The Life of Our Lord

6b Charles Dickens. London: Associated Newspapers LTD., 1934. First Illustrated Ed.

Notes

The Life of Our Lord was a work by Charles Dickens that he wrote privately between 1846 and 1849 for the education of his own children. Dickens’s motivation was deeply personal: he wanted to provide a simple, engaging account of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ that would be accessible to young readers and reflect his own moral and spiritual values. He approached the subject with a gentle, narrative style, emphasizing the humanity, compassion, and moral lessons of Christ rather than theological debate. Dickens did not intend the work for public publication during his lifetime; he wrote it as a familial gift, reading sections aloud to his children to teach them about Christ’s life in a way that was both instructive and affectionate.

The Life of Our Lord was only published posthumously in 1934, long after his death, because Dickens had feared public scrutiny and did not want the work criticized for either its simplicity or his personal interpretation of Scripture. Today, it offers a unique insight into Dickens’s private life, his values, and his role as a father, showing a different, quieter side of the author outside the social critique and satire for which he is widely known.

Charles Dickens himself led a life deeply intertwined with both literature and family. Born into a lower-middle-class London family, he experienced hardship early on, including his father’s imprisonment for debt, which influenced much of his work’s focus on social injustice. Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1836, and they had ten children, though the marriage became strained later in life. He rose to fame with early works like The Pickwick Papers and maintained immense popularity throughout his career, balancing novels, journalism, and public readings. His writing often highlighted the plight of the poor, the moral development of children, and the complexities of Victorian society, combining humor, pathos, and social critique. Dickens’s family life, personal struggles, and moral convictions all informed his literary output, making him one of the most enduring and humanly relatable figures in English literature.

Description

Red leather presentation rebinding with ornate filigree style corner pieces in gilt on upper and lower boards. Gilt details in each compartment of spine with five raised bands and lettering in the second and fourth compartments. Marbled endpapers with gilt turn-ins. All edges gilt. Text printed on japon vellum pages. Very fine condition.