83
Nicholas Nickleby?", to which the author of Vanity Fair answered: "Who can?"
Rest mij nog te vermelden dat een Nederlandse vertaling van NN verscheen
bij Het Spectrum in hun fraaie Klassieken-reeks (ElO), and to draw attention
to an abridgement for children which is available from Macmillan (Ell) and to
a dramatization in Macmillan's Dramascripts series (E12).
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I had almost forgotten a book that ought to be mentioned in this Nickleby-
section: Charles Dickens and the Cheeryble grants by R.R. Carmyllie. It is
a brochure really (44 pages), published by the Parochial Church Council of
the Parish of St. Andrew, Ramsbottom. The booklet traces the Ramsbottom con
nections of the Grant Brothers, generally considered to be the models for
the Cheeryble brothers in NN. The conclusion: "If the Grants had not come to
Lancashire in 1783, if they had not made that long journey from Scotland and
stood on that knoll called Top o' th1 Hoof, if they had not looked down on
that fair valley of trees and daffodils with the fine river meandering
through the lust meadows; somebody els would have built Ramsbottom, somebody
else would have bought Peel's mill and replaced it with a finer one; but
Charles Dickens would have had to look elsewhere for the originals of this
Cheeryble brothers.
(De redactie van DD heeft de beschikking over een bibliografie van NN in het
Nederlands, die we in een volgend nummer wellicht zullen publiceren.)
World's Classics Paperbacks
Oxford University Press are in the process of republishing Dickens novels
in their World's Classics Paperback series. These excellent editions make use
of the accurate Texts of the Clarendon edition, use a small number of origi
nal illustrations, have new introductions and notes by renowned specialists,
and present number plans, trial titles and working notes in the appendices.
This last feature especially makes these books a good choice for anyone who
can read the not very large letters.
The following books have appeared so far: Oliver Twist (E14), ed.
Kathleen Tillotson; Martin Chuzzlewit (E15)ed. Margaret Cardwell; Dombey
and Son (E16), ed. Alan Horsman; David Copperfield (E17), ed. Nina Burgis;
Little Dorrit (E18), ed. Harvey Peter Sucksmith; The Mystery of Edwin Drood
(E19), ed. Margaret Cardwell; and Sikes and Nancy and other public readings,
ed. Philip Collins (E20)The latter book, of course, is a selection from
Collins' The Public Readings, which makes Dickens the public reader available
to a wide public for the first time - which should result in a growing number
of public readings of Dickens stories.
Facsimile editions
The Nottingham Court Press in London are a firm specialising in reprints and
facsimile editions.
Three first edition reprints from their programme concern books by Dickens.
One is a complete reprint of The Pickwick Papers (E21), published in 1979
in association with The Dickens Fellowship. The other two are Christmas
books
The Chimes (E22) and The Cricket on the Hearth (E23)These latter two little
books are very beautiful and make a splendid Dickensian gift. But there is
no need to commend books like these; let's hope for more.
