"I am born."
So begins "David Copperfield," the eighth of 15 major novels from the pen of Charles Dickens, who was born near Portsmouth, England, exactly 200 years ago today. "Copperfield" was Dickens' favorite "child" (as he put it), and his alter ego in many ways, the main character being, like Dickens, a sensitive boy who triumphed over early adversity to become a successful writer. But even Dickens, at the height of his fame, could scarcely have imagined just how enduring his legacy would be.
He was a comic genius, as well as the greatest storyteller of his or any age. Beginning with the publication in serial parts of "Sketches by Boz" at the age of 24, to the uncompleted "Mystery of Edwin Drood" following his death at the age of 58, every book he published was a best-seller. When he came to Boston for a series of public readings of his works in 1842 and again in 1867, tickets were scalped in the streets for many times their stated value, and thousands were turned away. More than 100,000 attended his 76 readings during his second American tour, earning him the equivalent of $1.5 million in today's money.
He is the only novelist whose every work has never been out of print. No other writer has inspired more film and TV adaptations of his works, with more than 300 films based upon his novels having been made to date.
He was, in so many ways, "The Inimitable," as he playfully described himself to friends. It's no wonder then that the world takes note today of the literary phenomenon behind that deceptively simple statement, "I am born."
And is it ever taking note! From New Zealand to The Philippines, from to India to China, from Germany to France (and points between), exhibitions, festivals, plays, film series and lectures are underway to honor Dickens in his bicentennial year. Naturally, the celebration will be biggest in Great Britain, where the Prince and Princess of Wales, together with 200 of Dickens' descendants, gather at Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey, Dickens' burial place, to honor the great writer. Remembrances will continue throughout the year, with a variety of events scheduled almost weekly. There is reason to believe that by the end of the year, Britain will have consumed enough Dickens pie to satisfy even the most insatiable literary junkie.
Did Dickens, whose two visits to the United States began and ended in Boston and who traveled as far afield as St. Louis and Niagara Falls and Portland, Maine, ever set foot in Salem? Surprisingly, no, although his great-great-grandson, Gerald Dickens, perhaps tried to make amends by accepting the invitation of The North of Boston group to perform a weekend of readings of his ancestor's works in December of last year (he will return this December.)
Dickens does, however, evince a familiarity with this city when he writes at the conclusion of his 1860 story, "A Message From the Sea," about a merchant he met in Boston on his first visit there: "Captain Silas Jordan ... shook hands with a complete census of the population (of the village) ... and invited the whole, without exception, to come and stay several months with him at Salem, Mass., U.S.A."
Few seem to know that within days of his arrival in Boston in 1842 (when he was 30), Dickens hired a young man his own age impressively named George Washington Putnam to act as his secretary throughout his stay in the U.S.
Putnam, who was born in Gloucester but was a resident of Salem at the time, was studying portrait painting under the wing of Francis Alexander. According to his own account in the October and November numbers of The Atlantic magazine for 1870 (published three months after Dickens' death), Putnam was "volunteered" for the job by Alexander when his patron learned that Dickens needed someone to help with his voluminous correspondence and act as a sort of manservant during his months on the road. Putnam, although reluctant at first, nevertheless accepted the job and performed his duties so efficiently that Dickens doubled his wages from $10 to $20 a month within days.
"Mr. P.," as Dickens liked to call him, was known as a somewhat eccentric character in Salem who was fond of wearing a dramatic black cape and large floppy hat whenever he walked about town. In his book, "American Notes" published upon his return to England, Dickens writes of how Putnam sang and could often be heard "grunting bass notes through the keyhole" of the next room in their lodgings. Putnam was also fond of imitating the sounds of cows and pigs; and once drew a sketch of Dickens as a big-headed, pot-bellied man in a fur coat, which reduced his employer to tears of laughter.
Dickens appears to have grown quite fond of him, affectionately calling him "The Prince" because his dress reminded him of Hamlet's. He describes him as, "most modest, obliging, and willing" in one of his letters.
Following his return to England, Dickens made a point of staying in touch with his colorful friend over the years. While his former boss went on to even greater success and accomplishment, Putnam wrote songs and poetry and became a fierce abolitionist (as was Dickens), eventually moving to a town near Syracuse to help with the Underground Railroad. He married and had a daughter.
When Dickens returned to Boston in 1867 — 25 years after his first visit — he was 56, yet looked and felt like a man in his 80s after a lifetime of prodigious productivity and overwork. Putnam returned with his wife and daughter to Boston to see his old friend after so many years; and Dickens writes of their reunion in one of his letters: "Grey, and with several front teeth out, but I would have known him anywhere. It was quite affecting ... his delight in meeting his old master again, and when I told him that I had grandchildren, he laughed and cried together."
Dickens gave him tickets for his family to attend one of his readings, and that's the last Putnam saw of the great author, who died of a paralytic stroke less than two years later at the age of 58.
Putnam, meanwhile, lived another 28 years to the ripe age of 84, but kept in his heart the memory of his inimitable friend; just as we who celebrate his birthday today — and who love his humor and tender compassion — will keep it forever in our own hearts.
• • •
Michael Blatty, who lives in Salem and has written previously for the opinion pages, took his degree in English Literature from Georgetown University.
He likes to think he might have been George Washington Putnam in an earlier life.
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