Description
Book Synopsis‘Dickens’s Favourite Blacking Factory’ is the extraordinary story of Charles Day, a self-made nineteenth-century boot-blacking entrepreneur, the dispute over whose Will led Charles Dickens to create the apparently endless case of ‘Jarndyce and Jarndyce’ in his novel ‘Bleak House’. In this remarkable and highly imaginative telling of a true story, after a decades-long search for information on his ancestor, the author makes a fluke discovery, revealing a sweeping story of Regency and early-Victorian London. An actual 170,000-word document uncovered in the National Archives exposes the tragic last two months of the life of Charles Day. This includes his deteriorating mental faculties resulting from tertiary syphilis, his remarkable philanthropy, blackmail by a dodgy solicitor, the inertia of the contemporary legal system and the shame of illegitimacy, particularly in the wealthy classes. Perhaps the plot of Dickens’s ‘Bleak House’ even reflects aspects of Charles Day’s own life?
Table of ContentsIllustrations 11 Family Trees 13 Maps 17 Preface 23 I. Prologue 29 II. Life 39 1. Small beginnings to big success 40 2. Introductions in Regency times 55 3. Competition and intellectual property 71 4. Edgware and the Peake sisters 84 5. The Peakes of Stafford, a likeness and lavish living 95 6. Births, deaths and almshouses 111 7. The troublesome daughter and making provisions 132 8. Towards the end 147 III. Death 167 The diary of William Foote 168 Preface 169 Dramatis Personae 171 Introduction 173 The Diary 187 IV. Aftermath 285 1. The beginnings of legal proceedings 286 2. Dufaur 300 3. The Price boys and a census 306 4. The Court of Chancery 316 5. Caterham 331 6. The destination of Charles Day’s fortune 339 7. The Dickens connection 354 V. Epilogue 371 The Unmasking of John (or Charles) Price 372 Appendix One The responses of Susannah Peake in PC53 402 Appendix Two The Will and Codicils of Charles Day 414 Sources, notes and references 440 Bibliography 453 Acknowledgements 455 Table of Contents Preface 3 Chapter 1: On Optimism, Hope, and False Hope 9 Chapter 2: On People and Human Nature 19 Chapter 3: On Negotiation and Cooperation 37 Chapter 4: On Stupidity 45 Chapter 5: On Creation of Artifacts and Things 49 Chapter 6: On Futility and Exasperation 59 Chapter 7: On Acceptance 79 Chapter 8: On Being Poor 85 Chapter 9: On the Value of Discipline 91 Chapter 10: On the False Promise of First Impressions 101 Chapter 11: On Wisdom 105 Chapter 12: On Competition 113 Chapter 13: On Trying to be Something You’re Not 125 Chapter 14: On Caution, Omens, and Sympathy 131 Chapter 15: On Leaders & Leadership 137 Chapter 16: On Patience 143 Chapter 17: On Making the Best of a Bad Situation 147 Chapter 18: On Accepting Consequences 151 Chapter 19: On Burdens, Luck & Fate 157 Glossary 165 Gloss: On Optimism, Hope, and False Hope 167 Gloss: On People and Human Nature 173 Gloss: On Negotiation and Cooperation 185 Gloss: On Stupidity 191 Gloss: On Creation of Artifacts and Things 195 Gloss: On Futility and Exasperation 201 Gloss: On Acceptance 215 Gloss: On Being Poor 219 Gloss: On the Value of Discipline 223 Gloss: On the False Promise of First Impressions 229 Gloss: On Wisdom 231 Gloss: On Competition 237 Gloss: On Trying to be Something You’re not 245 Gloss: On Caution, Omens, and Sympathy 249 Gloss: On Leaders & Leadership 253 Gloss: On Patience 257 Gloss: On Making Best of a Bad Situation 261 Gloss: On Accepting Consequences 263 Gloss: On Burdens, Luck & Fate 267 About the authors 272
