What the Dickens: Charles Dickens on Stamps

For the past three years I have spent the Christmas holidays in London. One of the highlights is of course the Christmas Day luncheon where the participants put on their silly paper hats and then indulge in turkey and plum pudding. On Christmas Day everything is closed and there is basically no public transport at all.

One big exception on last year’s Christmas Day was The Dickens Museum in Doughty Street. It was open for all who wanted to do something different. One reason for this rather exceptional event was perhaps the fact that 2012 was Charles Dickens’ 200th birthday which was celebrated in style during the year. The museum is located in a house where Charles Dickens used to live. Here furniture and other items which once belonged to the famous writer have been assembled in order to tell about Dickens’ life and work.

Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth on 7 February 1812 but he spent most of his life in London. His father was a civil servant working for the British Navy but he was not particularly good at managing his own finances. It all ended in disaster and Dickens’ father had to spend some time in The Marshalsea, a kind of prison for debtors. Charles often visited his father in the prison and The Marshalsea plays a very important role in Little Dorrit, one of his many famous novels.

In 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth and the couple had several children. However, it seems he was much more interested in Catherine’s sister. When she died at the age of 17 Charles was devastated. His marriage with Catherine was never particularly happy and it ended more or less in separation.

The Dickens bicentennial was celebrated by many worldwide postal services with numerous commemorative stamps. I have selected a set of Gibraltar stamps to illustrate my story. Charles Dickens did not have any particular connection to Gibraltar as far as I know but I assume he is as popular there as in the rest of the English-speaking world.

When we look closely at the stamps we discover a man who was very particular about the way he looked. Every morning he spent a lot of time taking care of his looks and selecting his most elegant clothes. Dickens was a man who en joyed good company and he often gave dinners to his friends in his Doughty Street house.

The 10 pence value is devoted to David Copperfield, a novel which was first serialized in a magazine in 1849-1850. It tells the story of an orphan boy who after a multitude of difficulties becomes a successful lawyer and after lots of problems also finds marital bliss. It is in this book where we discover Mr Micawber, possibly the spitting image of Dickens’ father. After having had to spend time in a debtors’ prison, Mr Micawber is deported to Australia where he finally achieves incredible success.

Oliver Twist is possibly Dickens’ most famous novel (first serialized in 1837-1838). We all feel sorry for the orphan boy who is being ruthlessly used by unsympathetic petty criminals. Once again the author found inspiration in his own rather unhappy childhood. In Dickens’ novels the endings are generally happy and this is also true for this book. We find Oliver on the 42 pence stamp.

In many ways A Tale of Two Cities is a very different book in Dickens’ rich literary production. It is a novel of adventure in which heroic Englishmen help French aristocrats get away from certain death during the French revolution. The book was published in 1859. It is depicted on Gibraltar’s 44 pence stamp.

Dickens wrote several stories with a Christmas topic. The first one was A Christmas Carol in 1843. In the UK, the TV version of the story is a perennial Yuletide favourite. Thus it is perhaps not that surprising that it is shown on the £2 high value.

Anyone with normal eye sight can easily determine which book is shown on the first three stamps of the set. However, this is not obvious on the £2 value. It is the illustration from the book which reveals its title. Graphically the designs are not particularly successful; the designer obviously tried to include too many elements. This is frequently something that many stamp designers tend to do.

The Gibraltar set was issued on 14 September 2012. The designs were created by Stephen Perera and the stamps were printed in Ireland by BDT Security Printers. There was also a £2 souvenir sheet featuring a different portrait of Dickens.

Charles Dickens’ fame as a successful writer came very early on in his career. Unfortunately his success did not always result in the incomes he desired. To improve his finances he often went on reading tours. Dickens was a most talented actor and his readings from his books entertained enthusiastic audiences both in Great Britain and the USA.

When Dickens died on 9 June 1870 it came as a shock to many of his readers despite the fact that his health hadn’t been too good for quite some time. In many respects his own life shared many similarities with that of the characters in his many novels. Dickens had started as a manual labourer in a blackening factory in London and ended his life as a wealthy and well respected literary giant.

When the Charles Dickens centenary was celebrated in 1912, a committee was established to collect funds for the benefit of the descendants of the great writer. There were no special commemorative postage stamps but the committee had a label printed. It sold for a penny a piece. The label was printed in sheets of twelve which corresponded to a price of one shilling. It is an impressive engraved label printed on handmade paper. The labels carry the wording “A Tribute to Genius”.

The 19th century was the golden age of English literature. Some of the more important writers were Jane Austen, the Bronte sisters and many others. But the most significant of them all was undoubtedly Charles Dickens. Many readers have appreciated the way he spotlighted the plight of the lower classes. He is frequently criticized for his characters being either far too noble or completely rotten through.

Many of Dickens’ novels have found new life in blockbuster films and exceptional TV series. For philatelists wanting to assemble a thematic collection devoted to his life and work there is a huge amount of stamps, cancels and other philatelic material available.

Now just before ending this story, here are a few words about the title. “What the dickens!” has nothing to do with our writer. Instead dickens is a euphemism for the devil. The expression was used on occasion by William Shakespeare making it a very old one. However, I felt it would make a good title for this story.