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INTRODUCTION
One of Dickens' most celebrated novels, Oliver Twist was Dickens' second overwhelmingly successful book, following the publication of Pickwick Papers. It contains many of the classical themes of his best writíng, such as the plight of orphans in Victorian England; the grinding poveny of that period endured by so many people, and the working of the New Poor Law; and the slow triumph of good nature and strong character over would-be suborners, the lures of tempta-tion, organised persecution and the ravages of fear, desperation and menace. The literary pedigree of Oliver Twist goes back in direct line to the Gothic novel and the picaresque novels of the eighteenth Century, most notably those of Smollett and Fielding, which are known to have been among the young Dickens' favourite reading.
The book contains some of Dickens' most famous characters, many of which have entered the language as exemplars of certain types, most notably: the exploited child - Oliver Twist, himself - who dares to ask for more; the tyrant Bumble, the parish beadle; the diabolic gang leader, Fagin; the burlar, Bill Sikes; Sikes' mistress, Nancy, and the impudent young pickpocket, 'the Artful Dodger'. The slow nemesis of Fagin's evil gang takes the reader through a tale of malevolence and skulduggery to emerge, through benevolence, at a satisfactory conclusion.
The first instalment of Oliver Twist appeared in Bentley's Miscellany for February 1837, under Dickens' pseudonym 'Boz'. The first complete edition of Oliver Twist, or, the Parish Boy's Progress appeared in three volumes in 1838, being published by Richard Bendey of New Burlington Street, London, with whom Dickens was often in dispute. It is a tribute to Dickens' literary powers and abilioes that he managed to write the first instalments of Oliver Twist at the same time as the last parts of Pickwick Papers, while the last parts of Oliver Twist were being written simul tan eously with the first instalments of Nicholas Nickleby.
Charles Dickens was horn at Landport (Portsea), near Portsmouth,