The letters of Charles Dickens

This selection from the letters of Charles Dickens (1812–70) was edited (as it says on the title page) 'by his sister-in-law and his eldest daughter'. The former was Georgina Hogarth (1827–1917), who stayed in Dickens' household and cared for the family when the author separated from his wife, her sister, in 1858; the latter was Mary (1838–96), known in the family as Mamie, his favourite child. They had published a three-volume edition in 1880, and a 'New Edition' in 1882; this reissue is of the single-volume third edition of 1893. The collection was seen as a 'supplement' to Forster's life of Dickens (also reissued in this series). Inevitably, it focuses on the positive and dynamic sides of Dickens' complex character, and gives a vivid portrait of a man juggling family life, writing, editing, travelling, amateur theatricals and public readings from his works with tremendous energy and verve.