Happy 200th Birthday Charles Dickens

Today, Tuesday 7^th February 2012, is the 200^th birthday of Charles Dickens.

The event will be celebrated with a day long read-a-thon, with 24 countries across the globe reading 24 classic Dickens texts. Here in the UK we're celebrating with a street party in the author's birthplace, Portsmouth, and a wreath laying ceremony at Poets' Corner in Westminster Abbey where he is buried. Bicentenary celebrations will continue throughout the year.

In a poll taken to mark the occasion, Ebenezer Scrooge from A Christmas Carol was voted the most popular Dickens character. Contrary to popular belief, this well-loved classic is not the only Christmas novel he wrote; in fact, Dickens maintained a tradition of writing a novel every Christmas for over quarter of a century.

THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH - A FAIRY TALE OF HOME is one of the most magical of these Christmas tales. Genesis has reproduced the original manuscript of this 1845 novella, allowing readers to see Dickens' writing process first-hand. Nine of the engravings from the first printed edition are also included in this volume, which is signed by his great-granddaughter and hand-bound in true Dickensian style.

To read more about this limited edition, click here.