Produced by Sigal Alon, LN Yaddanapudi and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) [Illustration: Charles Dickens, Circa 1840 From an oil painting by R. J. Lane.] APPRECIATIONS AND CRITICISMS OF THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS BY G. K. CHESTERTON [Illustration] 1911 LONDON: J. M. DENT & SONS, LTD. NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. _All rights reserved_ CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. INTRODUCTION vii II. SKETCHES BY BOZ 1 III. PICKWICK PAPERS 13 IV. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY 26 V. OLIVER TWIST 38 VI. OLD CURIOSITY SHOP 50 VII. BARNABY RUDGE 65 VIII. AMERICAN NOTES 76 IX. PICTURES FROM ITALY 87 X. MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT 90 XI. CHRISTMAS BOOKS 103 XII. DOMBEY AND SON 114 XIII. DAVID COPPERFIELD 129 XIV. CHRISTMAS STORIES 140 XV. BLEAK HOUSE 148 XVI. CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND 160 XVII. HARD TIMES 169 XVIII. LITTLE DORRIT 178 XIX. A TALE OF TWO CITIES 188 XX. GREAT EXPECTATIONS 197 XXI. OUR MUTUAL FRIEND 207 XXII. EDWIN DROOD 218 XXIII. MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK 229 XXIV. REPRINTED PIECES 239 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE CHARLES DICKENS, CIRCA 1840 _Frontispiece_ From an oil painting by R. J. Lane. CHARLES DICKENS, 1842 76 From a bust by H. Dexter, executed during Dickens's first visit to America. CHARLES DICKENS, 1844 90 From a miniature by Margaret Gillies. CHARLES DICKENS, 1849 130 From a daguerreotype by Mayall. CHARLES DICKENS, 1858 184 From a black and white drawing by Baughiet. CHARLES DICKENS, 1859 188 From an oil painting by W. P. Frith, R.A. CHARLES DICKENS, CIRCA 1860 198 Photograph by J. & C. Watkins. CHARLES DICKENS, 1868 218 From a photograph by Gurney. INTRODUCTION