Charles Dickens, homme de Londres

Dickens était à l'honneur il y a quelques jours dans mon quotidien préféré pour la présentation d'une exposition organisée au Museum of London.

Citation :

A l’occasion du bicentenaire de la naissance de Dickens (1812-1870), le Museum of London organise jusqu’en juin une exposition circulaire et en sous-sol, charmante et fréquentée, semblable à un terrier de souvenirs et d’enfance. On y voit comment la vie quotidienne londonienne a nourri l’œuvre de Dickens, comment l’œuvre a révélé et transfiguré cette vie.

Je me disais que si certains lambtoniens l'ont vue ou ont l'occasion de la visiter d'ici au mois de juin, ils pourraient en parler ici. Sinon, l'article lui-même est très intéressant et nous présente l'expo de manière très détaillée. Il faut s'inscrire pour pouvoir le lire, je pense. Si vous êtes intéressés et n'arrivez pas à afficher l'article, envoyez-moi un MP.

Je mets également un lien vers le site du Museum of London, pour les détails pratiques.

Il existe bien sûr un livre édité pour l'occasion (il me sera difficile d'y résister, je pense ).



Et en le cherchant, je suis tombée sur plusieurs autres ouvrages, qui, ma foi, m'ont l'air très alléchants aussi.

Citation :

Dickens' London is a unique work that recreates the sights, sounds and smells of Dickens' London and provides a detailed itinerary for those keen to follow in the footsteps of 'The Inimitable Boz'. Each entry conjures up forgotten scenes of London life - stage-coaches racing through the Borough; landing a catch at Billingsgate market; the uproar of a hanging outside Newgate Gaol - together with pointers to the most atmospheric, astonishing and esoteric parts of the Victorian metropolis which have survived into the twenty-first century. Step back into the past: savour the opportunity to dine in a nineteenth century chop-house; explore the rookery of Seven Dials; take tea in one of the Inns of Court; visit a Victorian operating theatre - all this and much more. Drawing upon Dickens' life and work, from museums and monuments to hidden alleys, mews and courtyards; from railway stations and riverside taverns to grim slums and gaslight - Dickens' London: A Timetraveller's Guide is an indispensable guide for anyone exploring Victorian London.
Dickens' London: A Timetraveller's Guide is written by the acclaimed historical novelist Lee Jackson, whose encyclopaedic website 'The Dictionary of Victorian London' (www.victorianlondon.org) is well-known to all those interested in the history of the capital.

Citation :

No novelist is as intimately connected to a great city as Dickens is to London. The vibrancy and variety of the city determined the shape and character of Dickens' work and he, in turn, re-created London in his fiction. Andrew Sanders retraces Dickens' footsteps through the streets, alleys, highways and byways of the city, exploring the physical nature and architecture of Victorian London. He follows Dickens and his characters from the slums to the City, from the mansions of Mayfair to the respectable inner suburbs of Islington and Bloomsbury. He journeys from the untidiness of Walworth and Camden Town to the villas of Twickenham and Hampstead and semi-rural retreats of Dulwich, Finchley and Highgate. Although vastly changed with time, the London that Dickens created is still vividly present in his writing. The first and greatest of urban novelists, Dickens captures the essence of the central modern social phenomenon - the excitements and problems of the city.

Citation :

This title is a fascinating, evocative account of 19th-century London, so well known from Charles Dickens' much-loved novels. It draws on descriptions of life in the capital from original letters, diaries and newspapers, as well as Dickens' own social commentary, to paint a vivid portrait of a city undergoing massive social changes.

No author has ever described the city of London as well as Dickens. His eye for detail and his gift for characterization moved and entertained readers throughout the world who might never have been to the city. Many of the clichés that crowd our imaginations when we think of London, or of the Victorians, can be traced back to his writings.

Inside Dickens London reveals the everyday world that inspired so many memorable locations and immortal characters. During the years Dickens knew London (1822-1870), it was the largest city of the world, witnessing several political upheavals: the Great Reform Bill, Chartism, and agitation over the Corn Laws.

On the other hand, there also were widespread outbreaks of disease, crime was completely out of control, and the population was expanding quickly.

A unique gazetteer section with a modern-day map allows the reader to discover where places and attractions mentioned in the text can be seen in today's London.

Extracts from Inside Dickens London

It is difficult to imagine the extent to which its dirtiness and danger and its extremes of wealth and poverty make it different to the world we know. It would strike us as more like a Third World city than the capital of Great Britain.

If you had seen London from afar, as Dickens did, your first impression would have been of a distant, dirty smudge of smoke.

Contents:
- Introduction
- THE PLACE
- THE PEOPLE
- SHOPS AND SHOPPING
- CITY AND CLERK
- TRANSPORT AND TRAVEL
- ENTERTAINMENT
- THE POOR
- CRIME AND PUNISHMENT
- THE RESPECTABLE
- Gazetteer
- Chronology
- Index

Cat! merci, merci, merci!
Mais tu me rends folle, n'oublie pas que je suis une nouvelle pauvresse! Si tu dois tout acheter, n'oublie pas de m'inviter un jour à squatter ta bibliothèque! Je sens que tu peux être aussi débonnaire et généreuse que Lord Grantham dans ce domaine.

Comme je ne vais malheureusement pas pouvoir aller à Londres d'ici juin pour voir l'expo, je me consolerai sûrement avec le livre qui a l'air superbe .

Je pense que le lien qui suite est dans la droite ligne de l'exposition mentionnée dans ce topic:

Le site Museum of London propose une application pour mobiles et tablettes (Mac seulement) intitulée Dickens dark London, pour se promener dans le Londres dickensien de 1862 (avec quand même la vue satellite actuelle superposée pour ne pas se prendre les murs...). Les visites sont guidées par un commentaire audio lu par Mark Strong, qui reprend des descriptions rédigées par l'auteur.

Voici la description du site museumoflondon

Citation :

The Museum of London’s iPhone and iPad app, Dickens: Dark London, takes users on a journey through the darker side of Charles Dickens’ London.

Beautifully imagined by renowned illustrator David Foldvari, this interactive graphic novel follows Dickens on his night walks of London – the city he called his ‘magic lantern’ – where, as an insomniac, he roamed the streets gathering inspiration from the people and places he observed.

Accompanying audio, narrated by actor Mark Strong (Tinker Tailor Solder Spy, Kick-Ass, Sherlock Holmes), gives voice to Dickens as passages from his works provide vivid descriptions of the Victorian capital. Bonus material featuring illustrated excerpts of some of Dickens’ most famous novels – from Bleak House to Oliver Twist – also brings to life the 19th century city that Dickens used as his muse and the backdrop for many of his greatest works.

Drawn from a selection of his short stories featured in Sketches By Boz, Dickens: Dark London is serialised to echo how Dickens himself released his writings. All five editions of the app are brought together on an 1862 map of London, overlaid with modern satellite images of the capital, allowing you to compare the city that Dickens knew with the London of today.

Et le reste, par là:

Merci pour cette info, Miss Acacia !