In Jail with Charles Dickens

In Jail with Charles Dickens

The numbers in the right margin refer the page numbers of the original printed book, they appear just where the corresponding page begins, e.g., the original page 113 contains the text between the labels p. 113 and p. 114 in this version. Readers of Charles Dickens must all have remarked the deep and abiding interest he took in that grim accessory to civilization, the prison. He not only went jail hunting whenever opportunity offered, but made a profound study of the rules, practices and abuses of these institutions. Penology was, in fact, one of his hobbies, and some of the most powerful passages in his books are those which have their scene of action laid within the shadow of the gaol. It was this fact which led to the compilation of the papers comprised in the present volume. The writer had been a student of Dickens from the days when the publication of his novels in serial form was a periodical event. When he first visited England, many of the landmarks which the novelist had, in a manner, made historical, were still in existence, but of the principal prisons which figure in his works Newgate was the only one which existed in iv any approximation to its integrity. The Fleet and the Kings Bench were entirely swept away; of the Marshalsea only a few buildings remained, converted to ordinary uses. In this country, however, the two jails which interested him, still remain, with certain changes that do not impair their general conformance to his descriptions. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 34112
Author: Trumble, Alfred
Release Date: Oct 21, 2010
Format: eBook
Language: English