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Little Dorrit

Victorian Serial Novels

The “Reading Like a Victorian” website has been updated with a stack of serial novels surrounding Little Dorrit. You can read the nineteen parts of Little Dorrit alongside the installments of other novels that were appearing in the same time period. Go directly to the 1855-1857 gateway page by clicking on this link: http://victorianserialnovels.org/1855-1857/
 
Scroll to the timeline near the top of the page, and use the right arrows to see all the texts—in serial and in volume form—that you can read synchronically with Little Dorrit.  On the timeline, choose the year and month where you want to begin, then scroll down to “Parts by Month and Year,” click on the correct month, and follow the links to the chapters in the installments for that month. (Remember that if you are using a Project Gutenberg text, it may take you to the front matter the first time you access it during a reading session; just back up, enter the text again, and it will take you to the right chapter.) You will find non-serialized texts under “Works Appearing in Volume Form and Other Notable Publications.”
 
 

Santa Cruz Pickwick Club

Need help contextualizing the novel? Listen to the Pickwick Club's guest speaker lectures and discussions of Little Dorrit. Be be sure to check out the accompanying discussion questions.
Lectures Presenter(s)
Introduction to the Novel Renee Fox, Co-Director of the Dickens Project
Murray Baumgarten, Co-Founder of the Dickens Project
Little Dorrit in Historical Context Bruce Thompson, Lecturer in History, UC Santa Cruz
"Dickens and the World" Nirshan Perera, English Teacher, Pacific Collegiate School
"How Did the Grim Reaper's Swift Scythe Sharpen Little Dorrit's Plot?" Cathy Cress, MSW
Mothers and Minor Characters John O. Jordan, Director of the Dickens Project
 
 

DorritLab Reading Buddies

Dickens Project friends address major themes in the novel's installments via videos, audio, and text. Click on the links below to view the presentations as well as the original illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne.
Installment Serialization Release Date Book and Chapters Presenter
I December 1855 Book I, Ch. 1-4 Devin Griffiths, University of Southern California
II January 1856 Book I, Ch. 5-8 Melisa Klimaszewski, Drake University
III February 1856 Book I, Ch. 9-11 Christian Lehmann, University of Southern California
IV March 1856 Book I, Ch. 12-14 Sandy Bieler
V April 1856 Book I, Ch. 15-18 Miranda Butler, UC Riverside
VI May 1856 Book I, Ch. 19-22
VII June 1856 Book I, Ch. 23-25
VIII July 1856 Book I, Ch. 26-29 Natalie Kopp
IX August 1856 Book I, Ch. 30-32
X September 1856 Book I, Ch. 33-36
XI October 1856 Book II, Ch. 1-4 David Brownell
XII November 1856 Book II, Ch. 5-7
XIII December 1856 Book II, Ch. 8-11
XIV January 1857 Book II, Ch. 12-14 Glenna Matthews
XV February 1857 Book II, Ch. 15-18
XVI March 1857 Book II, Ch. 19-22 Scott Caddy, Arizona State University
XVII April 1857 Book II, Ch. 23-26
XVIII May 1857 Book II, Ch. 27-29
XIX-XX June 1857 Book II, Ch. 30-34 Ryan Fong, Kalamazoo College
 

Adaptations

For the screen:

 

For radio:

 

Miscellany

Little Dorrit Map, Locations found in the novel, created by Peter Biggins.