Critical responses to
Martin Chuzzlewit
have varied. By examining the overlapping contexts within which Dickens wrote, this study makes original contributions to our understanding of the novel and its critical reception. The notes revise and expand the conventional wisdom regarding the sources for the American chapters, demonstrating that Dickens ddrew on a much wider field of writings about America than has been previously acknowledged. By reading the novel int he light of contemporary professional journals, Nancy Aycock Metz also exposes issues of that period which underlay Dickens's portrayal of Pecksniff, young Martin and the architectural scene. Finally the notes point to previously unidentified influences on theplot and characters, illuminating the impact on Dickens's thinking of a wide range of texts, from the Bridgewater Treatises to the Bible, from popular songs and newspaper advertisements to medical treatises and parliamentary reports.