Named for the great English novelist Charles Dickens (1812–1870). Dickens’ works include The Pickwick Papers, Little Dorrit, A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations and David Copperfield, the last of which was based on his personal experiences. He created several comic characters, but he was most concerned with the social consequences of crime, corruption and moral evil. Most of his novels were first published in monthly installments, for popular consumption. Dickens later made successful reading tours of England and the United States, and several of his novels have been dramatized on the stage and on film. (M 16445) _ _.