For the purposes of this chronological listing, The Christmas Books (1843-48) have been included as they may be classified as novellas or multi-part, long short stories. In Dickens's framed tales for the Extra Christmas Numbers of Household Words (1852-58) and All the Year Round (1859-68) only stories actually written by Dickens are included, and pieces that are essentially reflective essays such as "Our School" (11 October 1851) and "What Christmas is, as We Grow Older" (Christmas 1851) have been omitted. When American journals such as Harper's Weekly reprinted the collections of framed tales they failed to establish the authorship of such non-Dickens contributions as "What Christmas is in the Company of John Doe" (George Augustus Sala, 1851), "The Old Nurse's Story" (1852, Elizabeth Gaskell), "The Widow's Story" (1854, Eliza Lynn Linton), "The Landlord" (1855, William Howitt), "The Deliverance" (1856, Wilkie Collins), "How the Third Floor Knew the Potteries" (1863, Amelia Anne Edwards), "The Lawyer's Story of a Stolen Letter" (1864, Collins) "Not to be Taken for Granted" (1865, Hesba Stretton), and "No. 2 Branch Line. The Engine-Driver" (1866, Andrew Halliday). And, finally, Dickens's many pieces of non-fiction, including occasional journalism and the historical essays in A Child's History of England (1851-53), do not appear below.
I. Sketches by Boz. Illustrative of every-day life and every-day people. 1833-37
"Mr. Minns and his Cousin" (Sketches by Boz 46), originally, "A Dinner at Poplar Walk" in The Monthly Magazine, 1 December, 1833.
"Mrs. Joseph Porter, Over the Way" (SB 53), originally in The Monthly Magazine, January, 1834.
"Horatio Sparkins" ( SB 49), originally in The Monthly Magazine , February, 1834.
"The Bloomsbury Christening" (SB 55), originally in The Monthly Magazine, April, 1834.
"The Boarding-House" (SB 45), originally in The Monthly Magazine , May & August, 1834.
"Sentiment" (SB 47), originally in Bell's Weekly Magazine, 7 June 1834.
"The Steam Excursion" (SB 51), originally in The Monthly Magazine , October 1834.
"A Passage in the Life of Mr. Watkins Tottle" (SB 54), originally "Chapter the First" and "Chapter the Second" in two numbers of The Monthly Magazine , January and February, 1835.
"The Four Sisters"(SB 3), Our Parish 3, originally, "Sketches of London No. 14" in The Evening Chronicle, 18 June 1835.
"The Election for Beadle" (SB 4), Our Parish 4, originally, "Sketches of London No. 16" in The Evening Chronicle, 14 July 1835.
"The Broker's Man" (SB 5), Our Parish 5, originally, "Sketches of London No. 18" in The Evening Chronicle, 28 July 1835.
"The Ladies' Societies" (SB 6), Our Parish 6, originally, "Sketches of London No. 20" in The Evening Chronicle, 28 July 1835.
"Miss Evans and the Eagle" (SB 36), (Scenes and Characters No. 2) originally in Bell's Life in London, 4 October 1835.
"The Dancing Academy" (SB 41), originally, "Scenes and Characters, No. 3" in Bell's Life in London, 11 October 1835.
"Making a Night of It" (SB 43), originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 4" in Bell's Life in London, 18 October 1835.
"The Misplaced Attachment of Mr. John Dounce" (SB 39), originally, "Scenes and Characters No. 5. Love and Oysters," in Bell's Life in London, 25 October 1835.
"Some Account of an Omnibus Cad" (Scenes and Characters No. 6), later retitled and expanded into "The Last Cab-driver and the First Omnibus Cab"; in Bell's Life in London, 1 November 1835.
"The Mistaken Milliner. A Tale of Ambition" (SB 40) originally "Scenes and Characters No. 7. The Vocal Dressmaker," in Bell's Life in London, 22 November 1835.
"The New Year" (SB 35), originally in Bell's Life in London, 3 January 1836.
"The Great Winglebury Duel" (SB 52), originally in the First Series of Sketches by Boz (8 Feb., 1836).
"The Black Veil" (SB 50) originally in the First Series of Sketches by Boz (8 Feb., 1836).
"Our Next-Door Neighbour" (Our Parish 7), originally, "Our Next-Door Neighbours" in The Morning Chronicle, 18 March 1836.
"The Tuggses at Ramsgate" (Tales 4), originally in The Library of Fiction No. 1, 31 March 1836 (accompanied by two Robert Seymour woodcuts).
"The Hospital Patient" (SB 38), Characters 6, originally in The Carlton Chronicle, 6 August 1836.
"The Drunkard's Death" (SB 56), originally in the Second Series of Sketches by Boz 17 December, 1836).
II. Inset Stories in The Pickwick Papers
"The Stroller's Tale" (III) May, 1836 (second number); "The Convict's Return" (VI) June, 1836 (third number); "A Madman's Manuscript" (XI) July, 1836 (fourth number); "The Bagman's Story" (XIV) August, 1836 (fifth number); "The Parish Clerk: A Tale of True Love" (XVII) September, 1836 (sixth number); "The Old Man's Tale About the Queer Client" (XXI) November, 1836 (eighth number); "The Story of the Goblins who stole a Sexton" (XXIX): 'a good-humoured Christmas Chapter' (31 December 1836) (tenth number); "The True Legend of P. B." (XXXVI) April, 1837 (thirteenth number); "The Story of the Bagman's Uncle" (all of XLIX) September, 1837 (seventeenth number).
III. The Mudfrog Papers
I: "The Public Life of Mr. Tulrumble, once Mayor of Mudfrog" (Bentley's Miscellany, January 1837); II: "Full Report of the First Meeting of the Mudfrog Association for the Advancement of Everything" (Bentley's Miscellany, October 1837); III: "Full Report of the Second Meeting of the Mudfrog Association for the Advancement of Everything" (Bentley's Miscellany, September 1838).
IV. Inset Stories in Nicholas Nickleby
"The Five Sisters of York" and "The Baron of Grogzwig" (VI) May, 1838.
V. Miscellaneous Stories in Master Humphrey's Clock
"First Night of the Giant Chronicles," second number (11 April, 1840).
"A Confession Found in a Prison in the Time of Charles the Second," third number (18 April, 1840).
"Mr. Pickwick's Tale" (fifth and sixth numbers: 2 & 9 May, 1840).
VI. "The Lamplighter" (originally, a farce written in 1838) from The Pic-Nic Papers, 1841
VII. The Christmas Books (1843-1848)
17 December 1843: A Christmas Carol (Chapman and Hall).
16 December 1844: The Chimes (Bradbury and Evans).
20 December 1845: The Cricket on the Hearth.
19 December 1846: The Battle of Life.
19 December 1848: The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain: A Fancy for Christmas-Time (series concluded).
VIII. Christmas Numbers of Household Words (1852-58)
"The Poor Relations Story" and "The Child's Story" (in A Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire, in the Christmas Number of Household Words, 1852).
"The Schoolboy's Story" and "Nobody's Story" (in Another Round of Stories by the Christmas Fire, in the Christmas Number for Household Words, 1853).
The Seven Poor Travellers (in the Christmas Number for Household Words, 14 Dec., 1854): I: "In the Old City of Rochester," and II: "The Story of Richard Doubledick."
The Holly-tree Inn (in the Christmas Number for Household Words, 15 Dec., 1855): "The Guest," "The Boots," and "The Bill" (afterwards retitled: "First Branch: Myself," "Second Branch: The Boots," and "Third Branch: "The Bill").
"The Wreck of the Golden Mary" (in the Christmas Number of Household Words, 6 Dec., 1856): "The Wreck."
"The History of a Self-Tormentor" ("Miss Wade's Manuscript" or "Miss Wade's Autobiography'), Chapter 21, Book Two, No. 16 of Little Dorrit (March, 1857).
"The Doctor's Story" in Ch. 2 and "The Old Man's Story" in Ch. 4 of The Lazy Tour of Two Idle Apprentices, originally published in five parts in Household Words, October, 1857, in collaboration with Wilkie Collins.
The Perils of Certain English Prisoners (in the Christmas Number for Household Words, 1857): I: "The Island of Silver-Store," and III: The Rafts on the River," in collaboration with Wilkie Collins.
A House to Let (in the Christmas Number for Household Words, 1858): "Going into Society."
IX. Christmas Numbers of All the Year Round (1859-69)
"The Substance of the Shadow" ("Dr. Alexandre Manette's Hidden Manuscript"), Book Three, Chapter Ten of A Tale of Two Cities, No. 27 (29 October 1859 in All the Year Round).
The Haunted House (in the Christmas Number for All the Year Round, 1859): "The Mortals in the House," "The Ghost in Master B.'s Room," and "The Ghost in the Corner Room" (uncollected).
A Message from the Sea (in the Christmas Number for All the Year Round, 1860): I: "The Village," II: "The Money," and V: "The Restitution."
Tom Tiddler's Ground (in the Christmas Number for All the Year Round, 1861): I: "Picking up Soot and Cinders," VI: "Picking up Miss Kimmeens," and VII: "Picking up the Tinker."
Somebody's Luggage (in the Christmas Number for All the Year Round, 1862): I: "His leaving it till called for," II: "His Boots," III: "His Brown-paper Parcel," and IV: "His Wonderful End."
Mrs. Lirriper's Lodgings (in the Christmas Number of All the Year Round , 1863): I: "How Mrs. Lirriper carried on the Business," and II: "How the Parlour added a Few Words."
Mrs. Lirriper's Legacy (in the Christmas Number of All the Year Round , 1864): I: "Mrs. Lirriper relates how she went on, and went over," and II: "Mrs. Lirriper relates how Jemmy topped up."
Doctor Marigold's Prescriptions (in the Christmas Number of All the Year Round, 1865): I: "To be taken Immediately," II: "To be taken with a Grain of Salt" (reprinted as "The Trial for Murder as the first of "Two Ghost Stories" in Christmas Stories), and III: "To be taken for Life."
Mugby Junction (in the Christmas Number for All the Year Round, 1866): I: "Barbox Brothers," II: "Barbox Brothers and Co.," III: "Main Line: The Boy at Mugby," and IV: "No. 1 Branch Line: The Signal Man."
No Thoroughfare (in the Christmas Number for All the Year Round, 1867): I. "The Overture," II. Act I (in collaboration with Wilkie Collins) "The Curtain Rises. . . ," IV. Act III. "In the Valley" and "On the Mountain," V. Act IV (with Wilkie Collins) "The Clock-Lock," "Obenreizer's Victory," and "The Curtain Falls."
X. Various American and British Periodicals
"A Child's Dream of a Star." Household Words I: 25 (6 April, 1850).
"To Be Read at Dusk." Heath's Keepsake "for 1852." (late November, 1851).
"Hunted Down" The New York Ledger (20, 27 August and 3 September, 1859).
"George Silverman's Explanation." The Atlantic Monthly (January-March, 1868).
A Holiday Romance. Our Young Folks (January-May, 1868): I. "From the Pen of William Tinkling, Esquire," II. "From the Pen of Miss Alice Rainbird," III. "From the Pen of Lieutenant-Colonel Robin Redforth," and IV. "From the Pen of Miss Nettie Ashford."
Related Materials
- An Overview of Dickens's Short Fiction, 1833-1868
- A Critical Analysis of Dickens's Short Fiction
- Dickens' Aesthetic of the Short Story
- Dickens and the Prose Farce: and "The Tuggses at Ramsgate"
- Illustrations for the Christmas Stories
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. , 1990.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Thomas, Deborah A. Dickens and the Short Story. Philadelphia: U. Pennsylvania Press, 1982.
Created 21 September 2005
Last modified 4 December 2020