1841 Barnaby Rudge Charles Dickens 1st ed.

Barnaby Rudge was Dickens fifth novel and was published in 1841.

The plot is extremely intricate. Barnaby is a poor half-witted lad, living in London toward the close of the eighteenth century, with his mother and his raven Grip.

His father had been the steward of a country gentleman named Haredale, who was found murdered in his bed, while both his steward and his gardener had disappeared.

The body of the steward, recognizable only by the clothes, is presently found in a pond. Barnaby is born the day after the double murder.

Affectionate and usually docile, credulous and full of fantastic imaginings, a simpleton but faithful, he grows up to be liked and trusted.

Dickens fifth novel was his first historical novel, his second and last being A Tale of Two Cities.

Dickens was inspired by the historical novels popularized by Sir Walter Scott (The Waverley Novels, Ivanhoe) and Barnaby Rudge was to be his first serious work of literature.

Barnaby Rudge, a local idiot, wanders in and out of the story with his pet raven, Grip. Barnaby's mother, widow of the murdered steward at the Warren, begins to receive visits from a shadowy highwayman whom she feels compelled to protect.

She later gives up the annuity she had been receiving from Geoffrey Haredale and, without explanation, takes Barnaby and leaves the City hoping to escape the unwanted visitor.

A must read for any Dickens fan.