"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 considered to be the first "modern" author, meaning that he went on book tours and engaged with his public in a way considered a twentieth---century phenomenon. Guests at his parties could expect to meet actors, artists, radical politicians, prison reformers, philanthropists and musicians, as well as writers.
In this new volume, historian and award-winning author Lucinda Hawksley explores the life of her great-great-great-grandfather, Charles Dickens (1812–70)―one of the first people to whom the term “celebrity” in its modern sense was applied, and whose extensive circle of friends and associates included many of the most eminent and influential figures of the Victorian age. As the ninth volume in The National Portrait Gallery Companions series, Charles Dickens and His Circle is a compact, fully illustrated historical guide to a literary personality and the movement that surrounded him.
Beautifully illustrated with images from the Collection of the National Portrait Gallery, including both familiar and less well-known portraits of Dickens and his contemporaries, this book explores the man behind the novels and the lives of those around him.