THE MUDFOG PAPERS

The only edition in print of an unjustly neglected satirical work by Charles Dic
kens

"The Mudfog Papers," a collection of sketches by Dickens published in "Ben
tley's Miscellany" between 1837 and 1838, describes the local politics of the fi
ctional town of Mudfog--such as the delusions of grandeur of its mayor Nicholas
Tulrumble and his disastrous attempts at putting on a public show--and the meeti
ngs of its Society for the Advancement of Everything, during which the town is o
verrun by illustrious scientists and professors conducting ostensibly pointless
research. Written at the same time as "Oliver Twist"--indeed the serialized vers
ion of the novel referred to Mudfog as the protagonist's home town--this collect
ion lampoons all manner of journalistic and scientific writing of the time and s
howcases the young Dickens at his satirical best. Includes a wealth of extra mat
erial on the author's life and works.