Explore the museum
Discover Dickens through his work, his home and the things that mattered to him most
Audio: Mamie Dickens on Dickens’s Studies
In this extract, we hear Dickens’s eldest daughter Mary, affectionately known as Mamie, sharing her memories of Dickens’s studies from several family homes.
Audio: Mamie Dickens’s memories of Dickens at work in his study
In this extract we hear Dickens’s eldest daughter, Mamie, recall her memories of watching Dickens at work in his study channelling his characters.
Audio: 'The Bastille Prisoner'
Audio: The Small Servant from 'The Old Curiosity Shop'
In this excerpt from 'The Old Curiosity Shop', Dick Swiveller observes the Brasses’s badly treated young servant girl having a meagre meal.
Audio: Mamie Dickens on Dickens’s Tidy Nature
Audio: A letter from Catherine Dickens
Listen to this extract to hear Catherine describing their family holiday to her good friend Mrs Felton.
Audio: Sam Weller from 'The Pickwick Papers'
In this excerpt from Dickens’s first novel, The Pickwick Papers, the popular character Sam Weller shares a meal in the servants’ quarters.
Audio: Dickens’s Dreams of Mary Hogarth
In this excerpt from a letter to his mother-in-law, we hear Dickens reflect on the death of Mary Hogarth and the impact that it had on him.
Audio: ‘Personal’ from 'Household Words'
Audio: Dickens’s autobiographical fragment
Hear in Dickens’s own words, his recollection of the loneliness and hardship of working as a child.
Audio: A Letter to a Chimney Sweep
Audio: The Earliest Known Letter by Dickens
Hear in this audio track the earliest known letter by Dickens written as a 13-year-old schoolboy in 1825.
Audio: An Invitation to Dickens’s Birthday Dinner
Audio: ‘Gin Palaces’ from 'Sketches by Boz'
In this audio excerpt, hear Dickens’s beautifully atmospheric depiction of a gin palace from Sketches by Boz.
Audio: ‘Drooping Buds’ from 'Household Words'
In this excerpt, Dickens describes a visit to the newly founded Hospital for Sick Children in Great Ormond Street.
Audio: Description of a mews from 'Little Dorrit'
In this excerpt from Little Dorrit, Dickens describes a mews in evocative detail.
Audio: Dickens on Prisons and Solitary Confinement
Following his first visit to America, Dickens published American 'Notes'. Hear in this excerpt his observations on prisons and solitary confinement.
Audio: Dickens's hall clock
Audio: Jo the Crossing Sweeper from 'Bleak House'
Hear Dickens describe in this excerpt from Bleak House the poverty and hardship faced by Jo the crossing sweeper.
Audio: 'A Preliminary Word' from 'Household Words'
