Oliver Twist (Author Biography)

Author Biography

Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Portsea, England. His father, John Dickens, was a navy clerk. In 1814, John Dickens was transferred to London, and in 1817, the whole family moved to Chatham, near the naval docks. Dickens's life during the next five years was stable and happy; he was tutored by his mother and later went to school in Chatham. His father had a small collection of books, and Dickens read them avidly.

In 1822, Dickens's father was transferred back to London, but he had gotten himself deeply in debt by then and was soon sent to a debtors' prison, or workhouse, along with his wife and Dickens's siblings. Dickens, who at twelve was considered old enough to work, had to work in a boot-blacking warehouse. Alone in a strange city, separated from his family, he endured harrowing experiences that marked him with a hatred for the social system and the desire to succeed so that he would never have to live this way again. After a few months, he was saved when his grandmother died and her small legacy allowed Dickens's father to get out of prison.

When he was fifteen, Dickens became a clerk in a solicitor's office, and at sixteen, he became a court reporter, a job that taught him much about London and all its people. In 1932, he became a journalist, and in 1834, he became a staff writer for the well-known Morning Chronicle. He was soon known as one of the best reporters in the city. He used these experiences to write anonymous pieces, titled "Sketches by Boz," for the Monthly Magazine. Gradually, however, his anonymity faded, and the name "Dickens" began attracting attention. In 1836, Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Everyday Life was published, followed by a second series, and the complete sketches were published in 1839.

Also in 1836, the first number of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was published. Eventually, printing of the stories rose from 400 to 40,000, a number that would be large for a new author even today.

Flushed with his success, Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of a newspaper editor, in April of 1836. They had ten children and remained married for twenty-two years but eventually would become incompatible and separate.

After publishing Oliver Twist (1838), Dickens went on to write Nicholas Nickelby (1838 – 1839), The Old Curiosity Shop (1840 – 1841), Barnaby Rudge (1841), American Notes (1842), Martin Chuzzlewit (1843 – 1844), Dombey and Son (1846 – 1848), David Copperfield (1849 – 1850), Bleak House (1852 – 1853), Hard Times (1854), Little Dorrit (1855 – 1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), Great Expectations (1860 – 1861), Our Mutual Friend (1864 – 1865), and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (1870, unfinished).

Dickens also wrote short stories, travel pieces, and dramas. He was the editor of Household Words and All the Year Round, well-known periodicals of his day.

After 1858, he often toured, reading out loud from his works to huge audiences; every new piece from his pen was eagerly awaited, and he was perhaps the most famous and best-loved author who has ever lived. He died on June 8, 1870, while working on his last book, The Mystery of Edwin Drood. He is buried in Westminster Abbey, one of the highest honors in England.