In 1836 the 23-year-old Dickens was invited by his publishers to write `a monthly something\' illustrated by sporting plates.
Thus the Pickwick Club was born: its supposed `papers\' soon outgrew their origins and became a brilliantly comic novel, still among.
In 1836 the 23-year-old Dickens was invited by his publishers to write `a monthly something\' illustrated by sporting plates