Charles Dickens and ‘Grip’ – a Raven Good and True

With so many excellent TV programmes, newspaper/magazine articles and new biographies about the life and art of Charles Dickens, it can sometimes be difficult to think up a new angle to study the life of Boz from.

Luckily, the British Newspaper Archive contains 100s of stories about Charles Dickens – ranging from reviews of his novels and his reading tours to his love for ‘Grip’, his talkative and clownish pet raven (and muse for the raven in ‘Barnaby Rudge’).

So as an early 200th birthday tribute to Boz, we’re celebrating his love for ‘Grip’ and the many other animals who his inspired his writing, by posting some stories about his love of animals on our Facebook page.

We see this as being the animal kingdom’s placing of a wreath of red geraniums (Boz’s favourite flower) on his grave in Poets’ Corner, Westminster Abbey.

• www.facebook.com/TheBritishNewspaperArchive