The City of London. Late 1843. Night.
Shhhhh. Yes. Yes, he’s definitely walking this way.
Quickly now - step into this doorway.
And don’t make a sound.
Can you hear his boots on the cobblestones?
They’re getting louder. And louder.
Don’t breathe.
He’s almost upon us.
…
There!
Did you see? Did you see that silhouette?
It was him.
Dickens. Charles Dickens. Deep in thought.
Walking the “black streets of London when all sober folks have gone to bed.”
15 miles he will walk tonight. Just as he has walked every night for the past five weeks.
Thinking. Thinking.
Trying to work out the plot of A Christmas Carol.
And taking inspiration from the streets around him.
He has just weeks to finish it.
Quick. Let’s follow him. But don’t let him see you.
What a maze he’s leading us through.
Down this alleyway. That alleyway. Across this courtyard. Through the church grounds where the bell is striking 1am.
Do you recognise this narrow street?
You might do. Because that meagre little office there. That will be Dickens’ inspiration for Ebenezer Scrooge’s counting house.
He’s stopped. He’s looking at it now.
OK. He’s walking on. Faster now. It looks like, yes...
We’re leaving the alleys and cobbles of the City behind. We’re heading west. Skirting past the Regent's Park.
Dickens must be thinking of the Cratchits "ever tugging at my coat sleeve, as if impatient for me to get back to my desk and continue the story of their lives".
Ah, here we are.
He’s going in. To his home at 1 Devonshire Terrace.
Yes, there he is in his study.
The fire burning - awaiting his arrival. The desk lamp glowing.
And now he writes. And writes. And writes until morning.
Dickens writes the story that revives a dwindling public holiday.
And transforms Christmas into the time of the year when everyone is nicer. More caring. More charitable.
And gives us the most famed Christmas character since Jesus.
Christmas isn’t Christmas without The Christmas Carol.
And Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Charles Dickens.
Which is why this is the perfect time of year to acquire or gift a Charles Dickens artefact.
And why - today - I unveil several new Dickens objects.
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Today is the first day anyone knows they exist. Take your opportunity.
Thank you for reading,
Paul
