The Cricket on the Hearth

The Cricket on the Hearth
Frontispiece of second edition, 1846
AuthorCharles Dickens
IllustratorDaniel Maclise
John Leech
Richard Doyle
Clarkson Stanfield
Edwin Landseer
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovella
PublisherBradbury and Evans
Publication date
20 December 1845
Publication placeEngland
Media typePrint
Preceded byThe Chimes 
Followed byThe Battle of Life 
TextThe 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).

  1. ^ Kitton, Frederic G. (1900). The Minor Writings of Charles Dickens. London: Elliot Stock. p. 48.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference oxford was invoked but never defined (see the help page).