Bardell v. Pickwick

Bardell vs. Pickwick is a farcical sketch in one act by Charles Dickens (1812-1870)[] and John Hollingshead (1827-1904).

The original text

Based on "Bardell v. Pickwick: The Trial for Breach of Promise of Marriage Held at the Guildhall Sittings, on April 1, 1828, Before Mr. Justice Stareleigh and a Special Jury of the City of London", a popular episode from Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers (published 1836-1837), one often been dramatized or read aloud as a parlor entertainment over the years.

Dickens's own prose extract, used in his popular Readings, was published as Doctor Marigold and Bardell and Pickwick by Charles Dickens, as condensed by himself, for his readings in Boston by Ticknor and Fields, 1868.

Translations and adaptations

The scene was dramatized as a farcical sketch in one act called Bardell vs. Pickwick by Charles Dickens and arranged for the stage by John Hollingshead (1827-1904). First performed at the Gaiety Theatre, London, January 24, 1871. Published as The Acting Drama No 152 by O.A. Roorbach, New York,

Performance history in South Africa

Sources

The Lawbook Exchange. Advert for a 2010 reprint of Bardell v. Pickwick: The Trial for Breach of Promise of Marriage Held at the Guildhall Sittings, on April 1, 1828, Before Mr. Justice Stareleigh and a Special Jury of the City of London. Edited with Notes and Commentaries by Percy Fitzgerald. London: Elliot Stock, 1902[1]

https://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/100301711

Facsimile version of Dickens's own extract, used in his Readings, published 1868[2]

Facsimile version of the Roorbach edition of the Hollingshead dramatized text[3]

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1912. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp. 232, 414

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