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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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David Copperfield
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(1850)
Semi-autobiographical novel by Charles *Dickens, published in monthly parts from May 1849. The main characters in the young David's life are: his old nurse Clara Peggotty, who marries the phlegmatic carrier Barkis (his proposal to her is the cryptic message, 'Barkis is willin'); David's childhood sweetheart, little Em'ly, who is related to Peggotty; his schoolfriend, the handsome and brilliant Steerforth; and the impecunious but eternally optimistic Mr Micawber, whose economic philosophy in relation to his '*annual income' has become famous.
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David lodges in Micawber's house after being sent by his brutal stepfather to a life of drudgery in London, where he pastes labels on to bottles for a living.
Other characters are David's wealthy but eccentric aunt, Betsey Trotwood, who previously rejected her nephew for not being a niece but who now helps him; and the lawyer, Mr Wickfield, whose daughter Agnes falls in love with David.
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Not at first appreciating Agnes, David marries the pretty but childish Dora Spenlow. Meanwhile David himself is becoming a successful author; Steerforth has persuaded little Em'ly to run off with him to foreign parts and has there abandoned her; and Agnes's father has fallen into the clutches of his clerk, Uriah Heep, the hand-wringing master of false humility (' I am well aware that I am the umblest person going').
In the end Steerforth is drowned in a shipwreck, Em'ly is safely recovered by her family, Mr Micawber is instrumental in frustrating the schemes of Uriah Heep (who ends up in prison with a life sentence) and David, whose wife has died young, marries Agnes.
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