Dickensblog

New editions of interest

Oxford University Press is releasing Dickens's works in a new scholarly edition. Sketches by Boz is already out; Nicholas Nickleby and The Uncommercial Traveller are coming later this year. They're billed as "the first complete authoritative edition of his works" and promise "comprehensive annotation." (Which perhaps explains the prices!)

Meanwhile, for those of us who just enjoy pretty covers, Chiltern Classics recently added Oliver Twist and Hard Times to their Dickens inventory.

Dickens at the Swan

Script Haven bookshop in Worcester, England, is applying for a blue plaque to commemorate Dickens's visit to their building in 1858, when it was the Swan Hotel. Best wishes to their endeavor!

Free online Dickens symposium in May

The Centre for Nineteenth-Century Studies at Durham University will host "Charles Dickens: Beyond Realism," a day-long symposium, via Zoom on May 17. Go here to learn more about the symposium, look at the schedule and speakers, and sign up. (And if you're outside the U.K., don't forget about the time difference, and plan accordingly!)

Dickens Museum acquires letters from Georgina Hogarth

The museum recently purchased a collection of 120 letters written by Dickens's sister-in-law to journalist Charles Kent after Dickens's death. A few of the letters are going on display, while curator Emma Harper works on transcribing the collection as a whole. As Harper explains, "Charles Kent was one of Dickens’s oldest friends and he and Georgina began writing to each other while the author was still alive, and were later able to share their mutually profound grief on his sudden demise. They will be a tremendous asset for researchers.”

Fine Books & Collections quotes this passage from one of the letters, written on Dickens's first posthumous birthday:

I know he is happy and blessed and indeed I do not think I would recall him to this dark world, if I could - but the burden of life without him is very very hard to bear - and sometimes, just lately especially I feel as if I could not bear it- and people always seem to think it is wicked to wish to die I am sure I don't know why - at any rate, if the wish does not prevent your (self?) humbly trying to do your duty while you live - as cheerfully and contently as you can! God bless you and yours - and help you through weary work of living.

Read more about the letters and their significance here and here.  

Happy 212th birthday, Charles Dickens!

Shortly after his birthday in 1868, Charles Dickens wrote to his daughter Mamie, "I couldn't help laughing at myself on my birthday at Washington. It was observed as much as though I were a little boy. Flowers and garlands (of the most exquisite kind) bloomed all over the room; letters radiant with good wishes poured in; a shirt pin, a handsome silver travelling bottle, a set of gold shirt studs, and a set of gold sleeve links were on the dinner-table."

Living near Washington, D.C., myself, I'm pleased to know that we gave him such a good celebration. Whether you raise a glass to the Inimitable today, or wear a geranium, or reread a favorite passage, or eat a free brownie at the Dickens Museum, or just think a kindly thought of him, I hope you enjoy his birthday too!

Portsmouth prepares for Dickens's birthday

The Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum in Portsmouth will host a birthday celebration tomorrow and offer free entry all day. Click here for details!