The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III,
Complete, by John Forster

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Title: The Life of Charles Dickens, Vol. I-III, Complete

Author: John Forster

Release Date: June 20, 2008 [EBook #25851]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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Transcriber's Note:

For the reader: Italic text is surrounded by _underscores_, bold text is
surrounded by =equal signs= and underlined text is surrounded by
~tildes~. Two breves above the letter e are indicated by [)e] in the
text.

THE LIFE

OF

[Illustration: Signature: Charles Dickens]

[Illustration]

THE LIFE

OF

CHARLES DICKENS

BY

JOHN FORSTER.

THREE VOLUMES IN TWO.

VOL. I.

* * * * *

BOSTON:
JAMES R. OSGOOD & COMPANY,
(LATE TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & CO.)
1875.

THE LIFE

OF

CHARLES DICKENS

BY

JOHN FORSTER.

VOL. I.

1812-1842.

TO THE

DAUGHTERS OF CHARLES DICKENS,

MY GOD-DAUGHTER MARY

AND

HER SISTER KATE,

=This Book is Dedicated=

BY THEIR FRIEND,

AND THEIR FATHER'S FRIEND AND EXECUTOR,

JOHN FORSTER

NOTE TO THE PRESENT EDITION.

SUCH has been the rapidity of the demand for successive impressions of
this book, that I have found it impossible, until now, to correct at
pages 31, 87, and 97 three errors of statement made in the former
editions; and some few other mistakes, not in themselves important, at
pages 96, 101, and 102. I take the opportunity of adding that the
mention at p. 83 is not an allusion to the well-known "Penny" and
"Saturday" Magazines, but to weekly periodicals of some years' earlier
date resembling them in form. One of them, I have since found from a
later mention by Dickens himself, was presumably of a less wholesome and
instructive character