''The Mudfog Papers'' are an anthology of stories written by

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

and published from 1837 to 1838 in the monthly literary journal ''

Bentley's Miscellany ''Bentley's Miscellany'' was an English literary magazine started by Richard Bentley. It was published between 1836 and 1868. Contributors Already a successful publisher of novels, Bentley began the journal in 1836 and invited Charles Dickens t ...

'', which he was then editing.

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''The Mudfog Papers'' relates the proceedings of a fictional society, The Mudfog Society for the Advancement of Everything, a

Pickwickian ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

parody of the

British Association for the Advancement of Science The British Science Association (BSA) is a charity and learned society founded in 1831 to aid in the promotion and development of science. Until 2009 it was known as the British Association for the Advancement of Science (BA). The current Ch ...

. The latter, founded in

York York is a cathedral city with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many hist ...

in 1831, was one of numerous

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literature ...

learned societies dedicated to the advancement of science. Like ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with '' Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to ...

'', ''The Mudfog Papers'' claims affinity with parliamentary reports, memoirs and posthumous papers. The serial was illustrated by

George Cruikshank George Cruikshank (27 September 1792 – 1 February 1878) was a British caricaturist and book illustrator, praised as the "modern William Hogarth, Hogarth" during his life. His book illustrations for his friend Charles Dickens, and many other ...

. The fictional town of Mudfog was based on Chatham in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

, where Dickens spent part of his youth. When ''

Oliver Twist ''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...

'' first appeared in ''

'' in February 1837, Mudfog was described by Dickens as the town where Oliver was born and spent his early years, making ''Oliver Twist'' related to ''The Mudfog Papers'', but this allusion was removed when the novel was published as a book.''Bentley's Miscellany'', 1837 At the conclusion of his first contribution, about the mayor of the provincial town of Mudfog, Dickens explains that "this is the first time we have published any of our gleanings from this particular source", referring to ''The Mudfog Papers''. He also suggests that "at some future period, we may venture to open the chronicles of Mudfog". The ''Papers'' was first published as a book under the title ''The Mudfog Papers and Other Sketches'' in 1880.''The Mudfog Papers and Other Sketches''. London: Richard Bentley and Son, Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen, 1880.

*I. Public Life of Mr Tulrumble – Once Mayor of Mudfog *II. Full Report of The First Meeting of The Mudfog Association for The Advancement of Everything *III. Full Report of The Second Meeting of The Mudfog Association for The Advancement of Everything *IV. The Pantomime of Life *V. Some Particulars Concerning a Lion *VI. Mr Robert Bolton: The "Gentleman Connected with the Press" *VII. Familiar Epistle from a Parent to a Child Aged Two Years and Two Months

References

External links

''The Mudfog Papers''
at

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Full text of ''The Mudfog Papers''''The Mudfog Papers'' on readeasily.com''The Mudfog Papers''
on

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*
Turn the pages of a digital copy of ''Mudfog Papers and Other Contributions''.

University of California The University of California (UC) is a public land-grant research university system in the U.S. state of California. The system is composed of the campuses at Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, San Fran ...

Review of ''The Mudfog Papers''
in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' of October 2, 1880 {{DEFAULTSORT:Mudfog Papers 1837 short stories 1880 short story collections Art by George Cruikshank Short story collections by Charles Dickens Works originally published in Bentley's Miscellany

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References

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