Dickens in the Digital Age, 18 February 2021, 13.00-18.00, online

Charles Dickens left behind a remarkably complete record of his literary output, including handwritten drafts for most of the major novels, marked-up page proofs, and working notes. In addition, the V&A holds a wealth of artworks related to Dickens: original illustrations for many of the novels, portraits and photographs of the author, and a number of artworks inspired by Dickens’s characters. The ‘Deciphering Dickens’ project aims to create an accessible, interactive digital archive in order to share the full range of these extraordinary materials with a wider audience.

Join us for this online event in which the ‘Deciphering Dickens’ team will discuss the project’s work to date, looking in detail at the V&A’s Dickens collections and revealing some of the most recent discoveries the project has made. This will be followed by discussion panels exploring exciting new approaches to the ways in which we might read, edit, and share historical materials in the digital age.

Speakers include: Emily Bell, Michaela Mahlberg, Viola Wiegand, Kathryn Sutherland, David Hewitt, Joel Brattin, Leon Litvack, Pete Orford, Philip Palmer, Claire Wood, Hugo Bowles, and John Drew.