Re: A Fine Point

Charles Dickens (cdickens@RMPLC.CO.UK)
Tue, 13 Oct 1998 15:17:36 -0100 

My dear Mr Glendinning,

  My pen-name, Boz, is borrowed from my brother Augustus.  When he was a
small child, I nicknamed him Moses, after Moses Primrose in "The Vicar of
Wakefield."  He and the rest of the family liked the name but, whether
because his infant tongue was unable to negotiate the letter "m," or whether
because he was given to colds - I cannot remember - he invariably pronounced
the name "Boses."  In time this was contraced to "Boz," pronounced to rhyme
with "nose."  When, as a hopeful young writer, I borrowed the name, I
spelled it the way we had always done, "Boz."  Inevitably, readers, unaware
of the story behind the name, pronounced it to rhyme with "because."  This
was not something effectively to be opposed.  I accepted the public's
verdict, and adopted their pronunciation myself.
  Belief is sometimes the precursor of knowledge, and sometimes it isn't.
You can believe something without knowing it, and subsequently have your
believe confirmed by reliable information.  But you can also believe
something and subsequently have it overturned by reliable information.
Esther starts to say she "believes" Alan Woodcourt not to be rich, and then
corrects it to "knows," because she doesn't just believe, and it would be
dishonest to imply she does.  She has been tempted to say "believe" because
to say "know" lets a big cat out of the bag.  It indicates she has been
interested enough to check up, and that reveals more of the state of her
feelings than she is altogether happy with.  But her wish to be honest prevails.

Faithfully yours,


Charles Dickens
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>Dear Mr. Boz:
>
>First, as a complete aside, it might be interesting to hear your explanation
>of where the name "Boz" originates (and whether it rhymes with "Oz," as in
>Wizard of, or with "nose" as in...  nose), and second, I have a question which
>is laughably insignificant but curious nonetheless.  In "Bleak House" (pg. 238
>in my edition) our dear Esther is in the process of taking a rather complete
>inventory of a young doctor (seven years older than she), Alan Woodcourt.  We
>have only an inkling of where her mind is beginning to wander but she says
>something in her analysis of him that seems to have the terms reversed:
>
>"I believe -- at least I know -- that he was not rich."
>
>Does it not seem to you that belief is the precursor to knowledge?  Belief
>exhibits somewhat of a connotation of faith in something that is not yet
>known,  So why would she not then say, "I know -- at least I believe..." ?
>
>As I said, it is small potatoes... and mealy ones at that. By the way, when is
>your new book coming out?
>
>Your H. Servant,
>Charles Glendinning
>
>

======================
Charles Dickens
charles_dickens@rmplc.co.uk
Author