Pete Orford – författare

The Oxford Dickens edition of Pictures from Italy puts the spotlight on Dickens's 'little book' describing his travels through Italy in 1844 and 1845. Throughout, Dickens offers his withering reviews of Italian masterpieces, his staunch criticism of Catholicism in Rome, tempered with a genuine love and admiration for the people of Italy and the country's rich cultural heritage. This is the first full critical edition of the work, with detailed research outlining its composition and form, and comparisons made between all editions produced during Dickens's lifetime. First written as personal letters, then printed as newspaper correspondence, then reshaped once more into a single book, the evolution of Pictures from Italy provides a fascinating insight into Dickens's creative and editorial process. Pete Orford's introduction puts the work under the microscope to track the changes made across these several iterations and uncover the story of its genesis and development. Analysis of the few remaining manuscript pages and Orford's own travels through Italy help to unpick several mysteries of the text. Previous editions of the work have been for general readership with critical essays that focus on the time Dickens spent in Italy (1844-5). This edition offers a different approach, supplementing this familiar story with the lesser discussed period of 1846 when Dickens, back in London, first turns his various letters into newspaper correspondence, then a monograph, whilst battling the pressures of launching a daily newspaper and planning a new novel. Dickens's time in Italy defines the content of the book, but it is his subsequent time in London which defines its shape and structure.This edition reproduces in situ the original illustrations provided by Samuel Palmer for the first edition of 1846, with further illustrations provided for subsequent editions contained in the appendices.

An accessible and reliable introduction to the life and works of Charles Dickens, offering a unique combination of academic biography and literary analysis The Life of the Author: Charles Dickens explores the relationship between Dickens’ lived experience and his works, discussing themes within and key influences on literary classics such as Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities, David Copperfield, Bleak House, Nicholas Nickleby, and Great Expectations. An excellent introduction to the world of Dickens scholarship, this easily accessible volume provides the necessary background about the author’s life while encouraging readers to critically analyze Dickens’ works. Organized thematically by chapter, the book opens with a brief overview of Dickens’ life and a chronology of major works. Subsequent chapters focus on key aspects of Dickens’ life, concluding with case studies of selected texts that demonstrate the similarities between events in Dickens’ own life and the literature he was writing at the time. Throughout the book, readers are provided with an informative portrait of Dickens’ early family life, personal relationships, professional networks, social circles, travels abroad, charitable works, financial issues, dealings with publishers, and much more. Incorporates the latest discussions in Dickens research alongside documents and materials from Dickens’ timeDiscusses the afterlife of Dickens in film, theater, and television, including A Christmas Carol, Dickens’ most adapted storyFeatures archival material from the Charles Dickens Museum and discussion of Dickens’ roles as a journalist, editor, and professional readerIncludes short case studies at the end of each chapter to demonstrate the ways Dickens’ life informed his workThe Life of the Author: Charles Dickens is an ideal introductory textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate students in English Literature and Victorian Literature courses, as well as a valuable resource for Dickens scholars and enthusiasts.