Sketches of Young Gentlemen and Young Couples: With Sketches of Young Ladies by Edward Caswall (Oxford World's Classics) - Hardcover

Dickens, Charles; Schlicke, Paul

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199603286 ISBN 13: 9780199603282

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2012

Synopsis

Praised by acclaimed biographer Claire Tomalin as "young Dickens at his most playful," this delightful volume showcases two collections of little-known sketches by Dickens, charmingly illustrated by Phiz. Whimsical, satirical, witty and exuberant, the sketches ridicule the behavior of their subjects with perfect comic effect, offering fascinating evidence of a writer learning his craft and refining his style. In his Introduction, Dickens scholar Paul Schlicke discusses the popularity of the sketch mode, and the special qualities of these examples. This unique edition includes Edward Caswall's Sketches of Young Ladies, whose success prompted Dickens to write his own sketches.

About this title

About the Author:

Paul Schlicke is Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen.

Review:

"By presenting these little-known Dickens sketches in the company of the work that preceded and partially inspired them, Paul Schlicke recovers their contemporary literary milieu and allows us to see them as more than mere harbingers of future greatness. It would be difficult to find a better qualified editor for this work." --Review 19

"The young Dickens at his most playful, writing anonymously and slyly observant of the manners and morals of the 1830s, when he was himself a young gentleman and one member of a young couple. Paul Schlicke's delightful edition includes the original Phiz illustrations." --Claire Tomalin, author of Charles Dickens: A Life

"So little known they qualify as 'new Dickens,' and as hugely enjoyable socio-comic writing from his most exuberant phase. Paul Schlicke is to be thanked for bringing them to our attention in his handsomely embellished volume." --John Sutherland, author of How Literature Works

"I've loved reading the Sketches - a delicious and illuminating part of the vast hidden forest of unknown Dickens, enchanting and surprising, and beautifully introduced by Dr Schlicke." --Simon Callow

"A taxonomy of archetypes that is at once amusingly outdated and surprisingly timely. Though its blend of humor and astute cultural observation captures a bygone era beautifully, its tease-points could easily apply to today's crop of hipsters, techies, and other social performative roles we all don." -- Brain Pickings

"Interesting and fun to read. This inexpensive volume will lead many readers to a slightly more detailed picture of Dickens's earliest years as a writer." --Dickens Quarterly

"An especially welcome addition to the list of this year's dickens publications." --Recent Studies in the Nineteenth Century

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0199603286
• ISBN 13: 9780199603282
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256