Charles John Huffam Dickens (pronounced /ˈtʃɑrlz ˈdɪkɪnz/; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870)

was the most popular English novelist of the Victorian era and he remains popular, responsible
for some of English literature's most iconic characters.[1]

Many of his novels, with their recurrent concern for social reform, first appeared in magazines in
serialised form, a popular format at the time. Unlike other authors who completed entire novels
before serialisation, Dickens often created the episodes as they were being serialized. The
practice lent his stories a particular rhythm, punctuated by cliffhangers to keep the public looking
forward to the next instalment.[2] The continuing popularity of his novels and short stories is such
that they have never gone

His work has been praised for its mastery of prose and unique personalities by writers such as
George Gissing, Leo Tolstoy and G. K. Chesterton, though others, such as Henry James and
Virginia Woolf, criticised it for sentimentality and implausibility.[

Journalism and early novels

In 1833, Dickens' first story, A Dinner at Poplar Walk was published in the London periodical,
Monthly Magazine. The following year he rented rooms at Furnival's Inn becoming a political
journalist, reporting on parliamentary debate and travelling across Britain to cover election
campaigns for the Morning Chronicle. His journalism, in the form of sketches in periodicals,
formed his first collection of pieces Sketches by Boz, published in 1836. This led to the
serialisation of his first novel, The Pickwick Papers, in March 1836. He continued to contribute
to and edit journals throughout his literary career.

An 1839 portrait of a young Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise

In 1836, Dickens accepted the job of editor of Bentley's Miscellany, a position he held for three
years, until he fell out with the owner. At the same time, his success as a novelist continued,
producing Oliver Twist (1837–39), Nicholas Nickleby (1838–39), The Old Curiosity Shop and,
finally, Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty as part of the Master Humphrey's Clock
series (1840–41)—all published in monthly instalments before being made into books. Dickens
had a pet raven named Grip which he had stuffed when it died in 1841. (it is now at the Free
Library of Philadelphia).[14]

On 2 April 1836, he married Catherine Thomson Hogarth (1816 – 1879), the daughter of George
Hogarth, editor of the Evening Chronicle. After a brief honeymoon in Chalk, Kent, they set up
home in Bloomsbury. They had ten children

Dickens and his family lived at 48 Doughty Street, London, (on which he had a three year lease
at £80 a year) from 25 March 1837 until December 1839. Dickens's younger brother Frederick
and Catherine's 17 year old sister Mary moved in with them. Dickens became very attached to
Mary, and she died in his arms after a brief illness in 1837. She became a character in many of
his books, and her death is fictionalised as the death of Nell in The Old Curiosity Shop.

Novels

 The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club
(Monthly serial, April 1836 to November
1837)[86]
 The Adventures of Oliver Twist (Monthly
serial in Bentley's Miscellany, February 1837
to April 1839)
 The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby
(Monthly serial, April 1838 to October 1839)
 The Old Curiosity Shop (Weekly serial in
Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840, to
6 February 1841)
 Barnaby Rudge: A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty
(Weekly serial in Master Humphrey's Clock,
13 February 1841, to 27 November 1841)
 The Christmas books:
o A Christmas Carol (1843)
o The Chimes (1844)
o The Cricket on the Hearth (1845)
o The Battle of Life (1846)
o The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s
Bargain (1848)
 The Life and Adventures of Martin
Chuzzlewit (Monthly serial, January 1843 to
 Dombey and Son (Monthly serial,
October 1846 to April 1848)
 David Copperfield (Monthly serial,
May 1849 to November 1850)
 Bleak House (Monthly serial,
March 1852 to September 1853)
 Hard Times: For These Times
(Weekly serial in Household Words,
1 April 1854, to 12 August 1854)
 Little Dorrit (Monthly serial,
December 1855 to June 1857)
 A Tale of Two Cities (Weekly serial
in All the Year Round, 30 April
1859, to 26 November 1859)
 Great Expectations (Weekly serial
in All the Year Round, 1 December
1860 to 3 August 1861)
 Our Mutual Friend (Monthly serial,
May 1864 to November 1865)
 The Mystery of Edwin Drood
(Monthly serial, April 1870 to
September 1870. Only six of twelve
planned numbers completed)
July 1844)