First published in 1911, this was the first comprehensive account of Dickens's trips to the United States in the 1840s and the 1860s. The author reconstructed many of the contemporary accounts, reprinted extracts from the reports of the time, and gathered illustrations of the places Dickens visited. From a collection of contemporary press clippings this volume seeks to explain the attitude of the American press and people towards Dickens on the occasion of his first visit to the United States, as well as to assist Dickensians to gauge for themselves the justice of his strictures on the American journalism of the period. "Mr. Wilkins has performed his task with commendable impartiality, and as a scrupulously careful narrative of the eventful journey of 1842, and especially as representing, from the American point of view, the manner in which 'Boz' at thirty came, saw, and conquered, his book is a novel and valuable addition to existing literature on Dickens." "Y Athenaeum This title is cited and recommended by the Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature.
