Charles Dickens, American Notes for General Circulation

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Charles Dickens's

American Notes

is one of the most famous and important examples of travel-writing in the nineteenth century, documenting simultaneously a particular moment in the development of the United States and what was surely a major turning-point in Dickens's career. Along with Alexis de Tocqueville's

Democracy in America

, Dickens's

American Notes

represents one of the most significant contributions to a trend, during the 1820s, 30s and 40s, for books about the USA by prominent European visitors; these included works by Frances Trollope, Harriet Martineau, Frederick Marryat, James Silk Buckingham and Basil Hall. Of course, all these writings discuss and critique America from differing perspectives – Trollope's book is about “domestic manners”, whilst de Tocqueville's work…

1315 words

Citation: Taylor, Jonathan. "American Notes for General Circulation". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 June 2002 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=6731, accessed 19 March 2024.]

6731 American Notes for General Circulation 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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