Nicholas Nickleby

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

The work of a young novelist at the height of his powers, NICHOLAS NICKLEBY is one of the touchstones of the English comic novel. Around the central story of Nicholas Nickleby and the misfortunes of his family, Dickens created some of his most wonderful characters- the muddle-headed Mrs Nickleby, the gloriously theatrical Crummles, their protege Miss Petowker, the pretentious Mantalinis and the mindlessly cruel Squeers and his wife. NICHOLAS NICKLEBY's loose, haphazard progress harks back to the picaresque novels of the 18th century - particularly those of Smollett and Fielding. Yet the novel's exuberant atmosphere of romance, adventure and freedom is overshadowed by Dickens' awareness of social ills and financial and class insecurity.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgements (p. v)
• Introduction (p. xiii)
• A Chronology Of Charles Dickens (p. xxxii)
• Preface (1839) (p. xlix)
• Preface (1848) (p. lii)
• Chapter I Introduces All the Rest (p. 1)
• Chapter II Of Mr. Ralph Nickleby, and His Establishment, and His Undertakings. and of a Great Joint Stock Company of Vast National Importance (p. 6)
• Chapter III Mr. Ralph Nickleby Receives Sad Tidings of His Brother, but Bears Up Nobly Against the Intelligence Communicated to Him. The Reader is Informed How He Liked Nicholas, Who is Herein Introduced And How Kindly He Proposed to Make His Fortune at Once (p. 18)
• Chaprer IV Nicholas and His Uncle (to Secure the Fortune Without Loss of Time)Wait Upon Mr. Wackford Squeers, the Yorkshire Schoolmaster (p. 29)
• Chapter V Nicholas Starts for Yorkshire. of His Leave-Taking and His Fellow-Travellers, and What Befell Them on the Road (p. 42)
• Chapter VI In Which the Occurrence of the Accident Mentioned in the Last Chapter, Affords an Opportunity to a Couple of Gentlemen to Tell Stories Against Each Other (p. 53)
• Chapter VII Mr. and Mrs. Squeers at Home (p. 76)
• Chapter VIII Of the Internal Economy of Dotheboys Hall (p. 85)
• Chapter IX Of Miss Squeers, Mrs. Squeers, Master Squeers, and Mr. Squeers And of Various Matters and Persons Connected No Less with The Squeerses Than with Nicholas Nickleby (p. 98)
• Chapter X How Mr. Ralph Nickleby Provided for His Niece and Sister-In-Law (p. 114)
• Chapter XI Newman Noggs Inducts Mrs. and Miss Nickleby into Their New Dwelling in the City (p. 128)
• Chapter XII Whereby the Reader Will Be Enabled to Trace the Further Course Of Miss Fanny Squeers's Love, and to Ascertain Whether It Ran Smooth Or Otherwise (p. 134)
• Chapter XIII Nicholas Varies the Monotony of Dotheboys Hall by a Most Vigorous and Remarkable Proceeding, Which Leads to Consequences Of Some Importance (p. 146)
• Chapter XV Acquaints the Reader with the Cause and Origin of the Interruption Described in the Last Chapter, and with Some Other Matters Necessary to Be Known (p. 172)
• Chapter XVI Nicholas Seeks to Employ Himself in a New Capacity, and Being Unsuccessful, Accepts an Engagement as Tutor in a Private Family (p. 185)
• Chapter XVII Follows the Fortunes of Miss Nickleby (p. 205)
• Chapter XVIII Miss Knag, After Doating on Kate Nickleby for Three Whole Days Makes Up Her Mind to Hate Her for Evermore. the Causes Which Lead Miss Knag to Form This Resolution (p. 215)
• Chapter XIX Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr. Ralph Nickleby's, and of The Manner in Which the Company Entertained Themselves, Before Dinner, at Dinner, and After Dinner (p. 229)
• Chapter XX Wherein Nicholas at Length Encounters His Uncle, to Whom He Expresses His Sentiments with Much Candour. His Resolution (p. 245)
• Chapter XXI Madame Mantalini Finds Herself in a Situation of Some Difficulty And Miss Nickleby Finds Herself in No Situation at All (p. 257)
• Chapter XXII Nicholas, Accompanied by Smike, Sallies Forth to Seek His Fortune He Encounters Mr. Vincent Crummles; and Who He Was, is Herein Made Manifest (p. 270)
• Chapter XXIII Treats of the Company of Mr. Vincent Crummles, and of His Affairs, Domestic and Theatrical (p. 286)
• Chapter XXIV Of the Great Bespeak for Miss Snevellicci, and the First Appearance Of Nicholas Upon Any Stage (p. 300)
• Chapter XXV Concerning a Young Lady from London, Who Joins the Company And an Elderly Admirer Who Follows in Her Train; with an Affecting Ceremony Consequent on Their Arrival (p. 317)
• Chapter XXVI Is Fraught with Some Danger to Miss Nickleby's Peace of Mind (p. 331)
• Chapter XXVII Mrs. Nickleby Becomes Acquainted with Messrs. Pyke and Pluck Whose Affection and Interest Are Beyond All Bounds (p. 342)
• Chapter XXVIII Miss Nickleby, Rendered Desperate by the Persecution of Sir Mulberry Hawk, and the Complicated Difficulties and Distresses Which Surround Her, Appeals, as a Last Resource, to Her Uncle for Protection (p. 357)
• Chapter XXIX Of the Proceedings of Nicholas, and Certain Internal Divisions In The Company of Mr. Vincent Crummles (p. 374)
• Chapter XXX Festivities Are Held in Honour of Nicholas, Who Suddenly Withdraws Himself from the Society of Mr. Vincent Crummles and His Theatrical Companions (p. 384)
• Chapter XXXI Of Ralph Nickleby and Newman Noggs, and Some Wise Precautions, the Success or Failure of Which Will Appear in the Sequel (p. 400)
• Chapter XXXII Relating Chiefly to Some Remarkable Conversation, and Some Remarkable Proceedings to Which It Gives Rise (p. 408)
• Chapter XXXIII In Which Mr. Ralph Nickleby is Relieved, by a Very Expeditious Process, from All Commerce with His Relations (p. 419)
• Chapter XXXIV Wherein Mr. Ralph Nickleby is Visited by Persons with Whom The Reader Has Been Already Made Acquainted (p. 426)
• Chapter XXXV Smike Becomes Known to Mrs. Nickleby and Kate. Nicholas Also Meets with New Acquaintances. Brighter Days Seem to Dawn Upon The Family (p. 442)
• Chapter XXXVI Private and Confidential; Relating to Family Matters. Showing How Mr. Kenwigs Underwent Violent Agitation, and How Mrs. Kenwigs Was as Well as Could Be Expected (p. 459)
• Chapter XXXVII Nicholas Finds Further Favour in the Eyes of the Brothers Cheeryble And Mr. Timothy Linkinwater. the Brothers Give a Banquet On A Great Annual Occasion. Nicholas, on Returning Home from It Receives a Mysterious and Important Disclosure from the Lips Of Mrs. Nickleby (p. 468)
• Chapter XXXVIII Comprises Certain Particulars Arising Out of a Visit of Condolence, Which May Prove Important Hereafter. Smike Unexpectedly Encounters a Very Old Friend, Who Invites Him to His House, and Will Take No Denial (p. 486)
• Chapter XL In Which Nicholas Falls in Love. He Employs a Mediator, Whose Proceedings Are Crowned with Unexpected Success, Excepting in One Solitary Particular (p. 510)
• Chapter XLI Containing Some Romantic Passages Between Mrs. Nickleby And The Gentleman in the Small-Clothes Next Door (p. 528)
• Chapter XLII Illustrative of the Convivial Sentiment, That the Best of Friends Must Sometimes Part (p. 541)
• Chapter XLIII Officiates as a Kind of Gentleman Usher, in Bringing Various People Together (p. 553)
• Chapter XLIV Mr. Ralph Nickleby Cuts an Old Acquaintance. It Would Also Appear from the Contents Hereof, That a Joke, Even Between Husband And Wife, May Be Sometimes Carried Too Far (p. 567)
• Chapter XLV Containing Matter of a Surprising Kind (p. 582)
• Chapter XLVI Throws Some Light Upon Nicholas's Love; but Whether for Good Or Evil, the Reader Must Determine (p. 595)
• Chapter XLVII Mr. Ralph Nickleby Has Some Confidential Intercourse with Another Old Friend. They Concert Between Them a Project, Which Promises Well for Both (p. 609)
• Chapter XLVIII Being for the Benefit of Mr. Vincent Crummles, and Positively His Last Appearance on This Stage (p. 625)
• Chapter Xlix Chronicles the Further Proceedings of the Nickleby Family, and The Sequel of the Adventure of the Gentleman in the Small-Clothes (p. 637)
• Chapter L Involves a Serious Catastrophe (p. 653)
• Chapter LI The Project of Mr. Ralph Nickleby and His Friend, Approaching A Successful Issue, Becomes Unexpectedly Known to Another Party Not Admitted into Their Confidence (p. 667)
• Chapter LII Nicholas Despairs of Rescuing Madeline Bray, but Plucks Up His Spirits Again, and Determines to Attempt It. Domestic Intelligence Of the Kenwigses and Lillyvicks (p. 679)
• Chapter LIII Containing the Further Progress of the Plot Contrived by Mr. Ralph Nickleby and Mr. Arthur Gride (p. 692)
• Chapter Liv The Crisis of the Project and Its Result (p. 709)
• Chapter LV Of Family Matters, Cares, Hopes, Disappointments, and Sorrows (p. 721)
• Chapter LVI Ralph Nickleby, Baffled by His Nephew in His Late Design, Hatches A Scheme of Retaliation Which Accident Suggests to Him, and Takes Into His Counsels a Tried Auxiliary (p. 734)
• Chapter LVII How Ralph Nickleby's Auxiliary Went About His Work, and How He Prospered with It (p. 747)
• Chapter LVIII In Which One Scene of This History is Closed (p. 758)
• Chapter LIX The Plots Begin to Fail, and Doubts and Dangers to Disturb The Plotter (p. 764)
• Chapter LX The Dangers Thicken, and the Worst is Told (p. 779)
• Chapter LXI Wherein Nicholas and His Sister Forfeit the Good Opinion of All Worldly and Prudent People (p. 791)
• Chapter LXII Ralph Makes One Last Appointment--And Keeps It (p. 802)
• Chapter LXIII The Brothers Cheeryble Make Various Declarations for Themselves And Others. Tim Linkinwater Makes a Declaration for Himself (p. 808)
• Chapter LXIV An Old Acquaintance is Recognised Under Melancholy Circumstances And Dotheboys Hall Breaks Up for Ever (p. 819)
• Chapter LXV Conclusion (p. 829)
• Appendix A The Nickleby 'Proclamation' (p. 832)
• Appendix B Running Headlines for the 1867 Edition (p. 835)
• Explanatory Notes (p. 844)
• Textual Notes (p. 864)