Monthly Magazine, May & August, 1834.
  • "Sentiment" (SB 47), originally in Bell's Weekly Magazine, 7 June 1834.
  • "The Steam Excursion" (SB 51), originally in The Monthly Magazine, October 1834.
  • "A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle" (SB 54), originally "Chapter the First" and "Chapter the Second" in two numbers of The Monthly Magazine, January and February, 1835.
  • "The Four Sisters" (SB 3), Our Parish 3, originally, "Sketches of London No. 14" in The Evening Chronicle, 18 June 1835.
  • "The Election for Beadle" (SB 4), Our Parish 4, originally, "Sketches of London No. 16" in The Evening Chronicle, 14 July 1835.
  • "The Broker's Man" (SB 5), Our Parish 5, originally, "Sketches of London No. 18" in The Evening Chronicle, 28 July 1835.
  • "The Ladies' Societies" (SB 6), Our Parish 6, originally, "Sketches of London No. 20" in The Evening Chronicle, 28 July 1835.
  • "Miss Evans and the Eagle" (SB 36), (Scenes and Characters No. 2) originally in Bell's Life in London, 4 October 1835.
  • "The Dancing Academy" (SB 41), originally, "Scenes and Characters, No. 3" in Bell's Life in London, 11 October 1835.
  • "Making a Night of It" (SB 43), originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 4" in Bell's Life in London, 18 October 1835.
  • "The Misplaced Attachment of Mr. John Dounce" (SB 39), originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 5. Love and Oysters," in Bell's Life in London, 25 October 1835.
  • "Some Account of an Omnibus Cad" originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 6," later retitled and expanded into "The Last Cab-driver and the First Omnibus Cab"; in Bell's Life in London, 1 November 1835.
  • "The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition" (SB 40) originally "Scenes and Characters No. 7. The Vocal Dressmaker," in Bell's Life in London, 22 November 1835.
  • "The New Year" (SB 35), originally in Bell's Life in London, 3 January 1836.
  • "The Great Winglebury Duel" (SB 52), originally in the First Series of Sketches by Boz, 8 February 1836.
  • "The Black Veil" (SB 50) originally in the First Series of Sketches by Boz, 8 February 1836.
  • "Our Next-Door Neighbour" (Our Parish 7), originally, "Our Next-Door Neighbours" in The Morning Chronicle, 18 March 1836.
  • "The Tuggses at Ramsgate" (Tales 4), originally in The Library of Fiction No. 1, 31 March 1836 (accompanied by two Robert Seymour woodcuts).
  • "The Hospital Patient" (SB 38), Characters 6, originally in The Carlton Chronicle, 6 August 1836.
  • "The Drunkard's Death" (SB 56), originally in the Second Series of Sketches by Boz, 17 December 1836.

Book Contents

The contents of Sketches by Boz are:

• Our parish
  • The Beadle. The Parish Engine. The Schoolmaster.
  • The Curate. The Old Lady. The Half-pay Captain
  • The Four Sisters
  • The Election for Beadle
  • The Broker's Man
  • The Ladies' Societies
  • Our Next-door Neighbour
• Scenes
  • The Streets - morning
  • The Streets - night
  • Shops and their Tenants
  • Scotland Yard
  • Seven Dials
  • Meditations in Monmouth-Street
  • Hackney-coach Stands
  • Doctors' Commons
  • London Recreations
  • The River
  • Astley's
  • Greenwich Fair
  • Private Theatres
  • Vauxhall Gardens by Day
  • Early Coaches
  • Omnibuses
  • The Last Cab-driver, and the First Omnibus cad
  • A Parliamentary Sketch
  • Public Dinners
  • The First of May
  • Brokers' and Marine-store Shops
  • Gin-shops
  • The Pawnbroker's Shop
  • Criminal Courts
  • A Visit to Newgate
  • Thoughts about People
  • A Christmas Dinner
  • The New Year
  • Miss Evans and the Eagle
  • The Parlour Orator
  • The Hospital Patient
  • The Misplaced attachment of Mr. John Dounce
  • The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition
  • The Dancing Academy
  • Shabby-Genteel People
  • Making a Night of It
  • The Prisoners' Van
• Tales
  • The Boarding-house
    • Chapter the first
    • Chapter the second
  • Mr. Minns and his Cousin
  • Sentiment
  • The Tuggses at Ramsgate
  • Horatio Sparkins
  • The Black Veil
  • The Steam Excursion
  • The Great Winglebury Duel
  • Mrs. Joseph Porter
  • A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle
    • Chapter the first
    • Chapter the second
  • The Bloomsbury Christening
  • The Drunkard's death

Sketches By Boz Media

• 

  Title page of the second series (1836). The illustration by George Cruikshank portrays two figures closely resembling the author and his illustrator waving from a balloon.

• 

  The Streets – morning, Illustration by George Cruikshank

Other websites

Online editions

• Sketches by Boz at Internet Archive.
• Sketches by Boz Archived 2005-11-27 at the Wayback Machine - Easy to read HTML
• Sketches by Boz - Large Print HTML