Dickens was working as a Parliamentary reporter and a roving journalist at the age of 24, and he had published a collection of sketches on London life as Sketches by Boz. Publisher Chapman & Hall was projecting a series of

A great hokey-cokey of eccentrics, conmen, phony politicians, amorous widows and wily, witty servants, somehow catching an essence of what it is to be English, celebrating companionship, generosity, good nature, in the figure of Samuel Pickwick, Esq, one

The novel has been adapted to film, television, and radio:
• 1913 – The Pickwick Papers, a silent three-reel film featuring

Dickens drew on places that he knew from his childhood. He located the duel between Mr. Winkle and Dr. Slammer at Fort Pitt, Chatham, close to Ordnance Terrace where he had

Central characters
• Samuel Pickwick – the main protagonist and founder of the Pickwick Club. Following his description

Pickwick, Sam Weller, and his father Tony briefly reappeared in 1840 in the magazine Master Humphrey's Clock. Master Humphrey's Clock is the name of a literary club founded by Mr

The novel was published in 19 issues over 20 months; the last was double-length and cost two shillings. In mourning for his sister-in-law