The Old Curiosity Shop, Volume 1It is impossible to overstate the importance of British novelist CHARLES DICKENS (1812-1870) not only to literature in the English language, but to Western civilization on the whole. He is arguably the first fiction writer to have become an international celebrity. He popularized episodic fiction and the cliffhanger, which had a profound influence on the development of film and television. He is entirely responsible for the popular image of Victorian London that still lingers today, and his characters-from Oliver Twist to Ebenezer Scrooge, from Miss Havisham to Uriah Heep-have become not merely iconic, but mythic. But it was his stirring portraits of ordinary people-not the upper classes or the aristocracy-and his fervent cries for social, moral, and legal justice for the working poor, and in particular for poor children, in the grim early decades of the Industrial Revolution that powerfully impacted social concerns well into the 20th century. Without Charles Dickens, we may never have seen the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Upton Sinclair, or even Bob Dylan. Here, in 30 beautiful volumes-complete with all the original illustrations-is every published word written by one of the most important writers ever. The essential collector's set will delight anyone who cherishes English literature...and who takes pleasure in constantly rediscovering its joys. This volume contains Part I of The Old Curiosity Shop, which was originally serialized in Dickens's own periodical, Master Humphrey's Clock, in 1840 and 1841. The story of the orphan Nell Trent, who lives with her grandfather in the establishment by which the book takes its name, it is both beloved and disparaged for Dickens's treatment of, as Oscar Wilde famously termed it, "the death of little Nell," the suspense surrounding which was comparable to the Harry Potter phenomenon of today. |
Contents
Section 17 | 221 |
Section 18 | 250 |
Section 19 | 278 |
Section 20 | 287 |
Section 21 | 293 |
Section 22 | 305 |
Section 23 | 331 |
Section 24 | 337 |
Section 9 | 149 |
Section 10 | 154 |
Section 11 | 163 |
Section 12 | 168 |
Section 13 | 177 |
Section 14 | 197 |
Section 15 | 199 |
Section 16 | 212 |
Section 25 | 346 |
Section 26 | 360 |
Section 27 | 377 |
Section 28 | 390 |
Section 29 | 399 |
Section 30 | 405 |
Section 31 | 406 |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
Abel asked Barbara Becky Morgan Bevis Marks caravan Charles Dickens cheerful Cheggs child Chuckster Codlin companion cried Daniel Quilp dark dear Dick door dwarf eyes face fear fire glancing gone grandfather hand happy head hear heart hope hurried Jarley Jiniwin kind Kit's mother knock laugh legs light little Jacob little Nell looked ma'am master MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK mind Miss Brass Miss Monflathers Miss Sally morning Nelly never night Old Curiosity Shop old gentleman old lady passed pony poor pretty rejoined remarkable replied returned the old Richard Swiveller round Sampson schoolmaster seemed short silent single gentleman sleep smile stairs stood stopped street sure Swiv talk tell There's thing thought tion Tom Scott took turned uncon voice Wackles walked wax-work whispered window woman word young