04/06/2023

Dickens /Major /Sketches by Boz

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Sketches by Boz – 1836 – a collection of articles


Frontispiece of the first series (Feb 1836)


This was subtitled, Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People.

It collected together Dickens articles published between 1833 and 1836 in a variety of newspapers and periodicals – Bell’s Life in London, The Carlton Chronicle, The Evening Chronicle, The Monthly Magazine and The Morning Chronicle.


Title page of the second series (Aug 1836)

This was first published in book form in Feb 1836 and again in Aug 1836. The fifty-six sketches were punctuated with illustrations by the caricaturist, turned book illustrator, George Cruikshank, who was hailed by some as a modern Hogarth.

Dickens as yet had no grand reputation, and Cruickshank’s illustrations gave his pieces more gravitas, more reader appeal.

     
The sketches were all about London scenes and people.

These articles were categorised into four segments
– Our Parish
– Scenes
– Characters
– Tales
The first three were ‘pen-portraits’, the last category was fictional.

Dickens’ Preface of the 1850 edition of Sketches by Boz, states: ‘The whole of these sketches were written and published, one by one, when I was a very young man. They were collected and republished while I was still a very young man; and sent into the world with all their imperfections (a good many) on their heads.’ Elsewhere he suggests they were ‘crude and ill-considered, and bearing obvious marks of haste and inexperience’.
OUR PARISH – Pen Portraits
The Beadle. The Parish Engine. The Schoolmaster
The Evening Chronicle, 28 Feb 1835
Comical commentary on local government.
·       Brown, Mrs
·       Browns, Three Miss
·       Simmons
·       Tompkins, Mr

The Curate. The Old Lady. The Half-pay Captain
The Evening Chronicle, 19 May 1835
The young curate is eclipsed by a new church official. An old lady and the captain seem to be at odds with each other.
·       Gubbins, Mr
·       Purday, Captain
·       Sarah

The Four Sisters – ‘Sketches of London 14’
The Evening Chronicle, 18 Jun 1835
The four Willis sisters are inseparable, but one had just married.
·       Dawson, Mr
·       Robinson, Mr
·       Willis Sisters

The Election for Beadle – ‘Sketches of London 16’
The Evening Chronicle, 14 Jul 1835
It’s a Bung v Spruggins tilt at the role.
·       Bung, Mr
·       Hopkins
·       Simmons
·       Spruggins, Thomas
·       Spruggins, Mrs
·       Timkins

The Broker’s Man – ‘Sketches of London 18’
The Evening Chronicle, 28 Jul 1835
A new beadle and his former employer.
·       Bung, Mr
·       Fixem, Mr
·       John

The Ladies’ Societies – ‘Sketches of London 20’
The Evening Chronicle, 28 Jul 1835
The ladies and their charitable efforts.
·       Browns, Three Miss
·       Bung, Mr
·       Brown, Henry
·       Parker, Mrs Johnson

Our Next-Door Neighbour
The Morning Chronicle, 18 Mar 1836
An account of the people in the house next door.
·       Wiiliam



SCENES – Pen Portraits
The Streets – Morning
Evening Chronicle – 21 Jul 1835
Account of London waking up and getting busy.
·       Clark, Betsy
·       Todd, Mr

The Streets – Night
Evening Chronicle – 17 Jan 1836
Beer, muffins, music and off to bed.
·       Macklin, Mrs
·       Peplow, Mrs
·       Smuggins, Mr
·       Thompson, Bill
·       Walker, Mrs

Shops and Their Tenants
Morning Chronicle – 10 Oct 1834
A look at the tenants in a commercial building, a draper, a dairy…

Scotland Yard
Morning Chronicle – 4 Oct 1836
A description of how the area was transformed to becomes the offices of the police commissioners.
Seven Dials -Bell’s Life of London – 27 Sep 1835
A description of this slum area and its residents.
·       Mary
·       Sulliwin, Sarah

Meditations in Monmouth-Street
Morning Chronicle – 24 Sep 1836
A look at clothing.
 
Hackney-Coach Stands
Evening Chronicle – 31 Jan 1835
A review of Hackney coaches from their glory days until today’s degradation.
·       Tom

Doctors’ Commons
Morning Chronicle – 11 Oct 1836
A look at records for marriages, divorces, wills…
·       Bumple, Michael
·       Sludberry, Thomas

London Recreations
Evening Chronicle – 17 Mar 1835
A look at gardening.
·       Bill, Uncle
·       Sally

The River
Evening Chronicle – 6 Jun 1835
A look at water sports and excursions on the Thames.
·       Brown
·       O’Brien

Astley’s
Evening Chronicle – 9 May 1835
Account of joining the circus.
·       George
·       William

Greenwich Fair
Evening Chronicle – 16 Apr 1835
An account of the fair, the fun, the food, the curiosities…
 
Private Theatres
Evening Chronicle – 11 Aug 1835
A look at private theatres, encouraging those with little talent.
·       Beverly, Mr (aka Loggins)
·       Nathan, Mr
·       Palmer, Mr
·       Scarton, Charley
·       St Julien, Horatio (aka Jem Larkins)

Vauxhall Gardens by Day
Morning Chronicle – 26 Oct 1836
A disappointing review and then a balloon ride.
Early Coaches – Evening Chronicle – 19 Feb 1835
Travelling by coach.
·       Bob
·       Harry

Omnibuses
Morning Chronicle – 26 Sep 1824
Journeys on the omnibus, people-watching.
 
The Last Cab-Driver, and the First Omnibus Cab
Bell’s Life in London, 29 Nov 1835
A look at cab drivers.
·       Barker, William (aka Bill Boorker, Aggerawatin Bill)

A Parliamentary Sketch
Evening Chronicle – 7 Mar 1835
A look at the Houses of Parliament and their coffee houses.
·       Jane
·       Nicholas
·       Smith, Mr
·       Thompson, Sir John

Public Dinners
Evening Chronicle – 7 Apr 1835
Reporting a charity dinner for the benefit of the Indigent Orphans’ Friends Benevolent Institution.
·       Fitz Binkle, Lord and Lady

The First of May
in the Library of Fiction – 1836
Comment on the disappearance of celebrations of the coming of spring.
·       Sluffen, Mr

Brokers’ and Marine-Store Shops
Morning Chronicle – 10 Oct 1834
A description of second-hand furniture shops and a look at cast-off sailors’ kit.

Gin-Shops
Evening Chronicle – 19 Feb 1835
A review of gin shops.

The Pawnbroker’s Shop
Evening Chronicle – 30 Jun 1835
Selling off the family’s items, something Dickens knew only too well.
·       Henry, Mr
·       Jinkins
·       Mackin, Mrs
·       Tatham, Mrs

Criminal Courts
Morning Chronicle – 23 Oct 1834
An account of law and order.
A Visit to Newgate – original for Sketches by Boz – 1836
An account of the famous prison.

CHARACTERS – Pen Portraits
Thoughts about People
Evening Chronicle – 23 Apr 1835
A general look at people – all kinds of people.
·       Smith, Mr
A Christmas Dinner
Bell’s Life in London – 27 Dec 1835
A look at the subject, dwell on current blessings rather than past misfortunes.
·       George, Uncle and Aunt
·       Jane, Aunt
·       Margaret, Aunt
·       Robert, Uncle
The New Year
Bell’s Life in London, 3 Jan 1836
The Dobble’s New Year party with toasts, speeches and goodwill.
·       Dobble Family
·       Tupple, Mr
Miss Evans and the Eagle
originally in Bell’s Life in London, 4 Oct 1835
Events at the Eagle Tavern.
·       Evans, Jemima
·       Evans, Tilly
·       Wilkins, Samuel
CHARACTERS (continued) – Pen Portraits
The Parlour Orator
Bell’s Life in London – Dec 1835
A speech about Englishness.
·       Ellis, Mr
·       Rogers, Mr
·       Snobee, Mr
·       Tommy
·       Wilson, Mr

The Hospital Patient
originally in The Carlton Chronicle, 6 Aug 1836
A beaten wife refuses to give up her brutal husband.
·       Jack

The Misplaced Attachment of Mr John Dounce
Bell’s Life in London, 4 Oct 1835
John goes for a young girl and ends up being henpecked by his cook
·       Dounce, John

The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition
Bell’s Life in London, 22 Nov 1835
Pursuing a career in hats with no talent.
·       Martin, Amelia
·       Montigue, Julia
·       Rodolph, Jennings Mr and Mrs
·       Taplan, Mr H

The Dancing Academy
Bell’s Life in London, 11 Oct 1835
The costs of dancing lessons.
·       Billsmethi, Signor
·       Cooper, Augustus
·       White, Young

Shabby-Genteel People
Morning Chronicle – 5 Nov 1834
Keeping up appearances.
 
Making a Night of It
Bell’s Life in London, 18 Oct 1835
Too much of a good thing?
·       Potter, Thomas
·       Smithers, Robert

The Prisoners’ Van
Bell’s Life in London – 13 Dec 1835
A tale of two sisters.
·       Bella
·       Emily


TALES – Fiction
The Boarding-House
The Monthly Magazine, May & August 1834
Matrimonial intrigue in Mrs Tiggs’ boarding house.
·       Agnes
·       Bloss, Mrs
·       Carlton, Mr
·       Evenson, John
·       Gobler, Mr
·       Hicks, Septimus
·       James
·       Maplesone Family
·       O’Bleary
·       Robinson
·       Simpson, Mr
·       Tibbs, Mr and Mrs
·       Tompkins, Alfred
·       Wisbottle, Mr
·       Wosky, Dr

Mr Minns and his Cousin
The Monthly Magazine – Dec 1833
Dickens first published work!
·       Brogson
·       Budden Family
·       Jones
·       Minns, Augustus

Sentiment –
Bell’s Weekly Magazine, 7 Jun 1834
Young love finds a way.
·       Brook Dingwall, Cornelius
·       Brook Dingwall, Frederick
·       Brook Dingwall, Lavinia
·       Brook Dingwall, Mrs
·       Butler, Theodosius
·       Crumpton, Amelia and Maria
·       Dadson, Mr and Mrs
·       Hilton, Mr
·       James
·       Lobskini, Signor
·       Muggs, Sir Alfred
·       Parsons, Laetitia
·       Smithers, Emily
·       Wilson, Caroline

The Tuggs’s at Ramsgate
in The Library of Fiction No. 1, 31 Mar 1836
Romance and con artist at the seaside,
·       Amelia
·       Cower, Mr
·       Golding, Mary
·       Jane
·       Slaughter, Lieutenant
·       Thompson, Harry
·       Tippin Family
·       Tuggs, Charlotte
·       Tuggs, Joseph
·       Tuggs, Mrs
·       Tuggs, Simon
·       Waters, Belinda
·       Waters, Captain Walter

Horatio Sparkins
in The Monthly Magazine, Feb 1834
A lowly draper is transformed into a gentleman – and back again.
·       Flamwell, Mr
·       John
·       Malderton, Frederick
·       Malderton, Marianne
·       Malderton, Mr
·       Malderton, Mrs
·       Malderton, Teresa
·       Malderton, Thomas
·       Sparkins, Horatio

The Black Veil
original for Sketches by Boz, 8 Feb 1836
A hanged son, his grieving mother and a young doctor.
·       Rose

The Steam Excursion
in The Monthly Magazine, Oct 1834
A pleasure cruise that goes wrong.
·       Briggs Family
·       Edkins, Mr
·       Fleetwood Family
·       Hardy, Mr
·       Helves, Captain
·       Noakes, Percy
·       Stubbs, Mrs
·       Taunton Family
·       Wakefield Family

The Great Winglebury Duel
original for Sketches by Boz, 8 Feb 1836
Threats of violence end in happiness, but not for Lord Peter.
·       Brown, Emily
·       Flair, Augustus
·       Hunter, Horace
·       Manners, Julia
·       Overton, Joseph
·       Peter, Lord
·       Thomas
·       Trott, Alexander
·       Williamson, Mrs

Mrs Joseph Porter
in The Monthly Magazine, Jan 1834
The Gattletons stage a private theatrical performance, but there is a problem.
·       Balderstone, Thomas
·       Brown, Mr
·       Cape, Mr
·       Dixon Family
·       Evans, Mr
·       Gattleton, Mr
·       Gattleton, Mrs
·       Gattleton, Sempronius
·       Gattleton Sisters
·       Glumper, Thomas
·       Gubbins Family
·       Harleigh, Mr
·       Hickson Family
·       Jenkins, Miss
·       Nixon Family
·       Porter, Emma
·       Porter, Mrs Joseph
·       Smith Family
·       Thomas
·       Tom
·       Wilson, Mr

A Passage in the Life of Mr Watkins Tottle
The Monthly Magazine, Jan, Feb 1835
A search for a bride goes wrong.
·       Harry
·       Ikey
·       Jacobs, Solomon
·       Jem
·       John
·       Kate
·       Lillerton, Miss
·       Martha
·       Parsons, Fanny
·       Parsons, Gabriel
·       Ross, Frank
·       Timson, Rev Charles
·       Tom
·       Tottle, Watkins
·       Walker, Mr
·       Willis, Mr

The Bloomsbury Christening
in The Monthly Magazine, Apr 1834
Naming him Nicodemus Dumps ensured trouble,
·       Danton, Mr
·       Dumps, Nicodemus
·       Jane
·       Kitterbell, Frederick Charles William
·       Kitterbell, Jemima
·       Kitterbell, Charles
·       Maxwell, Mrs
·       Wilson, Mr and Mrs

The Drunkard’s Death
original for Second Series of Sketches by Boz, 17 Dec 1836
A cautionary tales of drink, destruction and death.
·       Warden
·       Warden, Henry
·       Warden, John
·       Warden, Mary
·       Warden, William

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