 Frontispiece of second edition, 1846 | |
| Author | Charles Dickens |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Daniel Maclise John Leech Richard Doyle Clarkson Stanfield Edwin Landseer |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Novella |
| Publisher | Bradbury and Evans |
Publication date | 20 December 1845 |
| Publication place | England |
| Media type | |
| Preceded by | The Chimes |
| Followed by | The Battle of Life |
| Text | The Cricket on the Hearth at Wikisource |
The Cricket on the Hearth: A Fairy Tale of Home is a novella by Charles Dickens, published by Bradbury and Evans, and released 20 December 1845 with illustrations by Daniel Maclise, John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield and Edwin Henry Landseer.[1] Dickens began writing the book around 17 October 1845 and finished it by 1 December. Like all of Dickens's Christmas books, it was published in book form, not as a serial.[2]
Dickens described the novel as "quiet and domestic [...] innocent and pretty."[2] It is subdivided into chapters called "Chirps", similar to the "Quarters" of The Chimes or the "Staves" of A Christmas Carol. It is the third of Dickens's five Christmas books, preceded by A Christmas Carol (1843) and The Chimes (1844), and followed by The Battle of Life (1846) and The Haunted Man and the Ghost's Bargain (1848).