see [page 15]
This raven was the original of “Grip” in “Barnaby Budge.” To the great grief of Dickens the bird died, after it had been ailing only a few days, on March 12th, 1841. After death the famous raven was stuffed, and when sold at the Dickens sale realised £126.
“‘I make him come?’ cried Barnaby, pointing to the bird. ‘Him, who never goes to sleep, or so much as winks! Why, any time of night, you may see his eyes in my dark room, shining like two sparks. And every night, and all night too, he’s broad awake, talking to himself, thinking what he shall do to-morrow, where we shall go, and what he shall steal, and hide, and bury. I make him come! Ha, ha, ha!’”
No. 1, Devonshire Terrace
see [page 22]
In 1839 Dickens removed from Doughty Street to No. 1, Devonshire Terrace, a handsome house with a garden of considerable size, shut out from the New Road by a high brick wall facing the York Gate into Regent’s Park. The house is entered at the side, and the front looks into Marylebone Road. The windows of the lower and first-floor rooms are largely bowed, and Dickens described it as “a house of great promise (and great premium), undeniable situation, and excessive splendour.” He lived here until 1850, and in these years much of his best work was done, including “Master Humphrey’s Clock,” “The Old Curiosity Shop.” “Barnaby Budge,” “American Notes,” “Martin Chuzzlewit,” “A Christmas Carol,” “The Cricket on the Hearth,” “Dombey and Son,” “The Haunted Man,” and “David Copperfield.”
Tavistock House, Tavistock Square
see [page 17]
After leaving Devonshire Terrace, Dickens resided for nearly nine years, dating from November 1851, at Tavistock House, which has of late been demolished. During this period he wrote “Bleak House,” “Hard Times,” a part of “Little Dorrit,” and “A Tale of Two Cities.”
Hans Christian Andersen, after visiting Dickens in Tavistock House, gave the following description of his home:—