As we continue to prepare for next month's Barnaby Rudge read, here are a few facts about the book:
- Barnaby Rudge was Dickens's fifth novel (note: link contains spoilers). It ran in the periodical Master Humphrey's Clock, as did his fourth novel, The Old Curiosity Shop.
- It was the first of Dickens's two historical novels, the other one being A Tale of Two Cities.
- Les Standiford writes in The Man Who Invented Christmas, "The public's response to Barnaby Rudge was dramatically disappointing. Sales plunged from 100,000 for issues of The Old Curiosity Shop to 70,000 for the initial issues of its successor and to 30,000 by the end." However, the character Dolly Varden inspired popular fashion trends and songs, and even had a trout named after her!
- Barnaby's pet raven, Grip, is based on Dickens's own pet ravens. And the fictional Grip appears to have inspired -- you guessed it -- Edgar Allan Poe! Rob Velella has more on this.
- According to IMDb, Barnaby Rudge has been adapted as a film only three times: as (silent) feature films in 1911 and 1915, and as a BBC TV miniseries in 1960. The miniseries is available on DVD as part of The Charles Dickens Collection, Vol. 2. However, like most Dickens books, the novel has been adapted for the theater several times. Last year an original musical version ran in Scarborough, England.
I wonder if that BBC miniseries is any good; has anybody seen it?
Posted by: Marian | January 18, 2010 at 04:17 PM
I haven't. Netflix doesn't even seem to have it, which is weird, because usually they have everything.
Posted by: Gina | January 18, 2010 at 08:00 PM
Barnaby Rudge the musical is great I saw it in Scarborough.
Posted by: Bill Scott | February 23, 2010 at 01:45 PM
Oh, lucky you! That must have been so much fun! :-)
Posted by: Gina | February 23, 2010 at 06:42 PM
It was. Barnaby Rudge is a complicated story but most of the important elements of the story were there on the stage.
Posted by: Bill Scott | March 02, 2010 at 01:13 PM
I saw it in Scarborough, I agree it was brilliant. I enjoyed it so much I went to see it in Whitby as well.
Posted by: Dave Blaker | March 04, 2010 at 04:54 PM
I have what appears to be a first edition of this splendid book. No publication date, but Victorian and published by Cahpman and Hall Ltd.
Red binding with facsimile of Dickens signature on the front of the red embossed cover.
Ahny ideas as to the value of such a volume please?
Posted by: George Compton | October 09, 2010 at 01:32 PM
Sorry, publishers should read Chapman and Hall.
Posted by: George Compton | October 09, 2010 at 01:33 PM
I'm sorry, George, but I have no expertise in such matters.
Posted by: Gina | October 09, 2010 at 11:42 PM
Not strictly about the book itself, but there is some tantalising information about the silent 1915 version of Barnaby Rudge as an extra on a new DVD of the 1934 version of The Old Curiosity Shop. The same man, Thomas Bentley, directed both and apparently the silent 'BR' was spectacular, with a huge cast recreating the burning of Newgate etc. But alas, no print has survived.
Bentley's film of 'OCS' is a cracker too, with (for my money) the best-ever onscreen portrayal of Quilp by Hay Petrie. The DVD was released earlier this month and was warmly reviewed by The Daily Telegraph and (if I'm permitted a small plug) by yours truly on the Eye For Film website.
Posted by: JV Robson | May 26, 2012 at 04:53 AM
A 135-page analysis of the name Fagin in Oliver Twist has appeared as chapter 31 of David L. Gold's Studies in Etymology and Etiology (With Emphasis on Germanic, Jewish, Romance, and Slavic Languages), published by the University of Alicante. The analysis also gives Dickens's authentic Yiddish name. Parts of the book are now available on line as a Google book.
Posted by: S.Z. Valkemirer | August 23, 2012 at 03:34 PM