Charles Dickens Books

Charles Dickens is one of the most well-known authors of the 19th century.  He was born in 1812 in Portsmouth, England and died in 1870.  Dickens had a very good memory and used scenes and situations from his early life to develop characters and plots for his books.  He became a political journalist 1834 and serialized his first novel, The Pickwick Papers in 1836.  He became an editor of a llterary magazine and next published Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby and The Old Curiosity Shop in the late 1830's and early 1840's.   Charles Dickens books are filled with interesting characters and often have social themes pertaining to the 1800s in London.

My brother-in-law, Jim Bowling, has a collection of several hundred antique books and among them are several Charles Dickens books.  He bought them 15-20 years ago when he lived out on the west coast.  I asked him what he had recently and he brought them out and showed them to me.  And I took a few pictures of them for this web page. 

The Old Curiosity Shop is one of Jim's oldest Dickens books which was published in 1841.  It was originally written as a weekly serial by Dickens from 1840 to 1841.  The story is of Nell Trent or "Little Nell", an orphan being raised by her grandfather.  There actually is an Old Curiosity Shop in London which may have be an inspiration for the description of the antique shop.

Jim's next oldest Dickens book that he showed me was Dombey and Sons .  It was written as a monthly serial from 1846 to 1848.  This is a book I had never heard of.  It is about Paul Dombey, a shipping company owner, who wants to have a son who will take over the business.

The next book is called The Haunted Man and the Ghost Bargain written in 1848.  Everyone is familiar with A Christmas Carol which Dickens wrote 1843.  A Christmas Carol was so well received that Dickens wrote four more similar novels each year at Christmas that are called the Christmas Books.  This book shown below is the last book in the series.  It is about a Scrooge - like chemistry professor named Redlaw who is haunted by a ghost.

Dickens originally wrote David Copperfield as a monthly serial from 1849 to 1850.  Many events in the book were taken from Dickens own life.  The book is told in the first person point of view of the narrator.  This book is often regarded as one of Dickens best works.

Home Narratives contains short stories from Household Words magazine.

Our Mutual Friend was written as a monthly serial from 1864 to 1865 and is Dickens last complete novel (The Mystery of Edwin Drood was only half complete when he died in 1870).  The book concerns a young man who is on his way to receive his inheritance.

Finally, from 1900, Jim has a book of rare prints of Charles Dickens.