The Literary Dog (Collar)

At Dog Art Today, I saw this image of a collar once worn by a dog belonging to the nineteenth-century novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870). Blogger Moira McLaughlin reports that, at a recent auction, the collar went for nearly $12,000. Wow! It is made of leather and brass and is apparently free of all the disgusting organic matter I find encrusted in my own dogs' collars. Apparently, Dickens was fond of dogs and had many, but most of their names do not survive. (Read Moira's entry for an excerpt of a contemporary report of Dickens' return from a trip to America and the greeting offered by his dogs, including a St. Bernard named Linda.) Dickens was the master of memorable character names with good "mouth feel," including, Ebenezer Scrooge, Misses Mowcher and Havisham, Magwitch, Pumblechook, Mr. Guppy, Lady Dedlock, Edmund Sparkler, Pip, and the Artful Dodger. So we can only conclude that his dogs had more inventive names than Rex, Fido, or Rover, and—er—Linda.

Enjoy. -z