Speech: February 1842, Boston

Poetry

Charles Dickens 200th Anniversary Collection Vol. 1

by Charles DICKENS (1812 - 1870)

The Charles Dickens 200th Anniversary Collection comprises short works previously unrecorded for LibriVox - fiction, essays, poetry, letters, magazine articles and speeches - and each volume will be a pot pourri of all genres and periods of his writing. This first volume was released on Dickens' 200th birthday, February 7th 2012 and further volumes followed during the anniversary year.Volume 1 includes short stories including, amongst others, The Holly Tree, the first part of Holiday Romance and three pieces from Mugby Junction.Some items requiring a little further explanation are Prince Bull, written as a fairy tale, but in reality a scathing attack on the Government's handling of supplies to the troops in the Crimean War; Old Lamps for New Ones in which Dickens makes clear his low opinion of the ethos of the Pre-Raphaelite school of painting; and Frauds on the Fairies, a polemic against George Cruikshank's bowdlerisation of fairy tales for moralistic purposes, and the interesting revelation that 'product placement' is by no means a new phenomenon. (Introduction by Ruth Golding)

Listen next episodes of Charles Dickens 200th Anniversary Collection Vol. 1:
A Tale of the Good Old Times , A Walk In A Workhouse from 'Reprinted Pieces' , Barbox Brothers & Co. from 'Mugby Junction' , Barbox Brothers from 'Mugby Junction' , Frauds on the Fairies from Household Words Vol. VIII No. 184 , Introductory Romance From the Pen of William Tinkling, Esq. (Aged Eight) from 'Holiday Romance' , Main Line: The Boy at Mugby from 'Mugby Junction' , Old Lamps for New Ones , Some Particulars Concerning a Lion from 'Mudfog and Other Sketches' , Speech: London, June 5 1867 to the Railway Benevolent Society , The Amusements of the People I , The Ghost of the Late Mr. James Barber , The Holly Tree, First Branch - Myself , The Holly Tree, Second Branch - The Boots , The Holly Tree, Third Branch - The Bill , The Hymn of the Wiltshire Labourers , To be Read at Dusk