The Inimitable Charles Dickens
Philadelphia’s connection to the author, now on screen at the Lantern. Plus, an interactive quiz.
“My stay in Philadelphia was very short, but what I saw of its society, I greatly liked. Treating of its general characteristics, I should be disposed to say that it is more provincial than Boston or New York.” — Charles Dickens, American Notes
Now appearing in Lantern Theater Company’s digital premiere production of The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord — a new take on the company’s 2017 smash hit play and streaming on demand January 11 through February 27, 2022 — Charles Dickens (1812–1870) called himself “The Inimitable,” and not without cause. During his 40-year career, he wrote more than 70 novels, plays, short stories, essays, and poetry collections. He was also a journal publisher, editor, and actor — Queen Victoria called his performance in his own play, The Frozen Deep, the greatest theater performance she ever saw. He was even a magician: in 1849 Dickens secretly did magic shows as “The Unparalleled Necromancer Rhia Rhama Rhoos,” performing sleights of hand such as making a woman’s watch materialize inside a loaf of bread. He was enormously famous in his time, recognized constantly as he walked the streets of London, and selling out his readings and lectures in just hours.
Dickens’ life wasn’t always so starry, though; his carefully crafted portraits of poverty were drawn from experience. When Dickens was 12, his father was taken to Marshalsea Debtor’s Prison in London. Dickens was left to fend for himself, rooming in boarding homes and working in a rat-infested factory to survive.
After his father’s release, Dickens returned to school for two years before working as a law clerk, stenographer, and reporter. By age 21, he published his first short story, and by 24 his first full collection, Sketches by Boz. His career never slowed down, and his work, first published in serial format, flew off the shelves. Despite personal scandal, his public never abandoned him, and when he died at the age of 58, thousands flocked to Westminster Abbey to pay their respects.
Though Dickens’ home was in London, he was also hugely popular in America. In 1842, the 30-year-old visited Philadelphia for the first time, one stop on his six-month tour of the United States. He was already a successful writer: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, and Nicholas Nickleby were triumphs, and just before his arrival, the final installment of The Old Curiosity Shop was published. This work created such a frenzy that thousands of New Yorkers swarmed the docks when the ships carrying the final chapter arrived, shouting “Did Little Nell die?” to the sailors on board. When the author arrived on U.S. soil, he was embraced and cheered as a celebrity.
“It is a handsome city, but distractingly regular. After walking about it for an hour or two, I felt that I would have given the world for a crooked street.” — Charles Dickens on Philadelphia in American Notes.
Though Philadelphia may not have made an enormous impression on Dickens, he was certainly beloved by the city. The oldest U.S. chapter of of the Dickens Fellowship is located in Philadelphia, as is the first statue of Charles Dickens. Created in 1893 by Frank Elwell, the sculpture flouted Dickens’ order in his will that he be remembered by his work, and not by statues. It landed in Philadelphia, and was installed in Clark Park in 1901.
Perhaps the most significant evidence of Philadelphia’s affinity for Charles Dickens, though, is the vast Dickens Collection in the Rare Books Department at the Free Library of Philadelphia. In addition to Dickens’ gospel, the collection also includes first editions of every book in their original serialized form, letters, illustrations, and even his desk, postal scale, and traveling lantern. The collection also includes a variety of Dickens theater memorabilia, including more than 100 playbills.
One special item in the collection directly ties Dickens to Philadelphia: Dickens’ taxidermied pet raven, Grip, who appears in his novel Barnaby Rudge. A young Philadelphian reviewed Barnaby Rudge and was especially taken with the bird, noting that the raven “might have been…prophetically heard in the course of the drama.” The young writer would later write his own story featuring a prophetic raven. His name was Edgar Allan Poe.
The Quiz
The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens & Count Leo Tolstoy: Discord was filmed at St. Stephen’s Theater in Center City Philadelphia in July 2021 with strict adherence to all CDC, state, and local health and safety guidelines, and is streaming on demand January 11 through February 27, 2022. Visit our website for tickets and information.
