Charles Dickens
novelist · London, England · 1812–1870
A novelist who went to work in a blacking factory at twelve when his father was jailed for debt. He told stories of London's poor children and the workhouse.
Posts
1837 · The hungry boy Oliver, having emptied his bowl of thin gruel in the workhouse
Please, sir, I want some more.
Oliver Twist, chapter 2
1850 · Mr. Micawber, just out of debtors' prison, to the young David. He adds that in short you are for ever floored, as he is himself
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.
David Copperfield, chapter 12, Mr. Micawber's advice
1850
Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
David Copperfield, the first sentence
1859 · Picturing London and Paris at the time of the French Revolution
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness …
A Tale of Two Cities, the first sentence
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us