It was our intention as well as our desire to have thanked, individually, every one--both living friends and representatives of dead ones--for their readiness to give us every possible help to make our work complete. But the number of such friends, besides correspondents hitherto unknown, who have volunteered contributions of letters, make it impossible in our space to do otherwise than to express, collectively, our earnest and heartfelt thanks. A separate word of gratitude, however, must be given by us to Mr. Wilkie Collins for the invaluable help which we have received from his great knowledge and experience, in the technical part of our work, and for the deep interest which he has shown from the beginning, in our undertaking. It is a great pleasure to us to have the name of Henry Fielding Dickens associated with this book. To him, for the very important assistance he has given in making our Index, we return our loving thanks. In writing our explanatory notes we have, we hope, left nothing out which in any way requires explanation from us. But we have purposely made them as short as possible; our great desire being to give to the public another book from Charles Dickens's own hands--as it were, a portrait of himself by himself. Those letters which need no explanation--and of those we have many--we give without a word from us. In publishing the more private letters, we do so with the view of showing him in his homely, domestic life--of showing how in the midst of his own constant and arduous work, no household matter was considered too trivial to claim his care and attention. He would take as much pains about the hanging of a picture, the choosing of furniture, the superintending any little improvement in the house, as he would about the more serious business of his life; thus carrying out to the very letter his favourite motto of "What is worth doing at all is worth doing well." MAMIE DICKENS. GEORGINA HOGARTH. LONDON: _October_, 1879. ERRATA. VOL. I. Page 111, line 6. For "because if I hear of you," _read_ "because I hear of you." " 114, line 24. For "any old end," _read_ "or any old end." " 137. First paragraph, second sentence, _should read_, "All the ancient part of Rome is wonderful and impressive in the extreme, far beyond the possibility of exaggeration. As to the," etc. " 456, line 11. For "Mr." _read_ "Mrs." Book I. 1833 TO 1842. THE LETTERS OF CHARLES DICKENS. 1833 OR 1834, AND 1835, 1836. NARRATIVE.