"Oliver Twist" by Boz (Charles Dickens). Vol. 1. London, 1838. First edition
"Master Bates explains a professional technicality." Art by George Cruikshank.
“Oliver Twist” is Dickens’ second novel and it is full of greed, corruption and dark humor. Orphan Oliver Twist starts his life in a workhouse and is sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets, which is led by the elderly criminal Fagin.
Dickens presents an unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid–nineteenth century. An early example of the social novel, Dickens satirizes the hypocrisies of his time, including child labor, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child laborer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own youthful experiences contributed as well. “Oliver Twist” is a good example of Dickens’ belief that the novel should do more than merely entertain.
Oliver Twist has endured as one of the most compelling child protagonists in fiction. His story has been the subject of numerous adaptations, for various media, including a highly successful musical play, “Oliver!”, and the multiple Academy Award-winning 1968 motion picture. [Source: Wikipedia]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VogHwP0C5VY
Unlike most of Dickens’ novels, “Oliver Twist” was not issued in monthly parts. It did appear in “Bentley’s Miscellany” magazine from February 1837 through April 1839, but the three volume book edition was published complete in November 1838. The book included 24 engravings by George Cruikshank and identified the author as “Boz.” Dickens decided that he would no longer be known as “Boz,” but his decision was too late for the earliest copies, those published between November 9 and 16, 1838.
"Oliver Twist" by Boz (Charles Dickens). Vol. 1. London, 1838. First edition
"Master Bates explains a professional technicality." Art by George Cruikshank.
“Oliver Twist” is Dickens’ second novel and it is full of greed, corruption and dark humor. Orphan Oliver Twist starts his life in a workhouse and is sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets, which is led by the elderly criminal Fagin.
Dickens presents an unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid–nineteenth century. An early example of the social novel, Dickens satirizes the hypocrisies of his time, including child labor, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child laborer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own youthful experiences contributed as well. “Oliver Twist” is a good example of Dickens’ belief that the novel should do more than merely entertain.
Oliver Twist has endured as one of the most compelling child protagonists in fiction. His story has been the subject of numerous adaptations, for various media, including a highly successful musical play, “Oliver!”, and the multiple Academy Award-winning 1968 motion picture. [Source: Wikipedia]
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VogHwP0C5VY
Unlike most of Dickens’ novels, “Oliver Twist” was not issued in monthly parts. It did appear in “Bentley’s Miscellany” magazine from February 1837 through April 1839, but the three volume book edition was published complete in November 1838. The book included 24 engravings by George Cruikshank and identified the author as “Boz.” Dickens decided that he would no longer be known as “Boz,” but his decision was too late for the earliest copies, those published between November 9 and 16, 1838.