Dickens in America in the 1850s. Miriam thinks Dickens would have been pleased to see the rebuilt monument. Ron Dale tells Miriam that Upper Canadians make it very clear that they distinguish themselves from Americans. Miriam travels to Toronto where she meets Dickens collector Dan Calinescu of "Boz and Friends Rare Books". His collection of over 5,000 items includes two original letters written by Dickens, a drawing of Nicholas Nickleby drawn by Catherine Dickens that looks a lot like her husband, first editions and playbills, including one from "The Frozen Deep" at Tavistock House. Miriam admits she is envious. In Montreal, Miriam tours
Elizabeth Dickens his back, and by selling pages from his son's early manuscripts. Concerned about his father's financial problems, in 1839 Charles Dickens rented a cottage for his parents far from London, and, as he thought, far from temptation, at Alphington in Devon. However, John Dickens merely continued to write to Charles' friends and publishers asking for money. Charles received an "unsatisfactory epistle from Mother" and both parents wrote him "hateful, sneering letters", feeling that he had exiled them. "I do swear," Charles complained, "I am sick at heart with both her and father too." In 1842 John and Elizabeth Dickens returned