Charles+Dickens



Charles John Huffam Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsmouth. He was the second of the eight children of John and Elizabeth Dickens. Four years after Charles was born, the Dickens family moved to Chatham, Kent, where Charles spent most of his childhood. However, they had to move to London in 1822 because of financial difficulties. When he was 12, Charles was withdrawn from school and had to work in a shoe-polish warehouse to help support the family; his dad had been put in debtor’s prison. After a few months, his father was released and Charles went back to school.

In 1833, Charles started to get some of his short stories published in different periodicals and magazines. His first published story was //A Dinner at Popular Walk//. In 1836, Charles married Catherine Hogarth. They had ten children, but separated in 1858. In addition to writing essays and stories, Charles edited //The Daily News, Household Words,// and //All the Year Round.// After the publication of //The Pickwick Papers//, he became a more serious writer, although he edited publication his whole life. Charles wrote his most famous works between 1837 and 1841, which included the books //Oliver Twist// and //Nicholas Nickleby.//

Charles Dickens had a stroke in 1869 during one of the many book readings he gave. He began to work on //Edwin Drood//, a book that he never finished. He died on June 9, 1870, in his home. Although he wanted to be buried in Rochester Cathedral, he was buried in the Poets’ Corner of Westminster Abbey.

Beck, Hyatt 1

Annotated Bibliography __Authors__. Online ed. Detroit: UXL, 2003. __Discovering Collection__. Gale. Columbia County Board of Education. 12 April 2009. . This article illustrates Charles Dickens’ life from beginning to end. This article covers from his family and friends to where and how he died. He and his wife, Catherine Hogarth, had ten children. He was educated by his mother, Elizabeth Barrow. Dickens suffered a stroke and died in 1870. He is buried in Poet’s Corner.

Kaplan, Fred. __Dickens__. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc., 1988.

This book is a biography about Charles Dickens' life. Fred Kaplan researched Charles Dickens for ten years before writing Dickens' exciting life story. Throughout this biography Kaplan decribes Dickens' ups and downs from his empty marriage to his many hit writings. Exploring Dickens' many estranged relationships is one of the top aspects of this book.

Liukkonen, Petri. "Charles Dickens (1812-1870)". __Kirjasto__. 2008. Petri Liukkonen. 11 April 2009. 

This website highlights Dickens' interesting, happening social life. Dickens had many social affairs with many different women from his wife's sister, Mary, to actress Ellen Ternan. Liukkonen explains about Dickens' best novel made film //Oliver Twist//. This website has interesting odds and ends of Dickens' life.

Merriman, C.D. "Charles Dickens".__Online-Literature__. 2006. Jalic Inc. 11 April 2009. <[].>