Victorian literature Victorian literature Victorian literature is literature, mainly written in English, during the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901) (the Victorian era). It was preceded by Romanticism and followed by the Edwardian era (1901–1910). While in the preceding Romantic period, poetry had been the dominant genre, it was the novel that was most important in the Victorian period. Charles Dickens (1812–1870) dominated the first part of Victoria's reign: his first novel, "The Pickwick Papers", was published in 1836, and his last "Our Mutual Friend" between 1864–5. William Thackeray's (1811–1863) most famous work "Vanity Fair" appeared in 1848, and the three Brontë sisters,
Portsmouth theatrical troupe. In Patrick O'Brian's nautical historical Aubrey-Maturin series, Portsmouth is most often the port from which Captain Jack Aubrey's ships sail. Victorian novelist and historian Sir Walter Besant documented his childhood in the town in the 1840s in "By Celia's Arbour: A Tale of Portsmouth Town". The book is notable for its precise descriptions of the town before the defensive walls were removed. Southsea features in "The History of Mr Polly" by H. G. Wells under the fictional name of "Port Burdock", which he describes as "one of the three townships that are grouped around the Port Burdock naval