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FROM THE BOOK JACKET:

'Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show'

David Copperfield is the story of a young man's adventures on his journey from an unhappy and impoverished childhood to the discovery of his vocation as a successful novelist. Among the gloriously vivid cast of characters he encounters are his tyrannical stepfather, Mr Murdstone; his brilliant, but ultimately unworthy school-friend Steerforth; his formidable aunt, Betsey Trotwood; the eternally humble, yet treacherous Uriah Heep; frivolous, enchanting Dora; and the magnificently impecunious Micawber, one of literature's great comic creations. In David Copperfield--the novel he described as his 'favourite child'--Dickens drew revealingly on his own experiences to create one of his most exuberant and enduringly popular works, filled with tragedy and comedy in equal measure.

This edition uses the text of the first volume publication of 1850, and includes updated suggestions for further reading, a revised chronology and expanded notes. In his new introduction, Jeremy Tambling discusses the novel's autobiographical elements, and its central themes of memory and identity.

Revised edition with an introduction and notes by JEREMY TAMBLING

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Charles Dickens was born at Portsmouth on 7 February 1812, the second of eight children. Dickens's childhood experiences were similar to those depicted in "David Copperfield." His father, who was a government clerk, was imprisoned for debt and Dickens was briefly sent to work in a blacking warehouse at the age of twelve. He received little formal education, but taught himself shorthand and became a reporter of parliamentary debates for the "Morning Chronicle." He began to publish sketches in various periodicals, which were subsequently republished as "Sketches by Boz." "The Pickwick Papers" were published in 1836-7 and after a slow start became a publishing phenomenon and Dickens's characters the centre of a popular cult. Part of the secret of his success was the method of cheap serial publication which Dickens used for all his novels. He began "Oliver Twist" in 1837, followed by "Nicholas Nickleby" (1838) and "The Old Curiosity Shop" (1840-41). After finishing "Barnaby Rudge" (1841) Dickens set off for America; he went full of enthusiasm for the young republic but, in spite of a triumphant reception, he returned disillusioned. His experiences are recorded in "American Notes" (1842). "Martin Chuzzlewit" (1843-4) did not repeat its predecessors' success but this was quickly redressed by the huge popularity of the 'Christmas Books', of which the first, "A Christmas Carol," appeared in 1843. During 1844-6 Dickens travelled abroad and he began "Dombey and Son" while in Switzerland. This and "David Copperfield" (1849-50) were more serious in theme and more carefully planned than his early novels. In later works, such as "Bleak House" (1853) and "Little Dorrit" (1857), Dickens's social criticism became more radical and his comedy more savage. In 1850 Dickens started the weekly periodical "Household Words," succeeded in 1859 by "All the Year Round;" in these he published "Hard Times" (1854), "A Tale of Two Cities" (1859) and "Great Expectations" (1860-61). Dickens's health was failing during the 1860s and the physical strain of the public readings which he began in 1858 hastened his decline, although "Our Mutual Friend" (1865) retained some of his best comedy. His last novel, "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," was never completed and he died on 9 June 1870. Public grief at his death was considerable and he was buried in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey.

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