A Hankering after Ghosts: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural 29 November 2011 - 4 March 2012 (UK)

The British Library is to mark the bicentenary of Charles Dickens' birth with an exhibition, A Hankering after Ghosts: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural, in the Folio Society Gallery from 29 November 2011 to 4 March 2012. The exhibition will explore the many ways in which Dickens uses supernatural phenomena in his works, while placing them in the context of scientific, technological and philosophical debates of his time. Dickens' interest in the macabre was apparent from an early age. As an adult he was caught up in the 'mesmeric mania' that swept Britain and developed an interest in the power of the human mind. He believed that all supernatural manifestations must have rational explanations, but his investigations into animal magnetism and psychology showed him that science could be as chilling as any ghost story. As a result he became wonderfully adept at suspending readers between psychological and supernatural explanations in his fiction