Selected writings about actual and literary travels to prisons, theatres, slums, law courts and the continent. Introduction and notes by David Pascoe Aims to catch the imagination of a public besieged by hack journalism. This title includes writings that are a blend of public and private, news and recollection, reality and description. It traces the development of the author's career as a journalist and examines his fusion of real events with flights of fancy. Introduction ix(18) Select Bibliography xxvii(2) A Note on the Texts xxix(2) Dickens Chronology xxxi PERSONAL 3(120) A Christmas Tree (Household Words, 21 December 1850) 3(14) Our School (Household Words, 11 October 1851) 17(7) Lying Awake (Household Words, 30 October 1852) 24(6) Where We Stopped Growing (Household Words, 1 January 1853) 30(5) Gone Astray (Household Words, 13 August 1853) 35(10) An Unsettled Neighbourhood (Household Words, 11 November 1854) 45(6) Personal (Household Words, 12 June 1858) 51(2) New Year's Day (Household Words, 1 January 1859) 53(11) Dullborough Town (All the Year Round, 30 June 1860) 64(9) Night Walks (All the Year Round, 21 July 1860) 73(8) Chambers (All the Year Round, 18 August 1860) 81(11) Nurse's Stories (All the Year Round, 8 September 1860) 92(10) Some Recollections of Mortality (All the Year Round, 16 May 1863) 102(9) Birthday Celebrations (All the Year Round, 6 June 1863) 111(12) TRAVELLING ABROAD 123(116) A Narrative of Extraordinary Suffering (Household Words, 12 July 1851) 123(6) Our Watering-Place (Household Words, 2 August 1851) 129(8) A Flight (Household Words, 30 August 1851) 137(9) Fire and Snow (Household Words, 21 January 1854) 146(6) Our French Watering-Place (Household Words, 4 November 1854) 152(12) Our of Town (Household Words, 29 September 1855) 164(6) Railway Dreaming (Household Words, 10 May 1856) 170(7) Out of the Season (Household Words, 28 June 1856) 177(8) Refreshments for Travellers (All the Year Round, 24 March 1860) 185(8) Travelling Abroad (All the Year Round, 7 April 1860) 193(11) Shy Neighbourhoods (All the Year Round, 26 May 1860) 204(9) Arcadian London (All the Year Round, 29 September 1860) 213(8) The Calais Night Mail (All the Year Round, 2 May 1863) 221(8) Chatham Dockyard (All the Year Round, 29 August 1863) 229(10) SLEEP TO STARTLE US 239(156) A Walk in a Workhouse (Household Words, 25 May 1850) 239(7) Detective Police (Household Words, 27 July and 10 August 1850) 246(17) A Paper-Mill (Household Words, 31 August 1850) 263(6) Three `Detective' Anecdotes (Household Words, 14 September 1850) 269(8) Railway Strikes (Household Words, 11 January 1851) 277(6) Bill-Sticking (Household Words, 2 March 1851) 283(11) Spitalfields (Household Words, 5 April 1851) 294(12) On Duty With Inspector Field (Household Words, 14 June 1851) 306(12) A Curious Dance Round a Curious Tree (Household Words, 17 January 1852) 318(9) A Sleep to Startle Us (Household Words, 13 March 1852) 327(7) A Plated Article (Household Words, 24 April 1852) 334(9) Down With the Tide (Household Words, 5 February 1853) 343(9) H. W. (Household Words, 16 April 1853) 352(9) A Nightly Scene in London (Household Words, 26 January 1856) 361(5) Wapping Workhouse (All the Year Round, 3 February 1860) 366(10) A Small Star in the East (All the Year Round, 19 December 1868) 376(10) On an Amateur Beat (All the Year Round, 27 February 1869) 386(9) INSULARITIES 395(104) Pet Prisoners (Household Words, 27 April 1850) 395(13) A Poor Man's Tale of a Patent (Household Words, 19 October 1850) 408(6) Lively Turtle (Household Words, 26 October 1850) 414(6) Red Tape (Household Words, 15 February 1851) 420(7) A Monument of French Folly (Household Words, 8 March 1851) 427(11) Trading in Death (Household Words, 27 November 1852) 438(9) Proposals for Amusing Posterity (Household Words, 12 February 1853) 447(5) On Strike (Household Words, 11 February 1854) 452(14) To Working Men (Household Words, 7 October 1854) 466(4) Insularities (Household Words, 19 January 1856) 470(6) The Demeanour of Murderers (Household Words, 14 June 1856) 476(5) Nobody, Somebody, and Everybody (Household Words, 30 August 1856) 481(4) The Murdered Person (Household Words, 11 October 1856) 485(5) The Best Authority (Household Words, 20 June 1857) 490(9) AMUSEMENTS OF THE PEOPLE 499(96) The Amusements of the People (Household Words, 30 March and 13 April 1850) 499(12) Some Account of an Extraordinary Traveller (Household Words, 20 April 1850) 511(10) Old Lamps for New Ones (Household Words, 15 June 1850) 521(6) The Ghost of Art (Household Words, 20 July 1850) 527(7) Epsom (Household Words, 7 June 1851) 534(12) Betting-Shops (Household Words, 26 June 1852) 546(7) The Spirit Business (Household Words, 7 May 1853) 553(7) The Noble Savage (Household Words, 11 June 1853) 560(6) Frauds on the Fairies (Household Words, 1 October 1853) 566(7) Gaslight Fairies (Household Words, 10 February 1855) 573(6) Well-Authenticated Rappings (Household Words, 20 February 1858) 579(7) Please to Leave Your Umbrella (Household Words, 1 May 1858) 586(5) In Memoriam W. M. Thackeray (Cornhill Magazine, February 1864) 591(4) Explanatory Notes 595