Charles Dickens and his Circle (National Portrait Gallery Compan

National Portrait Gallery Publications

`When I was at primary school, my teacher asked if any of us had heard of Charles Dickens. I was amazed she knew his name, because, until that moment, I had only known him as one of my ancestors.' - Lucinda Hawksley Those who had known Charles Dickens as a child must have been astonished at his rise from being, in his own words, `a little labouring hind' to becoming one of the most famous and adored men in the world. Dickens is often described as the first `modern' author, by which it is meant that he went on book tours and engaged with his public in a manner more considered a twentieth---century phenomenon. Through sheer force of will he propelled himself out of a rather depressing existence into the circle of intelligent, radical, questioning friends who feature in this book. Guests at his parties could expect to meet actors, artists, radical politicians, prison reformers, philanthropists and musicians, as well as writers. Dickens's closest literary friends included Wilkie Collins,.