Dickensblog

The sad tale of the Dickens turkey

According to a recently rediscovered letter from the author, the 30-pound turkey Dickens was to have had for his last Christmas dinner met with a very unfortunate accident.

Charles Dickens, foodie

Columnist Rich Barlow argues that Dickens was "the greatest Christmas food writer of them all."

The story behind the 'Carol'

"With Christmas approaching, Dickens wrote the book — some 30,000 words — in a matter of weeks. Off the page, his publishers played the role of Scrooge, showing little interest in the idea, so Dickens hired his own artists and editors and took care of the printing.

"His publishers weren’t totally wrong. Back then, Christmas wasn’t that big of a deal. But Dickens saw what they didn’t see: an opportunity to elevate Christmas as a symbol of hope and renewal, which would hopefully renew him, too."

--Michael S. Rosenwald, "The wrenching reason Charles Dickens wrote 'A Christmas Carol,'" The Washington Post, December 21, 2019

A Halloween Carol?

Though Dickens is so often associated with Christmas, Professor Joel J. Brattin of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (currently running a special Dickens exhibit) suggests that the ghostly elements in his work should make us think of another holiday!

Oliver Twiss and Martin Guzzlewit

We've all heard of the widespread literary plagiarism and piracy in Dickens's time, but a new biography of publisher Edward Lloyd suggests that it was even more widespread than we knew. Biographer Rohan McWilliam explains, “What’s particularly interesting is that many Victorian readers may have first encountered Dickens not through his own work, but through one of these imitations. There were many titles produced, which indicate that they were incredibly popular. And in some ways the plagiarisms could be seen as the original form of fan fiction, as they took familiar characters and did different things with them.” For more on Oliver Twiss and other plagiarisms of Dickens, go here.

Lucinda Dickens Hawksley: 'You can tell in his books when he is depressed'

Dickens's great-great-great-granddaughter gives an insightful interview to Noted on his troubled marriage, his mental health, her favorite of his novels, and what her next book is going to be about.

An ode to Dickens

Joseph Harrison has published a truly remarkable poem about Dickens in The New Criterion. Through vivid imagery and well-chosen details, it captures his eager and restless spirit, making him as recognizable as a painter or biographer could have. The title, "Dickens on fire," pretty much says it all! Go give it a read -- it's a little lengthy but so worth it.

Of Charles, Catherine, and Cook

Last week The Times Literary Supplement published a story by John Bowen about his investigation of letters written by journalist Edward Dutton Cook, a neighbor of Catherine Dickens after her separation. Cook wrote several letters to fellow journalist William Moy Thomas, another friend of the Dickens family, describing what she had told him about her marriage and its ending.

In an 1879 letter, written as Catherine was dying, Cook wrote of that ending: "[Dickens] discovered at last that she had outgrown his liking. She had borne ten children and had lost many of her good looks, was growing old, in fact. He even tried to shut her up in a lunatic asylum, poor thing! But bad as the law is in regard to proof of insanity he could not quite wrest it to his purpose."

Birthday roundup

Just catching up on a few Dickens birthday articles from yesterday: 

• The BBC's HistoryExtra website shared a few quirky facts about Dickens's home life, including his love for parties and his taxidermied pets!
• Newsweek offered a few basic Dickens facts and popular quotes in honor of the day.
• Female First compiled a list of actors who have played Dickens. I knew about Simon Callow, Dan Stevens, and Ralph Fiennes, but not the others. (I certainly didn't know about Anthony Hopkins!)
• And finally, Londonist had an article about the pubs that every Dickensian should know.

Birthday festivities

Dickens's birthday is coming up, and the Dickens Birthplace Museum in Portsmouth will offer free admission to celebrate! Go here to learn more. In the meantime, Dickens fans in Philadelphia held their annual birthday bash by the Dickens statue in Clark Park. Philly Voice offers a glimpse into their hallowed tradition.