Charles Dickens Gallery

Scene from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843. Artist: John Leech

Scene from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843. The irascible, curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge, sitting alone on Christmas Eve, is visited by the ghost of Marley, his late business partner. The same night he is visited by three more apparitions, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future, whose revelations cause him to wake on Christmas Day a changed man. He sends a turkey to Bob Cratchit his clerk, thoroughly enjoys the festivities and becomes a kindly, jolly old man. From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. (London, 1843). This was the first in the series of five Christmas books Dickens published

© Ann Ronan Picture Library / Heritage-Images

Scene from "The Cricket on the Hearth", at the Lyceum Theatre, 1845

Scene from "The Cricket on the Hearth", at the Lyceum Theatre, 1845. London stage production of ... Mr. [Charles] Dickens's new Christmas book, "The Cricket on the Hearth," dramatised by Mr. Albert Smith...it is long since we have witnessed such enthusiasm as that evinced by the audience upon the fall of the curtain...The cast was as follows: John Peerybingle, Mr. Emery; Tacklelon (the toy merchant), Mr. Meadows: Caleb Plummer, Mr. Keeley; The Stranger, Mr. F. Vining ; Dot, Mrs. Keeley; Bertha, Miss Mary Keeley (her first appearance on any stage); Tilly Slowboy, Miss Turner; Mrs. Fielding, Mrs. Wooledge; May, Miss Howard; and the Fairy Cricket, Miss Dawson...the audience set up a cry for Mr. Dickens and Mr. Albert Smith. The former gentleman was stated not to be in the house, but the latter bowed his acknowledgments from a private box...'. From "Illustrated London News", 1845, Vol VII

© The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Woman watering plants, c1951. Creator: Shirley Markham

Woman watering plants, c1951. Illustration for "The Boarding-House" by Charles Dickens. Shirley Markham (1931-1999) studied Graphic Design and Illustration at Central School of Art in London from 1950-1952. The writer, artist, poet, and illustrator Mervyn Peake (1911-1968) was one of her tutors, and her style of drawing was also influenced by other British illustrators such as Edward Ardizzone, Quentin Blake and Edward Bawden. Markham spent time in the Dolomite Mountains in Italy, and also visited Rome, sketching classical buildings. After graduating from Central, she worked as a graphic designer, producing book illustrations, cartoons for comics, menus and programmes. She gave up her promising career however when she got married in 1957. Middle-class women at that time were expected to devote their energies to bringing up children and running the home, and despite her obvious talent, she lacked the confidence to return to illustration. Her portfolio remained in the family attic for many years, but now her work is published here for the first time

© Shirley Markham Collection / Heritage-Images