The Works of Charles Dickens, Gadshill Edition

What it is

This is the Gadshill Edition of The Works of Charles Dickens, a large collected set published by Chapman & Hall in 1897, with introductions and notes by Andrew Lang. The first volume contains The Pickwick Papers, printed from the text corrected by Dickens himself in 1867 and 1868.

Why it matters

Collected editions like this one gathered Dickens's novels together for readers after his death, shaping how later generations encountered his work. Because this text follows versions corrected by Dickens himself, it preserves his own final choices about his writing, while the notes by Andrew Lang add a later editor's perspective.

Look closer

• Why might it matter that the text was corrected by Dickens himself rather than left as first printed?
• What is the difference between reading Dickens's own words and reading an editor's introduction or notes about them?
• Why do you think publishers created large collected editions of an author's complete works?