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In February
1836 Chapman and Hall invited Charles Dickens, then a young newspaper
reporter, to provide the text for a series of sporting illustrations
by Robert Seymour which they proposed to issue in shilling numbers.
Friends reminded Dickens that this was a 'low, cheap form of publication',
but he relished the immediacy of the episodic form. As the story
went on, teeming with lively characters and hilarious incidents,
author and publisher found they had an immense success on their
hands. According to one contemporary report, enthusiastic admirers
'flattened their noses against the booksellers' windows', eager
to see the latest instalment and 'frequently reading it aloud to
applauding bystanders'.
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