Master Humphrey and Mr. Pickwick by Charles Dickens

The Pickwick Papers is one of Dickens' most popular novels, but few people know that it does not include everything that Dickens wrote about Mr. Pickwick. In 1840, after the success of Oliver Twist, Dickens started a magazine called Master Humphrey's Clock. Master Humphrey was an old gentleman who kept a bundle of stories in the bottom of his grandfather clock, and would read them out to his friends at their weekly meetings. After a few issues Dickens introduced Mr. Pickwick to the club, and also Sam Weller and his father Tony. Shortly afterward he began to publish The Old Curiosity Shop in the magazine; this soon took over completely and no more was heard of Pickwick.
These stories are not included in the standard sets of Dickens' work, and indeed have very rarely been republished. We present them here taken from a copy of the first edition, 1840.