|
Charles Dickens’ birth town, Portsmouth on Hampshire’s south coast, will be marking the novelist’s bicentenary (7th February 1812 - 9th June 1870) with a programme of exhibitions, talks and special events.
A highlight will be the display of several pages from an original Nicholas Nicklebymanuscript hand written by Dickens himself on loan to the city by the British Library. It will form a centre piece of a special Dickens’ exhibition, A Tale of One City, in thePortsmouth City Museum, which will also explore what life was like in Portsmouth during Dickens’ time and the themes that ran through his writing such as health and wealth, children and family life. Work by local community groups as part of the Dickens Community Archive project will also be added.
The pages from Nicholas Nickleby come with all Dickens’ scribblings, blots and crossings out, which would have made it very difficult for his printers to follow; but they show how he actually worked, mistakes and all. This is the largest part of the original manuscript that has survived. Nicholas Nickleby was chosen since it’s the only one of his novels that mentions Portsmouth; in the book Nickleby performed in a stage show in the original Theatre Royal in Old Portsmouth High Street, which was demolished in the 1850s.
The free entry exhibition will be open from 28th January until 4th November 2012 (closed Mondays apart from Bank Holidays when the museum is open). On Sunday, 12thFebruary the City Museum will also be hosting a free talk on A Tale of One City looking at the museums’ collections that link to the Dickens family and about life for people in Portsmouth at the time.
Dickens Birthplace Museum
Dickens actual birthplace, a modest house at 1 Mile End Terrace, Landport, has miraculously survived and is now preserved as a museum furnished in the style of 1809, which is when his parents, John and Elizabeth Dickens, set up their first marital home together in the property.
Charles Dickens only lived in Portsmouth for the first three years of his life but he returned to the town on three main occasions. Once to research background information for his novel Nicholas Nickleby, and on two occasions later in life when he was a famous writer to give public readings of his work. On his last visit in 1866 he tried to find his birthplace but was unsuccessful, however it is now clearly sign-posted so visitors can find it easily.
To mark the bicentenary, the Birthplace Museum will be open from 28th January, which is earlier than usual. Admission will be free on Sunday 5th and Tuesday 7th February 2012 (closed Monday 6th), when there will be a range of activities plus celebrations in the street including musicians, performers, food, craft activities and readings. On 11th and 12th February and other dates throughout the year, visitors can meet volunteer guides and handle a range of artefacts.
The works of Charles Dickens have been described as the soap operas of their time – major works were usually written as a weekly serial with big cliff-hangers at the end of each part. For details visit www.portsmouthcitymuseums.co.uk; more information can also be found along with 14 other Hampshire museums at www.visitsoutheastengland.com/historyrevealed.
|
