Dickens the pet lover... (and the father of social media!)
AS WELL as being lauded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, Charles Dickens is renowned as a social critic and philanthropist.
But less well known is his love of animals, which saw him fill his family home with dozens of pets.
And in a pioneering project for the time, he had the beloved creatures photographed, as keepsakes to treasure and to send to his fans.
In many of the images the Great Expectations author can be seen posing with his pets, rather like a modern “influencer” might on social media.
Experts say he was one of the first celebrities to “use the power of imagery to build a relationship with his fans”.
The Charles Dickens Museum in London’s Holborn has opened an exhibition of his family photo albums containing images of his beloved dogs, cats, horses, goldfinches, ravens and even an eagle.
When the writer travelled abroad the bird of prey was taken in by his friend, artist Edwin Landseer.
His favourite pet cat, a fluffy white beauty, was originally named William after Shakespeare. But she later became Williamina when she delivered kittens.
Other images capture Dickens posing alongside his favoured bloodhound, Turk.
There are also snaps showing the writer in a carriage with his daughters and sister-in-law, and his horse Newman Noggs, after the family moved from London to their mansion, Gads Hill Place, in Higham, Kent.
It was unusual in the Victorian era to commission photoshoots of pets, as was posting these images on cards to his fans.
Also on display are letters from the author which reveal his fondness for animals.
They contain illustrations revealing his lifelong admiration of furry and feathered friends, and how they influenced his works, with many characters having their own dogs and cats.
Dickens – who was born in Portsmouth in 1812 and died in 1870, aged 58, at Gads Hill Place
– named his horses after his characters, including Newman Noggs from Nicholas Nickleby.
Grip, a talking raven, was a character in the novel Barnaby Rudge, with literary experts believing horror writer Edgar Allan Poe wrote his 1845 poem, The Raven, after reading this story.
A famous dog brought to life on the page is Bull’s-eye, who shares characteristics of his master, Bill Sykes in Oliver Twist.
Frankie Kubicki, the museum’s curator, believes Dickens would have been a leading “influencer” if he had had access to today’s social media and phone technology.
She says: “Photography is developing around the 1830s and 1840s.
“It’s quite experimental and it’s really in the 1850s and 1860s that it takes off.
“His daughter Katey collected the pictures in those albums. Some are the family’s animals and some are other cards she’s collected.
Frankie adds: “What’s interesting about Dickens is that he’s a bit rude about photography being able to capture people’s likenesses.
“But he gets how important it is as a PR tool, so he’ll always sit for it and be happy to be part of it. So I think he’s very much an influencer and I think it’s quite interesting he poses with his favourite dog Turk.
“There’s a few of him posing with Turk. It’s like a sequence and there’s a couple of different angles where Dickens is looking one way and then the other.
“We will never know exactly what Dickens did, but it’s very easy to equate that he’d be showing images of himself, getting a nice shot, putting it up there, sharing it with his fans.
“He had a very direct relationship with his readers. He would’ve been on social media sharing images of his pets.”
The curator says Dickens was not the first person to pose with their dogs for photos, but he definitely popularised it.
“He was a leading proponent of using photography when it was in its relatively early development.
“He really understood the power of imagery to build that relationship with his fans. He was so savvy, it was amazing. I think if he had had a smartphone he would have taken thousands of pictures.”
But Frankie revealed Dickens had tired of his hobby as he aged: “He became slightly grumpy towards the end of his life.”
The Faithful Companions: Dickens & His Pets runs until January. Go to dickensmuseum. com or call 020 7405 2127.
‘He is very much an influencer’