“Next to Christmas Day, the most pleasant annual epoch in existence is the advent of the New Year” – just one of the quotes from Charles Dickens featured in ‘Through the year with Dickens’ published at the beginning of the last century in a series entitled Through the Year with Great Authors.
The rush of Dickens related television over Christmas must mean there can be few people unaware that next month marks the bicentenary of his birth, and as a ‘local’ author this seems like a good time to highlight both the above book from one of our historical collections, as well as a more serious side of the man, in an address to the Birmingham & Midland Institute included in Volume 6 of ‘Report of Schools and Institutions’. Dickens was the President of the Birmingham & Midland Institute in 1869, the year of the speech.
For more details of the Dickens 2012 celebrations and events see the bicentenary website. If you are in London in 2012 the nearby Dickens Museum is also worth a visit. For a full listing of our Dickens holdings, including the latest graphic novel versions, search our library catalogue.
Newsam News 
The British Library’s Learning section has an interesting ‘Dickens in context’ site currently, with readings by Simon Callow and discussions by Professor John Mullan of University College. The site also links to contemporary Victorian sources. All at: http://www.bl.uk/learning/langlit/dickens/dickenshome.html
There’s also a Georgian workhouse that inspired Dickens only 10 mins walk from the IoE near the telecom tower (one of only 3 left in London). Dilapidated and still under some threat, but an interesting reminder of London before the Welfare State.
I’d forgotten about that site in our local area. The latest news on the campaigning website (http://www.clevelandstreetworkhouse.org/) doesn’t look good, but meanwhile the group have assembled some useful Dickens and background history links.