Nicholas Nickleby (Nonesuch Dickens) [Hardcover]

Charles Dickens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 26, 2008 | Series: Nonesuch Dickens

Written in 1839, "Nicholas Nickleby" combines comedy and tragedy in a tale of triumph over adversity, where Nickleby succeeds despite poverty, the indifference of his wealthy uncle, the tyranny of wicked schoolmaster Wackford Squeers and the social injustice that he encounters throughout the institutional system, meeting such eccentric characters as the Crummles, the Kenwigs, Newman Noggs and businessmen, the Cheeryble brothers along the way. Here, Dickens uses his greatest skills as a creator of caricature to present a cast of rogues and eccentrics perfectly able to illustrate his criticism of social status and the possibilities of crossing social boundaries through hard work and good will - a reflection of his own ascendance from poverty to great success as a novelist and social commentator, a theatrical performer and editor of a number of important journals...Based on the world-famous "Nonesuch Press" edition of 1937, the text is taken from the 1867 "Chapman and Hall" edition, which became known as the "Charles Dickens" edition, and was the last edition to be corrected by the author himself. "The Nonesuch" edition contains illustrations selected by Dickens himself, by artists including Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'), George Cruikshank, John Leech, Robert Seymour and George Cattermole. The new "Nonesuch Dickens" reproduces the original elegance of these beautiful editions. Books are printed on natural cream shade high quality stock, are quarter bound in bonded leather with cloth sides, include a ribbon marker and feature special printed endpapers. Each book is wrapped in a protective, clear acetate jacket.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'One of the most glorious achievements of publishing in our time' - Daily Telegraph. 'It will never be more possible for a more complete and perfect edition to be put on the market' - Arthur Waugh, Past President, Dickens Fellowship.

About the Author

Charles Dickens is one of the most beloved British authors of all time.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 860 pages
• Publisher: Overlook Pr (November 26, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0715634739
• ISBN-13: 978-0715634738
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7 x 2.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,620,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

One of the grand masters of Victorian literature, Charles Dickens was born on February 7, 1812, in Landport, Portsea, England. He died in Kent on June 9, 1870. The second of eight children of a family continually plagued by debt, the young Dickens came to know not only hunger and privation,but also the horror of the infamous debtors' prison and the evils of child labor. A turn of fortune in the shape of a legacy brought release from the nightmare of prison and "slave" factories and afforded Dickens the opportunity of two years' formal schooling at Wellington House Academy. He worked as an attorney's clerk and newspaper reporter until his Sketches by Boz (1836) and The Pickwick Papers (1837) brought him the amazing and instant success that was to be his for the remainder of his life. In later years, the pressure of serial writing, editorial duties, lectures, and social commitments led to his separation from Catherine Hogarth after twenty-three years of marriage. It also hastened his death at the age of fifty-eight, when he was characteristically engaged in a multitude of work.