Spring Break

An Audience with Charles Dickens – Writer, Performer, Celebrity

From March 2016, the Gallery in the Sir Duncan Rice Library is presenting a real first for the University of Aberdeen – 15 firsts in fact! The Special Collections Centre has a unique collection of all 15 first editions of the novels of Charles Dickens – many of them collected at the time of publication. ‘An Audience with Charles Dickens’ marks the first time that all 15 books have been displayed together.

The University’s Special Collections Centre has one of the most distinguished collections of books by and about Dickens anywhere in the world. The exhibition celebrates this and provides a glimpse into the life and times of one of the world’s most renowned authors and personalities.

Inspired by his two visits to Aberdeen, it explores the theme of Dickens not only as a writer but also as a performer of his own work. In 1858 and 1866 Dickens travelled to Aberdeen, performing dramatic extracts from Dombey and Son, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield and The Pickwick Papers to delighted crowds at the Music Hall. In addition to the first editions, the exhibition includes reproductions of playbills from the period and audio extracts of the four readings to evoke the appearance and atmosphere of the theatre stages that became Charles Dickens’s favourite platform for the delivery of his stories.

The exhibition is accompanied by an engaging programme of public talks and events. Details of these will be posted on the Special Collections Centre Events page.