Charles Dickens Biography

Fast Facts

• Published his first work, "Sketches by Boz," in 1836 before having his first runaway success with "The Pickwick Papers" later that year, prompting him to become a full-time novelist
• Worked in an attorney's office at the age of 15 before becoming a freelance reporter at Doctor's Commons Courts in 1829, followed by a stint as a newspaper reporter
• After his father was imprisoned when he was 12, he was sent to work at a shoe polish factory, an experience that stuck with him the rest of his life and influenced the themes of alienation and betrayal in "David Copperfield" and "Great Expectations․"
• Quote: "[on the treatment of the poverty-stricken in Victorian society] "I believe that Virtue shows quite as well in rags and patches as she does in purple and fine linen․""
• Founded the weekly periodical "Household Words" in 1850 and another, "All the Year Round," in 1859
• His novels were originally published in serial form with parts coming out once a month; for example, the first installment of "Oliver Twist" was published in 1837 and the last in 1839
• Best known as the creator of some of the most well-known characters in literary history, he is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian period
• Gave his first public reading of his works in 1853 and his first paid reading in 1858, beginning a series of readings in several countries that he would continue to perform until his death in 1870
• Was interred, against his wishes, in Poet's Corner at Westminster Abbey, where thousands of his admirers paid their respects by coming to throw in flowers, ranging from large bouquets to small groups of wildflowers wrapped in rags