The Old Curiosity Shop

The Old Curiosity Shop
Cover of Master Humphrey's Clock, in which the serial editions were published
Cover, the serial in Master Humphrey's Clock, 1840
AuthorCharles Dickens
IllustratorGeorge Cattermole
Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz)
Samuel Williams
Daniel Maclise
Cover artistGeorge Cattermole
CountryEngland
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublishedSerialised April 1840 – February 1841;[1] book format 1841
PublisherChapman & Hall London
Media typePrint
Preceded byNicholas Nickleby 
Followed byBarnaby Rudge 
TextThe Old Curiosity Shop at Wikisource

The Old Curiosity Shop is one of two novels (the other being Barnaby Rudge) which Charles Dickens published along with short stories in his weekly serial Master Humphrey's Clock, from 1840 to 1841. It was so popular that New York readers stormed the wharf when the ship bearing the final instalment arrived in 1841.[2]

The Old Curiosity Shop was printed in book form in 1841. Queen Victoria read the novel that year and found it "very interesting and cleverly written".[3]

The plot follows the journey of Nell Trent and her grandfather, both residents of The Old Curiosity Shop in London, whose lives are thrown into disarray and destitution due to the machinations of an evil moneylender and the grandfather's addiction to gambling.

  1. ^ "Old Curiosity Shop".
  2. ^ Garber, Megan (21 February 2013). "Serial Thriller". The Atlantic. The Atlantic Media Company. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Queen Victoria's Journals". Princess Beatrice's Copies. RA VIC/MAIN/QVJ (W). 5 March 1841. Retrieved 24 May 2013.

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