Dickens

by Fred Kaplan

  Three libraries and their beneficent overseers head the list of my archival obligations: the Berg Collection of the New York Public Library and its curator, Lola Szladits, the Dickens House Museum in London and its curator, David Parker (who kindly read and made helpful comments on the manuscript), and the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California, and its librarian, Daniel Woodward. At the Dickens House Museum, I was also helped by Eileen Power, and at the Huntington Library by Mary Robertson, Susan Hodson, Alan Jutzi, and Martin Ridge. Other libraries and librarians whose resources and generosity I am thankful for are the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University (Marjorie Wynn), the British Library, the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center of the University of Texas (Cathy Henderson), the National Library of Scotland, the Pierpont Morgan Library, the Benoliel Collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia (Walter A. Frankel), the Parrish Collection of Princeton University Library (Jean F. Preston and Alexander D. Wainwright), the Sadleir Collection of the University of California at Los Angeles, and the Forster Collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum. These and other such obligations are further detailed in the citations of sources.

  The Editors and Trustees of the Pilgrim Edition of The Letters of Charles Dickens, to whom Mr. Christopher Dickens has turned over the common-law copyright for Dickens’ unpublished letters, have kindly permitted the use of summaries and brief quotations. I am especially indebted to Kathleen Tillotson for her support and cooperation. Graham Storey has kindly conveyed to me this permission on behalf of Christopher Dickens. I am also indebted to R. A. Denniston, the publisher of the Oxford University Press for permission to quote from the published letters.

  Personal and professional debts begin to become indistinguishable, probably inseparable, at this point, though one has an institutional presence that allows me to acknowledge here how stimulating and helpful have been my years of participation in the Dickens Project of the University of California at Santa Cruz, and the support of its two directors, Murray Baumgarten and John Jordan, and of Edwin Eigner and my other colleagues there.

  My friend and colleague David Kleinbard has contributed to some of the small moments of grace that the book may have by his kind, helpful reading of the manuscript. Rhoda Weyr, who has been the first audience for some of this book, has my warm appreciation for her help. My colleagues at the seminar in biography at New York University made useful suggestions, particularly in regard to the first chapter, and I’m especially indebted to Robert Halsband, Charles Molesworth, and Aileen Ward for their comments. My colleague at the National Humanities Center, Donald Scott, provided me with a helpful Dickens document from the Newton Antiquarian Society archives. Kirk Beetz kindly shared with me some of his wide knowledge of Wilkie Collins’ letters. I owe a debt of appreciation to Kathleen Longley, who allowed me to read and benefit from her unpublished writings on Ellen Ternan and the Ternan family. Jay Williams provided kind words and suggestions throughout.

  Georges Borchardt in New York and Richard Simon in London are partly responsible for the excellent editing and production that the book has had under the capable and creative eye of Maria Guarnaschelli of William Morrow and the thoughtful suggestions that were made by John Curtis of Hodder & Stoughton. Amy Edelman of William Morrow has copyedited the manuscript with great competence and intelligence, and she and her colleagues Cheryl Asherman, Susan Halligan, and Dennis Combs have been invaluable. Sylvere Monod, during my stay in Paris, was kind enough, among his many kindnesses, to direct me to Olivier Cohen of Mazarin. Michelle Lepautre graciously brought us together. To Sylvere Monod I also am indebted for introducing me to Janine Watrin, who generously spent a day showing me all the Dickens sites and associations in the area of Condette and Boulogne. Dr. Kenneth Churchill, the cultural attaché at the British Embassy in Paris, put me in touch with his colleague Diana Neill, who graciously took me on a tour of the embassy to indulge my desire to examine the ballroom in which Dickens had given readings. Gloria Kaplan helpfully shared ideas and rendered assistance.

  I am indebted, in alphabetical order, to the following people for acts of assistance that directly or indirectly contributed to my work: Laura Maslow Armand, Jerome Badanes, Maggie Blades, Doreen Blake, Charles Blitzer, Martin Blum, Philip Bolton, Charles Carlton, Philip Collins, Sandra Copeland, Mara Lemanis Cunningham, Enid Davey, Wally Davey, Morris Dickstein, Daniel Donno, Elizabeth Donno, Nan Dorsey, Robert Edwards, K. J. Fielding, Ernestine Friedl, Norman Fruman, Regenia Gagnier, Edward Geffner, Elliot Gilbert, Michael Goldberg, Harold Goldwhite, Maria Goldwhite, Mark Greenberg, Robert Greenberg, Vivian Greenberg, Edward Guiliano, Jack Hall, Katie Higby, Robert Higby, Theo Hoppen, Jean Houston, Irving Howe, Lois Hughson, Howard Hughson, Al Hutter, Gerhardt Joseph, Alfred Kazin, Shirley Strum Kenny, Maureen Kleinbard, Uli Knoepflmacher, Barbara Leavy, Peter Leavy, Jean Leuchtenberg, Townshend Luddington, Carol Mackay, Harold Marcus, Steven Marcus, Annie Monod, Linda Morgan, Kent Mulliken, Robert Patten, Gordon Philo, Robert Polehumus, Wayne Pond, Norris Pope, John Reilly, Virginia Renner, James Riddell, Murray Roston, Clyde Ryals, Andrew Sanders, Hilary Schor, Pat Schrieber, Elsa Sink, Michael Slater, Doris Smedes, Harry Stone, James Thorpe, Charles Tolk, Robert Tracy, Allan Tuttle, Rebecca Vargha, Roland Voize, Alexander Welsh, the late Elizabeth Wheeler, and Carl Woodring.

  Finally, a Dickensian acknowledgment of a philosophical sort, my expression of appreciation to that long list of people who have been helpful and kind to me. It has not been more than I deserve, to paraphrase and reverse Coleridge’s sad comment. But it is a marvel to be savored and appreciated—how many people, despite the problems of life and time, generously help those who ask.

  Index

  Adams, John Quincy: insulted by Dickens, 135

  Adelphi Theatre, 243

  Administrative Reform Society, 330–31, 477

  Agassiz, Louis, 516–17

  Ainsworth, William Harrison, 17, 86, 98, 103, 109, 113, 226; meets Dickens, 72–73; helps Dickens with Bentley, 100; is dropped from Trio Club, 110; distance from Dickens of, 275

  Albaro (Italy), 171, 173

  Albert, Prince, 110, 127, 137, 333, 447; Dickens performs before, 280, 365; arrives at Boulogne, 312

  Albion, The, 62

  Albion Villas, no. 3, Folkestone, 336

  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Carroll), 240

  Allen, Mary (aunt), 22, 25, 28, 31

  All the Year Round, 18, 48, 425, 437–38, 440, 442–43, 461, 467–68, 477, 488–91, 496–97, 501, 526, 530–31 542–43, 545, 553; creation of, 400–401; Tale of Two Cities published in, 414–15; Dickens rescues circulation of, 429–33

  Alphington, Dickens’ parents exiled to, 105

  Amateurs and Actors (theatrical), 56

  amateur theatricals, 175, 192–93, 220–33, 235–37, 262, 279–82, 284–87, 318–22, 347, 357–59, 363, 366–67, 369, 496, 553

  America, 122–38, 140–44, 147, 150, 152–57, 162, 168–70, 172, 176, 183, 277, 368, 397, 402, 408, 412–14, 422, 480–81, 483–84, 488, 491, 493, 502, 504–5, 507–23, 525–29, 534, 549–550

  Andersen, Hans Christian: meets Dickens, 350; visits Gad’s Hill, 363–65

  animal magnetism, see mesmerism

  Arras, 464, 466

  Ashford, 336

  Ashley, Lord (Shaftesbury), 144–45, 446

  Astor Place riots, 277

  Atalanta (Frank Talfourd), 368

  Athenaeum (club), III, 332, 453, 486, 529

  Atkins, Catherine (Mrs. William Charles Macready), 90, 150, 210, 276

  Augusta, Princess, 43

  Austin, Amelia, 56

  Austin, Henry, 259, 286, 324, 348, 360; meets Dickens, 56–57; is active in sanitary reform, 262; supervises Tavistock renovations, 269–70; death of, 445–46

  Australia, 229, 251–52, 257, 260, 268, 282, 412, 423, 464, 467, 497, 531, 544; Dickens considers visiting, 448–50

  Babbage, Charles, 269

  Ball, Elizabeth (Mrs. William Dickens) (grandmother), see Dickens, Elizabeth Ball


  Ballads and Other Poems (Longfellow), 132

  Balmoral House (Regent’s Park), 270

  Baltimore, 134–37, 521, 523

  Balzac, Honoré de, 354

  Bardell-versus-Pickwick trial, 89

  Baring Brothers, 335, 346

  Barker, Fordyce, 520, 527–28

  Barrett, Elizabeth (Mrs. Robert Browning), 268, 342; criticizes Dickens’ intellect, 201; sympathizes with Catherine, 394

  Barrow, Charles (grandfather), 21, 41

  Barrow, Edward (uncle), 104

  Barrow, John Henry (uncle), 31, 37, 49–50, 53, 58–60, 197

  Barrow, Thomas (uncle), 35–36

  Bartley, George, 54–55

  Bath, 153, 216, 280

  Bayham Street, no. 16, Camden Town, 33

  Beadnell, George, 51, 272, 323, 463

  Beadnell, Maria, 62, 64, 67, 94, 254, 272, 323–24, 329, 334, 344, 393, 436, 463; Dickens falls in love with, 50–51; rejects Dickens, 52–54; renews contact with Dickens, 325–27; is satirized, 327

  Beard, Frank, 455; as physician to Dickens, 539–41; as attendant doctor at readings, 547–48; attends funeral, 555–56

  Beard, Thomas, 57, 60, 196, 275–76, 288, 317, 322, 418, 424, 450, 484; meets Dickens, 52; as reporter, 53

  Beaucourt, Ferdinand, 311–12, 465

  Beckett, Gilbert Abbott à: attends reading of Chimes, 179; death of, 351

  Beecher, Ward, 521

  Beethoven, Ludwig van, 36, 66

  Beggar’s Opera, The (Gay), 75

  Bell’s Weekly Magazine, 62

  Bentham, Jeremy, 305

  Bentinck Street, no. 18, 53, 56, 58

  Bentley, Richard, 98–103, 117, 169, 333–34, 365, 380, 505

  Bentley’s Miscellany, 89, 93, 99, 101–3, 117, 193, 265–66, 401

  Berners Street, no. 31, 408–9

  Bible, 175, 233, 435, 473

  Bibliotheque Royale, 219

  Birmingham, 61, 137, 159, 166, 235–37, 281, 298, 304, 319–23, 381, 448, 547, 551

  Birmingham and Midland Institute, 304, 544, 547

  Black, John, 63, 100

  Black-eyed Susan (Jerrold), 363

  Blackmore, Edward, employs Dickens, 47

  Blackpool, 538–39

  Blanchard, Samuel Laman, 179, 191

  Blessington, Countess of, 193, 197, 203–4, 220, 274, 350

  Blundeston, 242

  Board for Sanitary Reform, 262–63

  Bologna, 178

  Bonchurch, Dickens spends summer at, 246–48, 452, 455

  Book of Common Prayer, 175

  Boston, 123–24, 126–27, 129–32, 134, 137, 143, 152, 510, 514–18, 520, 523–24, 526–27, 529

  Boulogne, 170, 285–86, 288, 308, 310–14, 317, 319, 325, 341, 346, 349, 350, 465–66

  Bouncer, Mrs. (dog), 463

  Boyle, Mary, 340, 350, 393, 412, 435, 517; meets Dickens, 278; acts with Dickens, 278–79; Dickens flirts with, 325; meets Dickens at Rockingham, 337

  Boz, origin as pseudonym, 63

  Boz Ball (New York), 126

  Bradbury, William, 169, 197, 201, 388

  Bradbury and Evans, 179, 196, 201, 206, 242, 244, 263, 266, 269, 286, 348, 372; becomes Dickens’ publisher, 169–70; employs Dickens as Daily News editor, 193–94; Dickens punishes, 398–401

  Braham, John, 75–76, 92

  Bridgman, Laura, 144, 152

  Brighton, 108, 191, 242–43, 287, 361, 395, 447, 551

  Bristol, 61, 236, 280, 381

  Britannia (ship), 122–23, 126, 130, 142, 168–69

  British Embassy, Paris, 464, 468

  British Museum, 49–50, 270

  British Press (newspaper), 49

  Broad Grins (Coleman), 35

  Broadstairs, 108, 151, 163–64, 191, 231, 239, 244, 247–48, 256, 270, 286, 440

  Brook, The (Chatham), 25–26

  Brookfield, Jane, 212, 402

  Brooks, Shirley, 350, 451

  Brown, Anne (Mrs. Anne Cornelius): accompanies Dickenses to America, 129

  Brown, Hannah Meredith, see Meredith, Hannah

  Brown, William, 337

  Browne, Hablot Knight, 113, 226–27, 244, 288, 451, 469; becomes Dickens’ illustrator, 80–81; travels with Dickens, 116–17; collaboration with Dickens ends, 469

  Browning, Elizabeth Barrett, see Barrett, Elizabeth (Mrs. Robert Browning)

  Browning, Robert, 88, 192, 203, 342

  Bryant, William Cullen, 132–33, 519; works: “Thanatopsis,” 132

  Buckstone, John Baldwin, 367, 369, 379, 408; works: Uncle John, 367

  Bull Hotel (Preston), 306

  Bull Inn (Rochester), 239

  Bulwer, Edward (Lord Edward Bulwer-Lytton), 88, 108, III, 128, 170, 231, 274, 277, 280–83, 433, 437, 449, 491, 503–4, 537; meets Dickens, 86; collaborates with Macready and Forster, 234–36; Dickens’ opinion of, 279; contribution to Great Expectations, 449; works: The Duchess de la Vallière, 234; The Lady of Lyons, 108, 234; Money, 234; Not So Bad as We Seem, 280–81, 283; A Strange Story, 437, 442

  Bunn, Alfred, 112

  Burdett, Francis, 147

  Burlington House, 552

  Burnett, Henry, 159; as singer, 92; marries Letitia Dickens, 105; mourns death of wife, 238

  Burnett, Henry Augustus, Jr., 159, 215, 239

  Burns, Robert, 66

  Bury Saint Edmunds, 61, 447

  Buss, Robert, 80

  Cairo (Illinois), 137

  Calcutta, 457, 498

  Cambridge (England), 498, 544, 555

  Cambridge (Massachusetts), 517, 519

  Canada, 130, 138–39, 193, 231

  cannibalism, 29, 352–53, 355

  Canterbury, 285, 447, 543

  capital punishment, 477–78

  Captain Bobadil, 192

  Captain Murderer, 30

  Carlton Chronicle, 100

  Carlyle, Jane: relationship with Francis Jeffrey, 114; dances with Forster, 156; wanted by Dickens to hear Chimes reading, 177–80; attends performance, 193; attends Dickens dinner party, 244

  Carlyle, Thomas, 17, 88, 244, 274, 464, 517, 536, 551; meets Dickens, 91; relationship with Jeffrey, 114; Hard Times dedicated to, 308; Dickens’ opinion of, 309; Dickens borrows books from, 414–15; attitude toward reform, 477; on Eyre committee, 481; criticizes Dickens’ greed, 511; works: French Revolution, 415; Past and Present, 177

  Carrick Fell (Cumberland), 373

  Castle of Chill on, 209

  Cavendish, William George (Duke of Devonshire), 193–94, 280

  Cavour, Camillo, 182, 480

  Cerberus Club, 110, 112

  Cervantes, Miguel de, 26

  Chadwick, Edwin, 262–63

  Chalk cottage, 107

  Chambers, Amelia, 491

  Chambers, Janet (Mrs. William Henry Wills), 276, 491; marries Wills, 265; performs in Frozen Deep, 350, 356

  Chambers, Robert, 491

  Chambers’s Edinburgh Journal, 197, 265

  Chambers’s Encyclopaedia, 491

  Chamonix, Dickens visits, 209, 293

  Champs-Élysées, no. 49, 328 462

  Chapman, Edward, 113, 118; idea for Pickwick Papers, 77–78

  Chapman, Frederic, 401, 431

  Chapman and Hall, 102, 104, 117, 124, 169–70, 175, 194, 206–7, 222, 431–31, 468, 514, 540, 545; publishes Pickwick Papers, 77–83; proposes sequel, 97–98; becomes Dickens’ sole publisher, 118; Dickens furious at, 157–58; Dickens breaks with, 169–70; becomes Dickens’ publisher again, 400–401;

  Chappell, Arthur, 506

  Chappell, Thomas, 506

  Chappells (theatrical management firm), 506, 509, 510–11, 514–15, 527, 540–41

  Charles at Tunbridge (Forster), 87

  Charlton, Elizabeth, 47

  Chateaubriand, François René de, 219

  Chatham, 34–35, 45, 49, 71, 239, 258, 320, 357, 414, 420, 495, 517; Dickens’ early years in, 22–24; departure from, 32–33

  Chat of the Week (weekly), 77

  Chatsworth, 194, 280

&nb
sp; Chelmsford, 61

  Cheltenham, 484, 533

  Chesney Wold (Rockingham), 287

  Chester, Dickens reads at, 539–40

  Chester Place, no. 1, Regent’s Park, 223

  Chesterton, 228

  Chips, the devil-rat, 30–31, 83, 215

  Chisholm, Catherine, 287

  Chitty, Thomas, 87

  Chorley, Henry: as intimate of Dickens family, 490–91; as a host, 499

  Christ in the Carpenter Shop (Millais), 354

  Cincinnati, 137–38

  Civil War, American, 480

  Civita vecchia, Italy, 296

  Clari, or, The Maid of Milan (theatrical), 56

  Clarke, Charles Cowden, 236

  Clarke, Mary Cowden, performs in amateur theatricals, 236–37

  Clay, Henry, 135

  Clifton, 280

  Clow, Joseph, 487

  Cobham woods, 307, 346, 554

  Colburn, Eliza (Mrs. John Forster), 316–17

  Colburn, Henry, 98, 316

  Colchester, 61, 447

  Coldbath Fields prison, 65

  Colden, David, 132, 153, 164, 191

  Colden, Frances (Mrs. David Colden), 325; Dickens falls in love with, 132; Dickens’ relationship with, 164–65

  Coleman, George, 35

  Collier, John Payne, 111

  Collins, Charles Alston, 283, 453, 456, 487, 496, 546; marries Katie Dickens, 418–19; is seriously ill, 421, 531; collapse of marriage of, 428; is living abroad, 451; is guilty of “infamy,” 498; describes Prince of Wales, 499; Dickens’ hatred of, 499; at Dickens’ funeral, 556

  Collins, Harriet, 283, 413, 419, 421, 441–42, 451, 487

  Collins, Wilkie, 17, 283–85, 312–14, 329, 336, 339, 345, 356, 359, 361, 370, 379–80, 383, 397, 404, 427, 429–32, 451, 456, 463, 471, 478, 491, 499, 504, 512–14, 530 536, 556; is introduced to Dickens, 287–93; becomes an intimate friend, 294–98; visits at Boulogne, 310; acts in amateur theatricals, 319–22; visits Paris with Dickens, 333–34, 341; works on Frozen Deep, 350, 352; holidays with Dickens in Cumberland, 373–74; Dickens confides in, 391; supports Yates, 413; attends Katie’s wedding, 418–20; collaborates with Dickens, 437–38, 441–43; eulogizes Thackeray, 454; ill health of, 486; relationship with Caroline Graves, 487–89; works: Basil, 285, 287; The Diary of Anne Rodway, 341; The Frozen Deep, 356, 365–67, 369, 382, 456, 549; The Lighthouse, 321–22, 336; The Moonstone, 488; No Name, 442; “A Terribly Strange Bed,” 284; The Woman in White, 429, 440, 441–42, 487; characters (Frozen Deep): Frank Aldersley, 356; Clara Burnham, 356, 369; Lieutenant Crayford, 356; Lucy Crayford, 356, 367, 369; Nurse Esther, 356, 369; Richard Wardour, 356, 359, 363, 365