Sketches by "Boz," Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People (commonly known as Sketches by Boz) is a collection of short pieces published by Charles Dickens

Charles Dickens

Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...

 in 1836 accompanied by illustrations by George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...

. The 56 sketches concern London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 scenes and people and are divided into four sections: "Our Parish", "Scenes", "Characters", and "Tales". The material in the first three of these sections is non-fiction. The last section comprises fictional stories. Originally, the sketches were published in various newspapers and periodicals from 1833-1836.

The History of "Boz"

The sketch, "Mr. Minns and his Cousin", (originally titled "A Dinner at Poplar Walk") was the author's first published work of fiction. It appeared in The Monthly Magazine in December, 1833. Although Dickens continued to place pieces in the magazine, none of them bore a signature until August 1834, when "The Boarding House" appeared in The Monthly Magazine using the strange pen-name "Boz". A verse in the March 1837 issue of Bentley's Miscellany

Bentley's Miscellany

Bentley's Miscellany was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868.-Contributors:Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens to be its first editor...

recalls the public's perplexity at the time regarding the author's pseudonym:

"Who the dickens 'Boz' could be

Puzzled many a learned elf,

Till time unveiled the mystery,

And 'Boz' appeared as Dickens' self."

Dickens took his famous pseudonym from a nickname he had given his younger brother Augustus, whom he called "Moses" (after a character in Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith

Oliver Goldsmith was an Irish writer, poet and physician known for his novel The Vicar of Wakefield , his pastoral poem The Deserted Village , and his plays The Good-Natur'd Man and She Stoops to Conquer...

's The Vicar of Wakefield

The Vicar of Wakefield

The Vicar of Wakefield is a novel by Irish author Oliver Goldsmith. It was written in 1761 and 1762, and published in 1766, and was one of the most popular and widely read 18th-century novels among Victorians...

), which "being facetiously pronounced through the nose" became "Boses", which in turn was shortened to "Boz". The name remained coupled with "inimitable" until "Boz" eventually disappeared and Dickens became known as, simply, "The Inimitable". The name was originally pronounced ˈ but is now usually ˈ.

Illustrations

The popularity of Dickens’ writings was enhanced by the regular inclusion of detailed illustrations to highlight key scenes and characters. The stories typically featured two black-and-white illustrations per installment, plus an illustrated cover design for the wrapper. The images were created with wood engravings or metal etchings. Dickens worked closely with several illustrators during his career, including George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank

George Cruikshank was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other authors, reached an international audience.-Early life:Cruikshank was born in London...

, Hablot Knight Browne

Hablot Knight Browne

Hablot Knight Browne was an English artist, famous as Phiz, illustrator of books by Charles Dickens, Charles Lever and Harrison Ainsworth.-Biography:...

 (aka "Phiz"), and John Leech

John Leech

John Leech was an English caricaturist and illustrator.-Early life:John Leech was born in London...

, although Browne is typically considered to be most strongly identified with Dickens’ stories. The accuracy of the illustrations was of utmost importance to Dickens, as the drawings portrayed the characters just as he envisioned them, and they gave valuable insight to the reader about the characters’ personalities and motives, as well as the plot.

Installments

Sketches by Boz was issued in its own installments from 1837 to 1839. Dickens was equally at home in both the short story and the full-length novel format. This is because nearly all his novels were serialized in periodicals in their first publications. Only later were they edited for book form. He and his publishers, Chapman & Hall, released most of his major novels in weekly or monthly installments. These sold for 1 shilling

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

 apiece, which was within the affordable price range of most Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 readers.
This method of publication kept readers anxious to learn of the next plot twist, thereby ensuring sales of the following installment. It also allowed Dickens to gauge public reaction to each installment, and tailor the plot developments accordingly. Dickens wrote his novels as he published them, and readers frequently wrote to him to implore for the good fortune of their favorite characters. Although Dickens was not the first author to publish novels serially, he was by far the most successful in the use of this method.

Publications

The earliest version of Sketches by Boz was published by John Macrone in two series: the first as a two-volume set in February 1836, just a month before the publication of the first number of The Pickwick Papers

The Pickwick Papers

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club is the first novel by Charles Dickens. After the publication, the widow of the illustrator Robert Seymour claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's; however, in his preface to the 1867 edition, Dickens strenuously denied any...

(1836-37), and a "Second Series" in August 1836. After Dickens' fame skyrocketed he was able to buy out his agreements with Macrone. When Macrone died unexpectantly at age 28 Dickens helped to publish a book (Pic-Nic Papers) to benefit Macrone's widow and children.

Installment Contents

The majority of the fifty-six sketches that appear in the 1839 edition were originally published individually in popular newspapers and periodicals, including The Morning Chronicle

Morning Chronicle

The Morning Chronicle was a newspaper founded in 1769 in London, England, and published under various owners until 1862. It was most notable for having been the first employer of Charles Dickens, and for publishing the articles by Henry Mayhew which were collected and published in book format in...

, The Evening Chronicle

Evening Chronicle

The Evening Chronicle is a daily, evening newspaper produced in Newcastle upon Tyne, covering Tyne and Wear, southern Northumberland and northern County Durham. It was founded in 1885 by Joseph Cowen...

, The Monthly Magazine, The Carlton Chronicle and Bell's Life in London

Bell's Life in London

Bell's Life in London, and Sporting Chronicle was a British weekly sporting paper published as a pink broadsheet between 1822 and 1886.Bell's Life was founded by Robert Bell, a London printer-publisher....

, from 1833 to 1836:

• • "Mr. Minns and his Cousin" (SB 46), originally, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" in The Monthly Magazine, 1 December 1833.
  • "Mrs. Joseph Porter, Over the Way" (SB 53), originally in The Monthly Magazine, January, 1834.
  • "Horatio Sparkins" ( SB 49), originally in The Monthly Magazine, February, 1834.
  • "The Bloomsbury Christening" (SB 55), originally in The Monthly Magazine, April, 1834.
  • "The Boarding-House" (SB 45), originally in The Monthly Magazine, May & August, 1834.
  • "Sentiment" (SB 47), originally in Bell's Weekly Magazine, 7 June 1834.
  • "The Steam Excursion" (SB 51), originally in The Monthly Magazine, October 1834.
  • "A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle" (SB 54), originally "Chapter the First" and "Chapter the Second" in two numbers of The Monthly Magazine, January and February, 1835.
  • "The Four Sisters"(SB 3), Our Parish 3, originally, "Sketches of London No. 14" in The Evening Chronicle, 18 June 1835.
  • "The Election for Beadle" (SB 4), Our Parish 4, originally, "Sketches of London No. 16" in The Evening Chronicle, 14 July 1835.
  • "The Broker's Man" (SB 5), Our Parish 5, originally, "Sketches of London No. 18" in The Evening Chronicle, 28 July 1835.
  • "The Ladies' Societies" (SB 6), Our Parish 6, originally, "Sketches of London No. 20" in The Evening Chronicle, 28 July 1835.
  • "Miss Evans and the Eagle" (SB 36), (Scenes and Characters No. 2) originally in Bell's Life in London, 4 October 1835.
  • "The Dancing Academy" (SB 41), originally, "Scenes and Characters, No. 3" in Bell's Life in London, 11 October 1835.
  • "Making a Night of It" (SB 43), originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 4" in Bell's Life in London, 18 October 1835.
  • "The Misplaced Attachment of Mr. John Dounce" (SB 39), originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 5. Love and Oysters," in Bell's Life in London, 25 October 1835.
  • "Some Account of an Omnibus Cad" originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 6," later retitled and expanded into "The Last Cab-driver and the First Omnibus Cab"; in Bell's Life in London, 1 November 1835.
  • "The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition" (SB 40) originally "Scenes and Characters No. 7. The Vocal Dressmaker," in Bell's Life in London, 22 November 1835.
  • "The New Year" (SB 35), originally in Bell's Life in London, 3 January 1836.
  • "The Great Winglebury Duel" (SB 52), originally in the First Series of Sketches by Boz, 8 February 1836.
  • "The Black Veil" (SB 50) originally in the First Series of Sketches by Boz, 8 February 1836.
  • "Our Next-Door Neighbour" (Our Parish 7), originally, "Our Next-Door Neighbours" in The Morning Chronicle, 18 March 1836.
  • "The Tuggses at Ramsgate" (Tales 4), originally in The Library of Fiction No. 1, 31 March 1836 (accompanied by two Robert Seymour woodcuts).
  • "The Hospital Patient" (SB 38), Characters 6, originally in The Carlton Chronicle, 6 August 1836.
  • "The Drunkard's Death" (SB 56), originally in the Second Series of Sketches by Boz, 17 December 1836.

Book Contents

The contents of Sketches by Boz are:

• Our parish
  • The Beadle. The Parish
    Parish
    A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
    
     Engine. The Schoolmaster.
  • The Curate. The Old Lady. The Half-pay Captain
  • The Four Sisters
  • The Election for Beadle
  • The Broker's Man
  • The Ladies' Societies
  • Our Next-door Neighbour
• Scenes
  • The Streets - morning
  • The Streets - night
  • Shops and their Tenants
  • Scotland Yard
    Scotland Yard
    Scotland Yard is a metonym for the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service of London, UK. It derives from the location of the original Metropolitan Police headquarters at 4 Whitehall Place, which had a rear entrance on a street called Great Scotland Yard. The Scotland Yard entrance became...
    
    
  • Seven Dials
  • Meditations in Monmouth-Street
  • Hackney
    Hackney carriage
    A hackney or hackney carriage is a carriage or automobile for hire...
    
    -coach Stands
  • Doctors' Commons
    Doctors' Commons
    Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked, and a large library...
    
    
  • London Recreations
  • The River
    River Thames
    The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...
    
    
  • Astley's
  • Greenwich
    Greenwich
    Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
    
     Fair
  • Private Theatres
  • Vauxhall Gardens
    Vauxhall Gardens
    Vauxhall Gardens was a pleasure garden, one of the leading venues for public entertainment in London, England from the mid 17th century to the mid 19th century. Originally known as New Spring Gardens, the site was believed to have opened before the Restoration of 1660 with the first mention being...
    
     by Day
  • Early Coaches
  • Omnibuses
  • The Last Cab-driver, and the First Omnibus
    Bus
    A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
    
     cad
  • A Parliament
    Parliament
    A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
    
    ary Sketch
  • Public Dinners
  • The First of May
  • Brokers' and Marine-store Shops
  • Gin-shops
  • The Pawnbroker
    Pawnbroker
    A pawnbroker is an individual or business that offers secured loans to people, with items of personal property used as collateral...
    
    's Shop
  • Criminal Courts
  • A Visit to Newgate
    Newgate
    Newgate at the west end of Newgate Street was one of the historic seven gates of London Wall round the City of London and one of the six which date back to Roman times. From it a Roman road led west to Silchester...
    
    
  • Thoughts about People
  • A Christmas Dinner
  • The New Year
  • Miss Evans and the Eagle
  • The Parlour Orator
  • The Hospital Patient
  • The Misplaced attachment of Mr. John Dounce
  • The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition
  • The Dancing Academy
  • Shabby-Genteel People
  • Making a Night of It
  • The Prisoners' Van
• Tales
  • The Boarding-house
    • Chapter the first
    • Chapter the second
  • Mr. Minns and his Cousin
  • Sentiment
  • The Tuggses at Ramsgate
    Ramsgate
    Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
    
    
  • Horatio Sparkins
  • The Black Veil
  • The Steam Excursion
  • The Great Winglebury Duel
    Duel
    A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
    
    
  • Mrs. Joseph Porter
  • A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle
    • Chapter the first
    • Chapter the second
  • The Bloomsbury
    Bloomsbury
    -Places:* Bloomsbury is an area in central London.* Bloomsbury , related local government unit* Bloomsbury, New Jersey, New Jersey, USA* Bloomsbury , listed on the NRHP in Maryland...
    
     Christening
  • The Drunkard's death

External links

Online editions

• Sketches by Boz at Internet Archive
  Internet Archive
  The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
  
  .
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