The study of the origins of the novel is facilitated by reproducing Dickens's working plans and, for the first time, thousands of detailed textual notes.

\"Backgrounds\" provides all of Dickens's correspondence regarding Bleak House as well as contextual materials that document the Victorian debates about pollution, a central theme of the novel, and present contemporary attitudes towards the government, courts, and police, to enhance the framework of the story.

Additionally, several hundred notes fully analyze for today's readers the references and thematic allusions within this remarkably annotated Victorian masterpiece.

A particularly useful feature is a clear exposition of the nature of the legal process in the Chancery Court, which is crucial for understanding the central action of the story.

The \"Critical Studies\" reprinted here include interpretations by G. K. Chesterton, J. Hillis Miller, George Ford, A. O. J. Cockshut, W. J. Harvey, H. M. Daleski, and Ian Ousby.

Pages: 1024, Year of Publication: 0108, Dimensions: 13.2x13.2cm