Notes reveal Dickens’s novel stage approach
IT WAS said that when Charles Dickens staged readings of his works women in the audience would faint, such was the force of his rendition of scenes such as Nancy’s death in Oliver Twist.
One of the secrets to the success of his readings, which drew enthusiastic audiences on both sides of the Atlantic, lay in painstaking preparation, annotated copies of his works reveal.
Before taking to the stage Dickens underlined key passages in the work he was to recite, adding and crossing out words for added emphasis.
One such volume, a rarely seen heavily annotated prompt copy of Mrs Gamp, is going on sale as part of the most important auction of his work still in private hands.
The sale, at Sotheby’s next month, will see hundreds of volumes of Dickens go under the hammer as part of 243 separate lots, starting at an estimated £150 and rising to £60,000 each.
Many of the books – all of which formed part of a unique collection of his work amassed by Lawrence Drizen, a former accountant – were inscribed by the author, with several containing moving dedications to his friends.
Dickens first hit on the idea of undertaking a reading tour to raise funds in 1858, shortly after purchasing Gad’s Hill, a large country pile in Rochester, Kent. Against the advice of his friend John Forster, who thought it undignified for a writer to perform for money, Dickens began a series of paid readings, first in London then throughout the UK and the US.
Highlights from the Lawrence Drizen collection will be on display at the Charles Dick Dickens Museum in London from Sept 3-6, with the auct auction taking plac place at Sotheby’s on Sept 24.