With

(1836-1837), Charles Dickens’s

, a collection of short pieces of literary journalism, marked the beginning of the young author’s success as a professional writer. Although critics generally look to

for the origins of Dickens’s success as a novelist later in his career, the work in

was Dickens’s first taste of success as a paid contributor to the periodical press. Dickens originally published most of the pieces collected under

in a wide variety of different newspapers and periodicals between December 1833 and December 1836, at the beginning struggling just to appear in print. In fact, a twenty-one year old Dickens agreed to offer the first seven pieces that would eventually make it into

without payment to…

2674 words

Citation: Wong, Amy R.. "Sketches by 'Boz', Illustrative of Every-Day Life and Every-Day People". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 14 December 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=2030, accessed 27 November 2024.]