As the title states this book provides sketches of Melbourne life in light and shade. It was written in 1877 and published by George Robertson . It is one of a series and this edition covers the following: A night in the model lodging -House, A day in the Immigrants' Home, A morning at the Hospital, Three days in the Benevolent Asylum, Our Lunatic Asylums, Sixpenny restaurants and The Theatre Vestibules. Throughout all he comments on the social situations and dilemmas in which he finds himself and which others must endure.The Vagabond Papers provides a valuable record of life in Melbourne in the 1870's. It is not always the view of Melbourne as a prosperous and developing city which is presented but it is experienced first hand by the author to which he also imparts social commentary on the many difficult situations. Small faded hard covered book with black text. Contains 205 pages with advertisements on front and back covers.Reprinted from the Argus corrected and revised by the author. Dedicated to the Conductors of the Argus in recognition of many private and professional Kindnesses.melbourne 1877, social commentary melbourne 1870's, social life and customs

Booklet with white cover, on which the tile is handwrittennon-fictionTwo chapters from 'TheVagabond Papers' second series. The first chonicles three week spent at the Alfred Hopital by the author working as a 'hall porter and clerk' [ca. 1877]. The second pauper funerals at the Melbourne general cemetryalfred hospital (melbourne)-history, social conditions-melbourne-1870's, funerals-melbourne-1870's, australia-social conditions

Carol Porter’s artwork Don’t get mad, get elected! features a woman towering over Parliament House in Canberra. Below her, tiny suit-clad politicians run screaming as she holds one of their colleagues upside-down, and another tumbles from her grasp. The look on her face is cool and determined; it is a reversal of the more common horror poster trope of ‘damsel in distress’. Porter says of the work: ‘It was tapping into the fact that women should get into power and make a difference’. Porter is a contemporary political cartoonist and poster artist who has worked out of Melbourne since the 1970s. She uses humour in her social commentary on various Australian issues and is well known for the prints she produced at RedPlanet – the alternative poster press inspired by an anti-elitist mission to reconnect art with communities. The poster was commissioned by the Victorian Women’s Trust. It first appeared on Melbourne billboards in 1997, a year after the federal election that swept John Howard to power.Donated by the artist

This book contains a collection of poems written by English poet, Robert Browning, between 1833-1868. Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose dramatic monologues put him high among the Victorian poets. He was noted for irony, characterisation, dark humour, social commentary, historical settings and challenging vocabulary and syntax. Ruyton Girls' School has a long tradition of awarding prizes to students at annual "Speech Night" events. Speech Night at Ruyton is an extraordinary occasion. It is a time when we gather to celebrate both the year just lived and the contribution of our Year 12 girls to the life of our School. It is a night of stirring student speeches, acknowledgement of student endeavour and excellence and awe-inspiring performances by School choirs and ensembles. The Dawn Roach Memorial Prize is awarded for contribution to the sporting life of the school, and is awarded under a points system for participation. Dawn Roach was a former student at Ruyton Girls' School from 1937 until her sudden passing in 1938.The record has strong historic significance as it was awarded to a former notable student, Helen Gordon (maiden name Cole). Helen started at Little Ruyton in Prep 1940 and finished Year 12 in 1952 as School Captain, Bromby Captain, Form Captain for Matric, Tennis Captain, Hockey Captain, Swimming Vice Captain, and an award for Best All-Round Girl. She also played baseball for Victoria. After finishing school, Helen went on to graduate from the University of Melbourne as a physiotherapist in 1956. Her first position at age 19 involved setting up clinics with the Victorian Health Department Poliomyelitis Rural division. Helen’s strong ties to Ruyton continued when she held the position of President of the Old Ruytonians’ Association from the start of 1966 to the end of 1967. In 2019, Helen received an Order of Australia Medal for service to community health as a physiotherapist. She was also the recipient of the 2022 Victorian Senior Achiever Award at Parliament House. Helen passed away in July 2023 at age 88. The record's significance is further enhanced by its strong provenance, having been produced by Ruyton Girls' School and donated to the Archives by a familial connection.Navy leather hardcover bound book with gold detailing on front cover and spine. 698 pages.Front Cover: R / RECTE ET FIDE LITER / RUYTON / Spine: THE / POETICAL / WORKS OF / R.BROWNING / OXFORD / Inside Cover: R / RECTE ET FIDE LITER / RUYTON / PRIZE / AWARDED TO / Helen Cole / FOR / Studies and James / Form VI / H. Daniell. / December 11 1951 / Dawne Roach Memorial Prize /ruyton girls' school, school, students, prize, speech night, poetry, lord tennyson, queen victoria, senior school, high school, ruyton, old ruytonians' association

Christmas Books. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Nelson & Sons, London. Date: 1940’s-1950’s. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Red cloth hardcover with brown patterned paper stick on title to front cover. Spine has gold lettering. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. This volume gathers five separate Christmas stories rather than one continuous novel. The best known of them, “A Christmas Carol”, follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s moral transformation after visits from supernatural spirits, while the others mix ghostly, sentimental, and domestic themes around Christmas, memory, family, and social feeling. Together they show Dickens using Christmas as a setting for moral instruction, sympathy for the poor, and festive storytelling. This Nelson and Sons London Christmas Books volume is a collected edition of Dickens’s five Christmas novellas, “A Christmas Carol,” “The Chimes”, “The Cricket on the Hearth”, “The Battle of Life”, and “The Haunted Man”. It is not the original 1840's publication; the Nelson publication is a later reprint in the company’s “Nelson’s Classics series, with examples catalogued from 1941 to 1959.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Nicholas Nickleby. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Oxford University Press, London. Date: 1966-1987 (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Blue leather hardcover, Spine has Author and Title in gold lettering. The spine has a Library label.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. “Nicholas Nickleby” starts out as a good hearted but vulnerable young man whose family is left poor after his father’s death. His uncle, Ralph Nickleby, is cold and exploitative, and Nicholas is sent to work at Dothe boys Hall, a school run by the abusive Wackford Squeers family. There Nicholas witnesses appalling treatment of the children, escapes, and takes the mistreated boy Smike with him. After that, the novel follows Nicholas through a series of adventures in London and beyond as he protects his sister Kate, resists his uncle’s schemes, and finds decent allies such as the Cheeryble brothers. The plot mixes melodrama, comedy, family loyalty, and moral struggle, ending with justice restored and the worthy characters rewarded.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Martin Chuzzlewit. Author: Charles Dickens. Introduction by Kenneth Hayens. Publisher: Collins, London & Glasgow. Date: 1953. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Blue leather hardcover with title on spine in gold lettering and pattern. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information only title and author.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. “Martin Chuzzlewit” is Charles Dickens’s sixth novel serialised 1843-1844, with a novel published in 1844 by Chapman and Hall. The themes are about selfishness, hypocrisy, and moral reform, its plot follows young Martin, his proud grandfather, the hypocritical architect Pecksniff, the loyal Tom Pinch, and the good humoured Mark Tapley. There is also a criminal subplot around Jonas Chuzzlewit. The core plot in short is where Martin becomes at odds with his miserly grandfather as he works for Pecksniff, becomes friends with Tom Pinch. He travels to America, is nearly ruined by a swindle, eventually returning to England. Several villains are ultimately exposed and punished while virtuous characters are rewarded.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

The Old Curiosity Shop Author: Charles Dickens Publisher: Oxford University Press Date: 1997 Light blue leather embossed hardcover with a blue spine and lettering in gold. The spine has a Library label.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. The Old Curiosity Shop is about Nell Trent, a young girl, and her grandfather, who live in a London curiosity shop. After her grandfather’s gambling and debts bring danger from the moneylender Daniel Quilp, they flee and travel through hardship, poverty, and misfortune, the novel is best known for its emotional portrayal of Nell. It was written and published in serial form in “Master Humphrey’s Clock” magazine from 1840 to 1841, then issued as a book in 1841. The subject book published by the Oxford University Press. The subject book in hardback edition was published on 13th November 1997 by the same publisher.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Nicholas Nickleby. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Collins, London & Glasgow. Date: 1940's. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Red cloth hardcover with title on spine in gold lettering and pattern, Front cover has stick on paper with title showing Collins logo. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information only title and author.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. “Nicholas Nickleby” starts out as a good hearted but vulnerable young man whose family is left poor after his father’s death. His uncle, Ralph Nickleby, is cold and exploitative, and Nicholas is sent to work at Dothe boys Hall, a school run by the abusive Wackford Squeers family. There Nicholas witnesses appalling treatment of the children, escapes, and takes the mistreated boy Smike with him. After that, the novel follows Nicholas through a series of adventures in London and beyond as he protects his sister Kate, resists his uncle’s schemes, and finds decent allies such as the Cheeryble brothers. The plot mixes melodrama, comedy, family loyalty, and moral struggle, ending with justice restored and the worthy characters rewarded.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

A Childs History of England. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd, London. Date: 1900. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Green leather hardcover with title on spine in gold lettering, Charles Dickens signature on front cover written in gold lettering. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. “A Child’s History of England” is Dickens’s three volume, child directed history of England, originally serialised in Household Words from 1851 to 1853 and later issued in book form in 1853. It covers English history from ancient times through the fall of James II, with a brief closing summary up to Queen Victoria’s accession to the crown. Dickens wrote it as a readable, lively alternative to dry school history, aiming to interest his own children and young readers. The work is outspoken, often anti monarchical and anti aristocratic in tone, and it uses Dickens’s usual vivid style rather than detached academic prose.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Hard Cover edition, Dombey and Son. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Oxford University Press, London. Date: 1930s-1950 reprinted Oxford literary edition. Original first published in 1848 (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Blue leather hardcover, Spine has Author and Title in gold lettering. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. “Dombey and Son” is about Paul Dombey, a proud London businessman obsessed with having a son to inherit his firm. The story follows the emotional damage this causes to his neglected daughter Florence and to his family generally. It is one of Dickens’s major middle period novels and is often read as a critique of money, social ambition, industrial modernity, and damaged family life. The plot centres on Mr. Dombey, who values business and inheritance above affection, and on Florence, the daughter he cannot properly love because she is not the son he wanted. The novel shows the consequences of emotional blindness through illness, death, failed marriage, betrayal, and eventual partial reconciliation. In broad terms, it is a novel about pride, grief, commercial values, and the human cost of treating people like assets.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road, hard times for these times

The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd, London. Date: 1844-1932. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Green leather hardcover with title on spine in gold lettering, Charles Dickens signature on front cover written in gold lettering. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. “Nicholas Nickleby” starts out as a good hearted but vulnerable young man whose family is left poor after his father’s death. His uncle, Ralph Nickleby, is cold and exploitative, and Nicholas is sent to work at Dothe boys Hall, a school run by the abusive Wackford Squeers family. There Nicholas witnesses appalling treatment of the children, escapes, and takes the mistreated boy Smike with him. After that, the novel follows Nicholas through a series of adventures in London and beyond as he protects his sister Kate, resists his uncle’s schemes, and finds decent allies such as the Cheeryble brothers. The plot mixes melodrama, comedy, family loyalty, and moral struggle, ending with justice restored and the worthy characters rewarded.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Christmas Books. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd, London. Date: 1894. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Green cloth hardcover with Authors name to front cover in gold. Spine has gold title lettering. The spine has a Library label.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. This volume gathers five separate Christmas stories rather than one continuous novel. The best known of them, “A Christmas Carol”, follows Ebenezer Scrooge’s moral transformation after visits from supernatural spirits, while the others mix ghostly, sentimental, and domestic themes around Christmas, memory, family, and social feeling. Together they show Dickens using Christmas as a setting for moral instruction, sympathy for the poor, and festive storytelling. This Nelson and Sons London Christmas Books volume is a collected edition of Dickens’s five Christmas novellas, “A Christmas Carol,” “The Chimes”, “The Cricket on the Hearth”, “The Battle of Life”, and “The Haunted Man”. It is not the original 1840's publication; the Nelson publication is a later reprint in the company’s “Nelson’s Classics series, with examples catalogued from 1941 to 1959.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

Little Dorrit. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd, London. Date: 1890s. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Green cloth hardcover with Authors name to front cover in gold. Spine has gold title lettering. The spine has a Library label.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. Little Dorrit is about Amy “Little” Dorrit, a gentle, selfless woman born and raised in the Marshalsea debtors’ prison where her father, William Dorrit, has been imprisoned for unpaid debts. The story follows her as she works as a seamstress outside the prison, gradually becoming entangled with Arthur Clennam, a businessman returning from abroad. Dickens interweaves a sharp critique of Victorian bureaucracy, finance, and class throughout the story. The theme centers around Amy Dorrit who lives her whole early life in Marshalsea, supporting her family with quiet dignity while her father clings to fragile genteel pretensions. Arthur Clennam, disillusioned after years in China, becomes involved with the Dorrits and uncovers a web of secrets involving his own mother, a hidden inheritance, and shady business dealings. William Dorrit suddenly inherits a fortune and is able to lift the family out of poverty and into fashion conscious society.The novel shows how money distorts their characters and relationships, while Amy remains the moral centre. book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

The Mystery of Edwin Drood Hard Cover, Blue. Author: Charles Dickens Publisher: Oxford University Press Date: 1966 Further Information: With twelve illustrations by Luke Fildes and two by Charles CollinsfictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. The Mystery of Edwin Drood is Charles Dickens’s final, unfinished novel about the mysterious disappearance (likely murder) of a young man named Edwin Drood in the fictional cathedral town of Cloisterham, England. The theme centres around Edwin who is engaged to Rosa Bud in a marriage arranged by their fathers. Both are unhappy with the arrangement and decide to break it off. Edwin’s uncle John Jasper, is the cathedral’s choirmaster, and secretly obsesses over Rosa and is an opium addict. After a tense Christmas Eve dinner with Edwin and the hot tempered Neville Landless (who also likes Rosa), Edwin disappears. Neville is suspected because he was last seen with Edwin, but there’s no body and not enough evidence to charge him. There is also a mysterious figure named Datchery who arrives in Cloisterham to investigate, and an elderly woman from an opium den called Princess Puffer who begins shadowing Jasper.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

American Notes and Reprinted Pieces. Author: Charles Dickens. Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd, London. Date: 1913. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Green leather hardcover with title on spine in gold lettering, Charles Dickens signature on front cover written in gold lettering. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations. Dickens wrote “American Notes” for general circulation, it is Dickens’s travel account of his 1842 trip through the United States and Canada, written as a sequence of observations on travel, cities, institutions, and society in general. It includes chapters on the voyage to America visiting Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Washington. The American railway and steamboat systems, Canada, and a concluding chapter on slavery. The “Reprinted Pieces” part of the book is a companion gathering of shorter Dickens items, so the subject volume is not just a travel book but a collected volume pairing it with miscellaneous prose.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road

The Uncommercial Traveller Author: Charles Dickens Publisher: Chapman & Hall Ltd Date: Subject Book 1907. (See note section this document for more information on Edition). Green Faux leather hardcover with title on spine in gold lettering, Charles Dickens signature on front cover written in gold lettering. The spine has a Library label and no Volume information.fictionCharles Dickens (1812–1870) was one of the great English novelists of the Victorian era, famous for vivid characters, social criticism, and stories that were first published in serial form. He began as a journalist, rose to enormous popularity during his lifetime, and wrote major works such as Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and David Copperfield. The Uncommercial Traveller is a collection of semi autobiographical essays, not a novel. Dickens uses the persona of an “Uncommercial Traveller” to roam London and elsewhere, reflecting on street life, poverty, travel, memory, and social conditions in a way that shows off his skills as an observer and journalist. The pieces are loose, varied sketches rather than one continuous plot. They include London wanderings, travel observations, sketches of odd characters, and writing about hardship and public life. A major recurring aim within these essays is social observation, especially Dickens’s concern for ordinary people and the poor.book, the old curiosity shop, charles dickens, shipwrecked-coast, flagstaff-hill, flagstaff-hill-maritime-museum, warrnambool, maritime-museum, flagstaff-hill-maritime-village, pattison collection, warrnambool library, warrnambool mechanics’ institute, ralph eric pattison, corangamite regional library service, warrnambool city librarian, mechanics’ institute library, victorian library board, warrnambool books and records, warrnambool children’s library, great ocean road