Great Expectations: Deluxe Painted Edition

Considered by many to be Charles Dickens's finest novel, Great Expectations follows the narrator, the orphan Philip Pirrip (Pip), as he leaves behind a childhood of misery and poverty after an anonymous benefactor offers him a chance at the life of a gentleman.

Charles Dickens was born in 1812 near Portsmouth where his father was a clerk in the Navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1823, but their fortunes were severely impaired. Dickens was sent to work in a blacking-warehouse when his father was imprisoned for debt. Both experiences deeply affected the future novelist. In 1833 he began contributing stories to newspapers and magazines, and in 1836 started the serial publication of Pickwick Papers. He began Oliver Twist in 1837, followed by Nicholas Nickleby (1838) and The Old Curiosity Shop (1840-41). A Christmas Carol appeared in 1843, David Copperfield in 1850. In later works, such as Bleak House (1853) and Little Dorrit (1857), Dickens's social criticism became more radical and his comedy more savage. He published Hard Times in 1854, A Tale of Two Cities in 1859, and Great Expectations in 1860. His last novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, was never completed and he died on June 9, 1870.