Having lunch with Charles Dickens
Despite lacking a formal education, Charles Dickens started his career as a journalist writing articles for the True Sun. In 1833 he moved up the literary ladder and was hired by The Morning Chronicle newspaper to report on Parliament. However, this was not the only arrow in Dickens' journalistic quiver; he also started sketching under the nickname "Boz", going on to publish these drawings in The Morning Chronicle for some years.
In 1836, Charles Dickens' career took another leap forward after printing his serial publication "The Pickwick Papers". Launching his career as the renowned author we have all come to recognise.
Overall Charles Dickens would go on to publish fifteen novels, as well as hundreds of articles and short stories.
Our visit to the Charles Dickens' Museum was more centered on his home and personal life and it is this aspect of the great man's life I wish to focus on in this article.
In 1836 Charles Dickens married Catherine Hogarth, the daughter of one of Dickens' editors, and himself a famous satirist and cartoonist, George Hogarth.
The following year, 1837, was another important year for the Dickens family, as it is was then that they bought their family home in 48 Doughty Street in London.
It was a lovely home for guests to come and visit and many luminaries crossed the threshold for dinner parties and get togethers. The Drawing room was Charles Dickens' favourite place in the house as he loved to host amateur theatre and do public reading here.
When he lived in Doughty Street, Dickens had a strict routine; writing without distraction from breakfast until lunch. Then he would visit his beloved club. Dickens so loved the area in which he lived, that he would make nightly walks through the city to see the streelights which he called his 'magic lanterns'.
All this, in conjunction with the massive collection of books in his study, meant that inspiration for his novels was always close to hand.
As Dickens traveled a lot of the time, Catherine ran the household and the family's affairs, and this is clearly evident in some of the more personal touches still visible in the house today.
Together Charles and Catherine had 10 children, and it was said Charles Dickens loved reading books ,to his children especially ghost stories, as he was a superb story teller and loved the supernatural.
As a young writer myself it was an honour to visit the home of one of the greatest wirters in English literature. It inspired me to keep writing and to improve every article, just as Dickens did.
The visit also gave me a greater insight into the writer's personal life; his mind and the persona beyond the face we used to see embalozoned on the £10 notes.
Maybe one day I will have the privilege of being just like him, except maybe I'll aim for one better and appear on the £20 note!
