The Charles Dickens Museum is an
author's house museum at 48
Doughty Street in
King's Cross, in the
London Borough of Camden
The London Borough of Camden () is a London boroughs, borough in Inner London, England. Camden Town Hall, on Euston Road, lies north of Charing Cross. The borough was established on 1 April 1965 from the former Metropolitan boroughs of the Cou ...
. It occupies a typical
Georgian terraced house which was
Charles Dickens's home from 25 March 1837 (a year after his marriage) to December 1839.
Dickens and Doughty Street
In the nineteenth century, it was an exclusive residential street and had gates at either end to restrict entry and these were manned by porters.
Charles Dickens and his wife
Catherine Dickens (née Hogarth) lived here with the eldest three of their ten children, with the older two of Dickens's daughters,
Mary Dickens and
Kate Macready Dickens being born in the house.
A new addition to the household was Dickens's younger brother
Frederick. Also, Catherine's 17-year-old sister
Mary moved with them from
Furnival's Inn to offer support to her married sister and brother. It was not unusual for a woman's unwed sister to live with and help a newly married couple. Dickens became very attached to Mary, and she died in his arms after a brief illness in 1837. She inspired characters in many of his books, and her death is fictionalized as the death of
Little Nell. Dickens had a three-year lease (at £80 a year) on the property. He would remain here until 1839 when he moved to Devonshire Terrace. He upscaled to grander homes as his wealth increased and his family grew. However, Doughty Street is his only surviving London house.
The two years that Dickens lived in the house were extremely productive, for here he completed ''
The Pickwick Papers
''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was the Debut novel, first novel serialised from March 1836 to November 1837 by English author Charles Dickens. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Bo ...
'' (1836), wrote the whole of ''
Oliver Twist'' (1838) and ''
Nicholas Nickleby'' (1838–39) and worked on ''
Barnaby Rudge'' (1840–41).
The Museum
The building at 48 Doughty Street was threatened with demolition in 1923, but was saved by the
Dickens Fellowship, founded in 1902, who raised the
mortgage
A mortgage loan or simply mortgage (), in civil law (legal system), civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners t ...
and bought the property's freehold. The house was renovated and the Dickens House Museum was opened in 1925, under the direction of an independent trust, now a
registered charity
A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, Religion, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good).
The legal definitio ...
. The house was listed in 1954.
Perhaps the best-known exhibit is the portrait of Dickens known as ''
Dickens's Dream'' by
R. W. Buss, an original illustrator of ''The Pickwick Papers''. This unfinished portrait shows Dickens in his study at
Gads Hill Place surrounded by many of the characters he had created. The painting was begun in 1870 after Dickens's death.
Other notable artefacts in the museum include numerous first editions, original manuscripts, original
letters by Dickens, and many personal items owned by Dickens and his family.
The only known item of clothing worn by Dickens still in existence is also displayed at the museum. This is his Court Suit and sword, worn when Dickens was presented to the Prince of Wales in 1870.
Gallery
Image:Dickens dream.jpg, '' Dickens's Dream'', by Robert William Buss
Image:Dickens Museum -- Desk 21.jpg, Study
Image:Dickens Museum -- Kitchen 17.jpg, Basement kitchen
Image:Dickens Museum -- bedroom 25.jpg, Mary Hogarth room
Image:Dickens Museum -- Dining Room 03.jpg, Dining room
Image:dickens-living-room.jpg, Dickens's living room
Image:dickens-chair.jpg, Dickens's chair
Image:midshipman-dickens.jpg, The "Little Midshipman", referred to in '' Dombey and Son''
Image:seymour-headstone.jpg, Headstone of illustrator Robert Seymour
See also
*
Dickens family
*
Dickens World
*
Tavistock House
*
Bleak House, Broadstairs
*
Ware, Hertfordshire, the first British town to hold a yearly
Dickensian evening
References
External links
Official websiteList of art works at the museumCharles Dickens Museum on Museums London directory of museums
{{authority control
Houses in the London Borough of Camden
Dickens
Dickens Museum, London
Grade I listed houses in London
Grade I listed museum buildings
Museums established in 1925
Literary museums in London
Museums in the London Borough of Camden
Historic house museums in London
1925 establishments in England
Charities based in London
Buildings and structures in Holborn