The most famous fictional trial in English literature Bardell v. Pickwick is an episode that occurs in chapter 33 of The Pickwick Papers (1836-1837) by Charles Dickens 1812-1870]. Here the hero becomes the defendant in a breach of promise of marriage suit. Mr. Justice Gaselee and Serjeants Snubbin and Buzfuz are among the characters introduced here. One of the most popular episodes in this widely-loved novel, it was often dramatized or read aloud as a parlor entertainment. Those interested in law will find the text of this trial highly enjoyable, and the notes and commentaries by Percy...

Percy Fitzgerald (1834 1925) was a prolific author, critic, painter and sculptor. He was born in Ireland and attended Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, and then Trinity College Dublin. When he moved to London, he became a contributor to Charles Dickens' periodical Household Words. This two-volume work, published in 1888, gives a stirring account of the work of London's eighteenth-century law enforcers, the Bow Street Runners. Drawing on records of criminal cases, it tells how magistrates Henry Fielding and his blind half-brother Sir John Fielding helped to set up the Runners. Their actions...

Percy Fitzgerald (1834 1925) was a prolific author, critic, painter and sculptor. He was born in Ireland and attended Stonyhurst College in Lancashire, and then Trinity College Dublin. When he moved to London, he became a contributor to Charles Dickens' periodical Household Words. This two-volume work, published in 1888, gives a stirring account of the work of London's eighteenth-century law enforcers, the Bow Street Runners. Drawing on records of criminal cases, it tells how magistrates Henry Fielding and his blind half-brother Sir John Fielding helped to set up the Runners. Their actions...