Mass Moments remind us that on this day December 2, 1867, the iconic author Charles Dickens began his Second American tour here in Massachusetts – opening in Boston and reading at Tremont Temple. Not in the best of health, Dickens arrived a few weeks early and spent some time recuperating from his voyage at the famed Parker House Hotel. Staying in his room, he read and prepared his readings often rewriting some passages from his books. He always painstakingly prepared for his performances.

On this day

…in 1867, Charles Dickens began his second American reading tour at Boston’s Tremont Temple. An enthusiastic audience, which included literary stars Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson, seemed to have forgotten Dickens’s widely known unflattering views of the United States described in his book American Notes.  A 55-year-old Dickens read selections from A Christmas Carol and The Pickwick Papers. Although Dickens was in declining health, he embarked on an ambitious travel schedule. Six months later, having given more than 400 readings, Dickens returned to Boston once more before concluding his U.S. tour in New York City. He died two years later, having written 14 novels, several of which are classics of English literature.