Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-06-29
"BoZ" AND HIS NAMES.
Thirty Nine Years Have Passed Since
Dickens Died.

Thirty Nine Years Have Passed Since
| Dickens Died.
| Thirty-nine years have passed since
on the evening of June 9, 1870, the
great master of smiles and tears fell
on sleep" at Gadshill, and every year
the laurels that surround the name Of
Dickens grow greener with the i'm
mortality Of imperishable fame. The
name of Charles Dickens is familiar
to all the world, but probably the
number of those who are acquainted
with the name in full Is somewhat
limited. There is a we'll known Lon
don firm Of booksellers which persist
emily prints the novelist's name In
full in connection with every item by
or relating to him which appears IN
its monthly catalogues, and this little
bit of pedantry must have considera-
bly, enlarged the circle Of those who
are aware that Dickens was christen-
ed not Charles alone, but Charles John
Huffman.
One wonders how often he used
those second and third names in the
course Of his life. His usual sigma
ture, with its elaborate flourish, which
the cover and half title Of the Charles
Dickens" edition Of the works made
familiar to many thousands Of read
ers, knows them not In letter writing
he occasionally invented various playful
signatures for himself, according to
the personality >of his correspondent
or the subject of his letter. To Charles
Knight on one occasion he was &c. T.
r. James"-a signature quite In keep
ing with the text Of the epistle; to
Miss Mary Boyle he was "Joe;" to
other correspondents, according to the
humor of the moment, he might be the
"Gaslight Boy" or The Unwaistcoat-
ed One" or 1.-The Prescribed One," or
"The Misconceived One" One letter
| to Clarksun Stanfield he even signed
"Dick;" but Huffman" never appears
in his familiar correspondence; and
his biographer points out the curious
circumstances that on the few formal
occasions when he wrote his Christian
names in full he dropped the second
"h" and wrote Huffam." The epony-
nous Huffman, it may be noted, was
Dickens's godfather, a rigger and
mast, oar and block maker, who lived
at Dimehouse in a substantial, hand
| some sort Of way and was kind to his
godchild." The youngster greatly en-
joyed his visits to his good natured
godfather, who by the bestowal Of his
name at the font on the infant Charles,
has gained a sort of twilight immor-
tality. The second name John" was
of course the name of Dickens's father.
BOZ" Is one of those pseudonyms Of
literature which have become for q
while at least as famous as the real
names Of the wearers. Dickens, when
his pen first delighted the world, was
familiar to every one as Boz" but
the name would probably have become
as little known by this time as Sir
| Walter Scotts Malachi MalaSrow-
ther" or Peter Pattieson" had 1t not
been enshrined in the title Of his early
book, Sketches by Boz" The origin
of Boz is known to most readers in
terested in Dickens. A younger broth
er of the novelist was known In the
family circle as Moses, In tacetious
allusion to one of the characters In the
Vicar of Wakefield" and this being
pronounced In fun through the nose
became Bosses and so Boz, which Dick
ems adopted as his early pen name.
"Boz," he once wrote, was a very ia
miliar household word to me long be-
fore 1 was an author, and so l came
to adopt it." sr
| Before the real name Of Boz became
we'll known somebody invented and
circulated the following smart cpl
gram:
| Who the Dickens BOZ" could be
| Puzzled many a curious elf,
Till time unveiled the mystery,
| And Boz" appeared as Dickens's
self.
Hood wrote punningly but ungram-
matically:
Aren't that ere Boz a tiptop fell
| Ter?
| Lots write well, but he writes We'll
| ler.
| One or two Of the early letters to In
innate friends are signed "Boz," but
after the publication Of "Pickwick"
had made the name of Dickens famil-
lar from one end of the kingdom to
the other "Booz" was only occasional
ly used, although it should be remem-
bered that the "Posthumous Papers Of
the Pickwick Club" were originally Is
sued as Edited by Boz" and at that
date, as G. w. M. Reynolds, the un-
blushing author of various limitations
of Dickens, remarked: 1.-The great
popularity Of the name Of Boz would
procure a sale for a new edition OF
Jack the Giant Killer" The novel;
ist, however, occasionally so spoke Of
himself later. In q letter to his Amer
lean friend Prof FELTON,, dated Sep
tember, 1S43, describing himself and
his life and surroundings at Broad
stairs, he says: "In a bay window in
one pair sits from 9 o'clock to 1 a
gentleman with rather long hair and
no neckcloth, who writes and grins as
if he thought he were very funny in
deed. His name is Boz"
| Dickens was always partial to nick
names. He had nicknames for HIM
self, for his friends, and for his chill
dren, the last often varying with the
humor of the moment. The child who
was the "chickenstalker" (for some
occult reason) at one time bore some
other equally absurd name at another
period. The sailor son, who died at
sea in 1872, was "Hoshen Peck" re-
markable corruption Of ocean Scep-
tre," as a small child and the "Ad-
miral" when later he blossomed out In
the glory of a naval cadetship-"all
eyes and gold buttons" and so with
the others. Considering the variety
of nicknames Dickens bestowed upon
his children, upon his friends and upon