The 1830s were important, formative years in the career of Charles Dickens, and also for movements in literary criticism and the development of the Victorian novel. Kathryn Chittick examines the first nine years of Dickens' career in this context, bringing to light a wealth of detail concerning the journalistic origins of Victorian criticism and the political background to the literature of the period. Central to her argument in this fascinating book is an analysis of the rise of the Victorian literary canon and the values associated with it.