The first of the Christmas books--the _Christmas Carol_--appeared in
1843, and in the following year D. went to Italy, where at Genoa he wrote
_The Chimes_, followed by _The Cricket on the Hearth_, _The Battle of
Life_, and _The Haunted Man_. In January, 1846, he was appointed first
ed. of _The Daily News_, but resigned in a few weeks. The same year he
went to Switzerland, and while there wrote _Dombey and Son_, which was
_pub._ in 1848, and was immediately followed by his masterpiece, _David
Copperfield_ (1849-50). Shortly before this he had become manager of a
theatrical company, which performed in the provinces, and he had in 1849
started his magazine, _Household Words_. _Bleak House_ appeared in
1852-53, _Hard Times_ in 1854, and _Little Dorrit_ 1856-57. In 1856 he
bought Gadshill Place, which, in 1860, became his permanent home. In 1858
he began his public readings from his works, which, while eminently
successful from a financial point of view, from the nervous strain which
they entailed, gradually broke down his constitution, and hastened his
death. In the same year he separated from his wife, and consequent upon
the controversy which arose thereupon he brought _Household Words_ to an
end, and started _All the Year Round_, in which appeared _A Tale of Two
Cities_ (1859), and _Great Expectations_ (1860-61).
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