On Travel

If the readers of this volume will be so kind as to take their credentials for the different places which are the subject of its author' s reminiscences, from the Author himself, perhaps they may visit them, in fancy, the more agreeably, and with a better understanding of what they are to expect. So Dickens introduced his reader to his writings on Italy. As a popular author, Dickens sought to acquaint his readers with extraordinary and alien topics, be they of human interaction or foreign climes. His travels took him to Italy, America, France, Switzerland, and extensively within the United Kingdom. As a writer who strongly believed in tangible locations and thorough knowledge of fictional surroundings, Dickens' s thoughts on travel provide an insight into the landscape of his novels.