The Old Curiosity Shop

CharlesDickens’sstoryofselflessLittleNellandherailinggrandfatherandtheirpersecutionbythemagnificentlymalignantvillainQuilphasseizedtheimaginationsandwrungtheheartsofgenerationsofreaders.Dickens’stalentwassuperabundantineveryway:inhisdramaticforceandhismassiveproductivity,inhisalmostsurrealcomicpower,inhiscompassionandthirstforjustice,andintheimaginativepressurehebroughttobearoneventhemostincidentalofhischaracters.ThedelightfullyvariousfiguresinTheOldCuriosityShoprangememorablyfromjauntyDickSwivellerandhislittlehalf-starvedMarchionesstothehard-heartedsiblingsSampsonandSallyBrass,jovialMrs.Jarley,devotedKitNubbles,thehunchbackedDanielQuilp,and,ofcourse,tragicLittleNellherself.Dickens’sdepictionofthefateofhismaincharactersisfamouslyharrowingandunfailinglysuspenseful,butnottheleastofitscharmsisthatitisembellishedwithasupportingcastoffiguresasgrotesqueandcolorfulasanythingintheOldCuriosityShopitself.ThiseditionreprintstheoriginalEveryman’sprefacebyG.K.Chestertonandfeaturesseventy-fiveillustrationsbyCattermoleandPhiz.,