Over how long a period of time were Dickens's most famous novels such as "Great Expectations" and "Oliver Twist" originally serialised? Did any other famous novelists first published most of their novels in serial form?

lanfranco

"Oliver Twist" was serialised in "Bentley's Miscellany" from February of 1837-April of 1839. "Great Expectations" was serialised in "All the Year Round" from December of 1860-August of 1861. Arthur Conan Doyle did publish his first 12 Sherlock Holmes stories more or less as a serial in "The Strand," (1891-1892) and they were eventually published in one volume in 1892 -- but, to be fair, they didn't represent one novel. The first English-language book first published as a serial was probably Ned Ward's "London Spy" (1703): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ned_Ward Mar 26 07, 8:47 PM

queproblema

Harriet Beecher Stowe's world-shaking "Uncle Tom's Cabin" was first published as a 40-week serial, "Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly" published in the National Era, an abolitionist periodical, starting in the 5 June 1851 issue. It was published in book form on March 20, 1852. Mostly cut-and-paste from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom's_Cabinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncle_Tom's_Cabin Also, "The Minister's Wooing" was first serialized in the Atlantic Monthly from December 1858 to December 1859, and then published in book form first in England by Derby and Johnson, and then in the U.S, to guarantee British royalties. Another c-a-p from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Minister%27s_Wooing Mar 26 07, 11:31 PM

Baloo55th

At the time Dickens was publishing in serial form, this was looked down on by serious novelists. Friends tried to persuade him not to do it, as it would lower his status as a writer. However, he wanted to reach an audience rather than get a high reputation (with fewer readers) and went ahead. Conan Doyle wasn't worried with the Sherlock Holmes stories, as Dickens had already boosted the image or serial publication, and anyway he didn't consider Holmes to be a serious work. Mar 27 07, 7:12 AM

gmackematix

I asked as my Mum had just had a hard time reading "Hard Times". Thanks for the "Facts facts facts" Frankie et al. I see that in the Wiki article on Dickens, it says that after little Oliver Twist was used in the burglary and shot, readers had to wait two months to find if Oliver was alive. Mar 27 07, 6:49 PM