“It?s in vain to recall the past, unless it works some influence upon the present. David Copperfield was first published as a serial from May 1849 to November 1850, in 19 monthly instalments. Considered Charles Dickens? ?veiled autobiography?, it was published in a single volume by Bradbury & Evans on 14 November 1850. Born in Blunderstone, England, a fatherless David lives with his mother Peggotty, who marries Edward Murdstone when David turns seven. When Murdstone tries to thrash him, David bites his stepfather. Sent to a boarding school?Salem House?David?s life under the tyrannical headmaster Mr. Creakle becomes even more miserable. After his mother?s death, David travels from London to Dover in search of his great-aunt Betsey Trotwood. From boyhood to adulthood, David meets several characters?Emily, Mr. Wickfield, Agnes, Mr. Spenlow, Dora, Mr. Micawber, Mrs. Gummidge, Barkis, Uriah Heep, Steerforth, and Miss Mowcher, among others. So artfully does the novelist merge with his writerprotagonist that it is difficult to discern where Dickens ends, and Copperfield begins in this evergreen classic.”