Sketches by Boz
Sketches by Boz is a collection of short pieces by Charles Dickens, first published between 1833 and 1836 in newspapers and magazines. In 1836 it was issued in two book series with illustrations by George Cruikshank, making it Dickens’s first book. The collection has 56 sketches about life in London and is split into four parts: Our Parish, Scenes, Characters, and Tales. The first three sections are non-fiction portraits, while the last section contains fictional stories.
The first work of fiction in the book, Mr Minns and his Cousin (originally titled A Dinner at Poplar Walk), appeared in The Monthly Magazine in December 1833. Dickens began signing pieces with the pseudonym Boz in August 1834. He chose the name from a nickname he had given his younger brother Augustus; it was once pronounced boz, though today many say /ˈbɒz/.
Illustrations were an important part of Sketches by Boz. Each sketch typically had two black-and-white images, plus an illustration on the wrapper. The drawings, done as wood engravings or metal etchings, helped readers picture the characters and scenes. Dickens worked with several illustrators, including Cruikshank, Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz), and John Leech, and he cared a lot about how the pictures matched his ideas.
The first edition appeared in two parts, published by John Macrone in February 1836 and August 1836—shortly before The Pickwick Papers began. After Dickens became famous, he bought the rights to the material. Most of the 56 sketches in the 1839 book were first published in popular newspapers and magazines between 1833 and 1836, such as The Morning Chronicle, The Evening Chronicle, The Monthly Magazine, The Carlton Chronicle, and Bell’s Life in London.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 14:18 (CET).