Charles Dickens, who called the city ‘distractingly regular,’ visited on this week in Philly history
Dickens would stay at the Continental Hotel and give readings at the Concert Hall on Chestnut Street to sold-out audiences.
Philadelphia’s favorite Victorian novelist made his second, and final, visit to the City of Brotherly Love on this week 158 years ago.
Charles Dickens, a few weeks away from his 56th birthday, arrived near midnight in Philadelphia on Jan. 12, 1868.
He would stay at the Continental Hotel, and most notably, would give readings at the Concert Hall on Chestnut Street to sold-out audiences.
His first visit here, in March 1842, Dickens had mixed feelings.
He was horrified of how prisoners were treated at the “solitary prison” Eastern State Penitentiary, but delighted at meeting Philly’s other literary hero, Edgar Allan Poe.
He also called Philly “distractingly regular” in his 1842 memoir, American Notes.
He also called the city “handsome,” and “What I saw of its society, I generally liked.”
In December 1843, he would publish his most seminal work, A Christmas Carol, in England. Philadelphia publisher Carey & Hart would publish the first notable U.S. edition of the story, which could help explain why the city fell in love with the author and his penchant for highlighting working-class and underdog characters.
Dickens’ second visit was most notable for his readings from A Christmas Carol and his first novel The Pickwick Papers to “unbounded enthusiasm and loud applause,” according to an Inquirer report from the time.
“The rude and boisterous mob which, with flaunting banners, tossing hats and loud cries, follows the horse of some victorious general,” The Inquirer wrote.
Dickens died in 1870, at age 58. And while the whole world mourned his death, the city he so enraptured would take it a step further.
In 1905, Philadelphia became the first city to build a statue of him, despite explicit wishes written into Dickens’ will against the honor.
The statue now sits in Clark Park.
Throughout the years, Philly has continued its Dickens tradition.
In 2012, the 200th anniversary of Dickens’ birth, the Free Library held a yearlong celebration of the literary icon.
And the library boasts an extensive collection of his artifacts, including his writing desk.
One of its prized attractions is the taxidermied body of Grip, Dickens’ pet raven, which famously inspired Poe.