Editing Charles Dickens (section)

===Farewell readings===
[[File:Dickensposter nottingham1869.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Poster promoting a reading by Dickens in [[Nottingham]] dated 4 February 1869, two months before he had a mild stroke]]

In 1868–69, Dickens gave a series of "farewell readings" in England, Scotland and Ireland, beginning on 6 October. He managed, of a contracted 100 readings, to give 75 in the provinces, with a further 12 in London.<ref name="Hobsbaum1998"/> As he pressed on he was affected by giddiness and fits of paralysis. He had a stroke on 18 April 1869 in Chester.<ref name=Tomalin2011p377>{{harvnb|Tomalin|2011|p=377}}</ref> He collapsed on 22 April 1869, at [[Preston, Lancashire]]; on doctor's advice, the tour was cancelled.<ref>{{harvnb|Ackroyd|1990|pp=1043–1044}}.</ref> After further provincial readings were cancelled, he began work on his final novel, ''[[The Mystery of Edwin Drood]]''. Described as a "dark and gothic" tale, his unfinished novel focuses on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a drug-addicted choirmaster.<ref>{{cite news |title=Edwin Drood: Charles Dickens's last mystery finally solved? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-leeds-16483950 |access-date=25 November 2024 |publisher=BBC}}</ref> It was fashionable in the 1860s to 'do the slums' and, in company, Dickens visited [[opium den]]s in [[Shadwell]] in the East End of London, where he witnessed an elderly addict called "[[Lascar|Laskar]] Sal", who formed the model for "Opium Sal" in ''Edwin Drood''.<ref>{{harvnb|Foxcroft|2007|p=53}}.</ref>

After Dickens regained enough strength, he arranged, with medical approval, for a final series of readings to partly make up to his sponsors what they had lost due to his illness. There were 12 performances, on 11 January to 15 March 1870; the last at 8:00pm at [[St. James's Hall]], London. Though in grave health by then, he read ''A Christmas Carol'' and ''The Trial from Pickwick''. On 2 May, he made his last public appearance at a [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]] banquet in the presence of the [[Edward VII of the United Kingdom|Prince]] and [[Alexandra of Denmark|Princess of Wales]], paying a special tribute on the death of his friend, illustrator Daniel Maclise.<ref>{{harvnb|Ackroyd|1990|pp=1069–1070}}.</ref>