The Pickwick Papers

The larger-than-life Mr. Pickwick, a benevolent and well-to-do gentleman, travels about the country righting wrongs and occasionally?but unintentionally?wreaking havoc. Accompanying him is his faithful valet Sam Weller, and crossing paths with the Pickwickians is comic villain Alfred Jingle, whose misadventures repeatedly land the group in trouble. The Pickwick Papers began as a series of tales to accompany illustrations by caricaturist Robert Seymour, but soon took on a life of their own to become one of Dickens’s best-loved comic stories.

Charles Dickens (1812?1870) is considered one of the English language's greatest writers. Peter Ackroyd’s biography Dickens was published in 1990 to enormous critical acclaim. His other titles include London: A Biography, Poe: A Life Cut Short, Shakespeare: The Biography, and Thames: The Biography. Paul Slater is an artist and illustrator whose awards include The Association of Illustrators Artist of the Year Award and the WH Smith Editorial Art Award.