Edgar Johnson - Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph - Biography - Volume One - Volume Two

Sep 28, 2026

January selection for Club members presents Edgar Johnson’s Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph in two volumes, emphasizing its unusual completeness, rare illustrations, extensive notes and genealogical charts, and a large body of scholarly material. A price note explains the special club arrangement to make the work widely accessible. Clifton Fadiman’s report highlights Dickens’s complex temperament, blending literary triumph with acting, business, editorial work, travel, and personal turmoil, arguing the biography offers full narrative and insightful criticism.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages24

Reading Time37 min

AccessFree to download

January Selection

Price and Club Arrangement

Clifton Fadiman Report

Scope and Contents of the Two Volumes

Dickens’s Life, Temperament, and Legacy

50Dh-o⁹-the-21Zcntb CLub27ems ccmber 1952G1EA DOOT REMOVE For January:A BRILIANT NEW LIF OF CHARLES DICKENS CHARLESDICKENSHis Tragedyand TriumphA BIO G R A PHY BYEdgar JohnsonCHARLESDICKENS CHARLESABiography byCDKAR OHNSoNDICKENS Volame OneABography byEDCAR JOHNSON Volume Two Editorial Board:1HFNRY SEIDEL0and ShasteCANBY,chairnan·CLIFTON FADIMAVad Echuste AMY LOVEMAN·JOHN P.MARQUAN1CHRISTOPHER MORLEYCopyright 1952·Bnuk of-t ic-NScnth C 1,1 A NOTE ABOUT THE PRICE:The January Selection is a particularlystriking example of the savings enjoyed by Club members.When pub-lished,the price of this two-volume Charles Dickens will be $10.00.In order that as many members as possible may own and read thisdistinguished work,the Club has made special arrangements with thepublisher by which it may be sold to Club members only for $4.95. "Here is the full story at last...here Dickens lives again in his triumphand tragedy...how few of us know thefascinating,complicated,uproariousand sorrowful story!" REPORT BY Clifton Fadiman N THE LONG HISTORY of the Book-of-the-Month Clubwe cannot recollect any regular monthly offering to matchEdgar Johnson's Charles Dickens:His Tragedy and Triumph.For one thing,here are two magnificent volumes,totalingalmost 1400 pages,and containing(in addition to 1158 pages of straight reading matter)about 200 pages of notes,bibliography and genealogicalcharts,plus 88 illustrations—many of them extremely rare—and 12 reproductionsof original“Phiz”drawings for Dickens'works. Mere bulk,however,is in itself unimpressive.One must go on to say that of thehundreds of books that have been offered our membership,it is only natural thatmany should not be intended for permanent retention on one's library shelves.This one is so intended,for it is,to the best of my knowledge,the most complete as wellas the finest biography in any language of a man whom many would place next toShakespeare as the greatest imaginative writer produced by the English-speaking race. But even this is not enough to say.Biographies of great writers may be importantand yet of vital interest only to those specifically interested in literature.What givesProfessor Johnson's book its supreme appeal is the happy circumstance that thelife of Dickens was the life,not merely of a great writer,but of a man of the mostcomplex and fascinating temperament.Into his relatively short life--he died in 1870at the age of 58—Dickens crowded the experiences of 100 ordinary men.He was ofcourse the most popular novelist of his time,perhaps the most popular novelist ofall time.At 24,as the author of Pickwick Papers,he was already famous on twocontinents.He continued to pile triumph on triumph.His is probably one of thegreatest success stories in all history.The bewildered little boy who pasted labelson bottles of blacking lies buried in Westminster Abbey. His triumph was not only literary.He was a superb actor,a savagely keen busi-nessman,a public figure with his finger in a dozen pies,a successful editor,a restlesstraveler,a letter-writer of incredible copiousness and vitality.He fathered tenchildren of the flesh and two thousand of the fancy.Single-handed he supplied lifeto the Victorian age. And through all this busy,successful,kaleidoscopic career,shadows continued tofall,shadows that for us are as interesting to observe as is the sunlight of his publicexistence.For Dickens,though an exuberant man,was not a happy one,as we cantell from the increasing seriousness and even gloom of his novels,as we can tellfrom the misery and boredom that dogged his domestic life and finally drove him,during the last twelve years,to the embraces of his mistress,the pretty actressEllen Ternan. All this is finally and completely set down in Edgar Johnson's masterly biography.Professor Johnson has made use of over 3500 unpublished documents;he hasomitted nothing that will help us to understand this complex,titanic,tortured charac-ter.While a fair portion of his book

FAQs

What is the January Selection being promoted?

The January selection promotes Edgar Johnson’s two-volume biography, Charles Dickens: His Tragedy and Triumph, for Book-of-the-Month Club members.

How does the document explain the pricing for club members?

It states that when published the two-volume set costs $10.00, but club members can buy it only for $4.95 through special arrangements with the publisher.

What does Clifton Fadiman emphasize about Johnson’s biography?

He highlights its completeness and scholarly depth, noting the extensive documents used, the rare illustrations, and the focus on Dickens’s complex, fascinating life rather than only literary analysis.

Sep 28, 2026

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