Meanwhile he had been contributing to the _Monthly Magazine_ and the _Evening Chronicle_ the papers which, in 1836, appeared in a _coll._ form as _Sketches by Boz_; and he had also produced one or two comic burlettas. In the same year he _m._ Miss Ann Hogarth; and in the following year occurred the opportunity of his life. He was asked by Chapman and Hall to write the letterpress for a series of sporting plates to be done by Robert Seymour who, however, _d._ shortly after, and was succeeded by Hablot Browne (Phiz), who became the illustrator of most of D.'s novels. In the hands of D. the original plan was entirely altered, and became the _Pickwick Papers_ which, appearing in monthly parts during 1837-39, took the country by storm. Simultaneously _Oliver Twist_ was coming out in _Bentley's Miscellany_. Thenceforward D.'s literary career was a continued success, and the almost yearly publication of his works constituted the main events of his life. _Nicholas Nickleby_ appeared in serial form 1838-39. Next year he projected _Master Humphrey's Clock_, intended to be a series of miscellaneous stories and sketches. It was, however, soon abandoned, _The Old Curiosity Shop_ and _Barnaby Rudge_ taking its place. The latter, dealing with the Gordon Riots, is, with the partial exception of the _Tale of Two Cities_, the author's only excursion into the historical novel. In 1841 D. went to America, and was received with great enthusiasm, which, however, the publication of _American Notes_ considerably damped, and the appearance of _Martin Chuzzlewit_ in 1843, with its caustic criticisms of certain features of American life, converted into extreme, though temporary, unpopularity. The first of the Christmas books--the _Christmas Carol_--appeared in 1843, and in the following year D. went to Italy, where at Genoa he wrote _The Chimes_, followed by _The Cricket on the Hearth_, _The Battle of Life_, and _The Haunted Man_. In January, 1846, he was appointed first ed. of _The Daily News_, but resigned in a few weeks. The same year he went to Switzerland, and while there wrote _Dombey and Son_, which was _pub._ in 1848, and was immediately followed by his masterpiece, _David Copperfield_ (1849-50). Shortly before this he had become manager of a theatrical company, which performed in the provinces, and he had in 1849 started his magazine, _Household Words_. _Bleak House_ appeared in 1852-53, _Hard Times_ in 1854, and _Little Dorrit_ 1856-57. In 1856 he bought Gadshill Place, which, in 1860, became his permanent home. In 1858 he began his public readings from his works, which, while eminently successful from a financial point of view, from the nervous strain which they entailed, gradually broke down his constitution, and hastened his death. In the same year he separated from his wife, and consequent upon the controversy which arose thereupon he brought _Household Words_ to an end, and started _All the Year Round_, in which appeared _A Tale of Two