The Old Curiosity Shop

novel by Dickens

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Article History

The Old Curiosity Shop, novel by Charles Dickens, first issued serially in 1840–41 in Dickens’s own weekly, Master Humphrey’s Clock; it was published in book form in 1841. The novel was enormously popular in its day but in a later age was scorned for its unabashed sentimentality.

The Old Curiosity Shop is the story of Little Nell Trent and the evil dwarf Quilp. When Little Nell’s grandfather gambles away his curiosity shop to his creditor Quilp, the girl and the old man flee London. Nell’s friend Kit Nubbles and a mysterious Single Gentleman (who turns out to be the wealthy brother of Nell’s grandfather) attempt to find them but are thwarted by Quilp, who drowns while fleeing the law. Little Nell dies before Kit and the Single Gentleman arrive, and her brokenhearted grandfather dies days later.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Kathleen Kuiper.