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
Charles Dickens Chesterton stated, "It is not the death of little Nell, but the life of little Nell, that I object to", arguing that the maudlin effect of his description of her life owed much to the gregarious nature of Dickens's grief, his "despotic" use of people's feelings to move them to tears in works like this. The question as to whether Dickens belongs to the tradition of the sentimental novel is debatable. Valerie Purton, in her recent "Dickens and the Sentimental Tradition", sees him continuing aspects of this tradition, and argues that his "sentimental scenes and characters [are] as crucial to