In March 1832, Dickens became a journalist. After serving on two newspapers and gaining experience as a parliamentary reporter, in 1834 he joined the staff of the prominent Morning Chronicle, where he got d the reputation for being one of the fastest and most accurate reporters in London. In addition to his metropolitan activities, his assignments took him all over England, mainly to cover political events. With this exposure to the prevailing realities of political life, in Parliament and around the nation, Dickens's apprenticeship was receiving its finishing touches.
In the meantime, drawing upon the abundance of material he'd seen in twenty-one years, Dickens had begun to compose sketches of London life. The first of these was published unsigned in the Monthly Magazine of December 1833. In August 1834, the signature "Boz" made its first appearance, and Dickens's anonymity gradually evaporated.
The energetic Dickens produced numerous sketches while continuing his newspaper career. The records of the reporter's keen observations that were preserved in the vivid pieces later found their way into a number of celebrated novels. Finally, on the author's twenty-fourth birthday, February 7, 1836, Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Everyday Life and Everyday People was published in book form. A second series came out later, and the complete edition was issued in 1839.
The following month saw an even more significant literary event: the first number of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club was offered to the public. Instead of being first serialized or released in its entirety, the work came out in individual numbers that were sold separately from March 1836 to November 1837. Only 400 copies were printed of the first installment, and the initial reception was inauspicious. But later sales rose spectacularly and printings reached 40,000.
