Dickens, 'Great Expectations,' and the Dartmouth College notes

Many literary scholars have questioned the composition date of Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectation' because his 'Book of Memoranda' and a flyleaf in Samuel Johnson's 'Dictionary of the English Language' contain references well before the novel was written in 1...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Papers on language & literature 1992-03, Vol.28 (2), p.111
Main Author: Meckier, Jerome
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
British & Irish literature
Correspondence
Dickens, Charles (1812-1870)
English literature
Marginalia
Novels
Onomastics
Writers
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Many literary scholars have questioned the composition date of Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectation' because his 'Book of Memoranda' and a flyleaf in Samuel Johnson's 'Dictionary of the English Language' contain references well before the novel was written in 1860. However, the flyleaf notes have been declared a forgery, written after the novel and containing elements of Dickens' style of notetaking for authenticity. The question of when Dickens' began the novel remains unsolved, but the only evidence for previous thought is a character list in 'Memoranda' that contains many of the characters' names.
ISSN:0031-1294