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StoryPDFDavid CopperfieldCharles Dickens

David Copperfield

Charles Dickens

Complete text
NovelEnglish

Looking back on his life, David Copperfield follows his childhood through family upheaval, harsh treatment, friendship, schooling, and work. As he seeks a place in the world, the people who shelter, exploit, advise, and charm him become part of his developing understanding of adulthood.

66 sections356,312 wordsAbout 27 h
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About David Copperfield

The adult narrator revisits childhood emotions without fully dissolving their original force. Dickens balances memorable comic voices with scenes of labor, dependency, and mistaken attachment. The question of who shapes a life runs through the book, while David's hindsight invites readers to notice errors that his younger self cannot yet recognize.

Reading focus

Follow an expansive life story in which childhood memory, comic encounters, work, and emotional mistakes shape a developing writer.

This reading edition contains 356,312 words in 66 original sections. Read the text online with adjustable type and three colour themes, or keep a printable PDF.

Author: Charles Dickens. Language: English. Reading edition: 28 October 2026.

Opening excerpt

I do not find it easy to get sufficiently far away from this Book, in the first sensations of having finished it, to refer to it with the composure which this formal heading would seem to require. My interest in it, is so recent and strong; and my mind is so divided between pleasure and regret—pleasure in the achievement of a long design, regret in the separation from many companions—that I am in danger of wearying the reader whom I love, with personal confidences, and private emotions.

Read the complete opening section

Contents

All sections
  1. PREFACE TO 1850 EDITION2 min
  2. PREFACE TO THE CHARLES DICKENS EDITION2 min
  3. THE PERSONAL HISTORY AND EXPERIENCE OF DAVID COPPERFIELD THE YOUNGER — CHAPTER 1. I AM BORN21 min
  4. CHAPTER 2. I OBSERVE29 min
  5. CHAPTER 3. I HAVE A CHANGE29 min
  6. CHAPTER 4. I FALL INTO DISGRACE36 min
  7. CHAPTER 5. I AM SENT AWAY FROM HOME35 min
  8. CHAPTER 6. I ENLARGE MY CIRCLE OF ACQUAINTANCE14 min
  9. CHAPTER 7. MY ‘FIRST HALF’ AT SALEM HOUSE34 min
  10. CHAPTER 8. MY HOLIDAYS. ESPECIALLY ONE HAPPY AFTERNOON28 min
  11. CHAPTER 9. I HAVE A MEMORABLE BIRTHDAY23 min
  12. CHAPTER 10. I BECOME NEGLECTED, AND AM PROVIDED FOR38 min
  13. CHAPTER 11. I BEGIN LIFE ON MY OWN ACCOUNT, AND DON’T LIKE IT32 min
  14. CHAPTER 12. LIKING LIFE ON MY OWN ACCOUNT NO BETTER, I FORM A GREAT RESOLUTION18 min
  15. CHAPTER 13. THE SEQUEL OF MY RESOLUTION39 min
  16. CHAPTER 14. MY AUNT MAKES UP HER MIND ABOUT ME29 min
  17. CHAPTER 15. I MAKE ANOTHER BEGINNING19 min
  18. CHAPTER 16. I AM A NEW BOY IN MORE SENSES THAN ONE41 min
  19. CHAPTER 17. SOMEBODY TURNS UP33 min
  20. CHAPTER 18. A RETROSPECT15 min
  21. CHAPTER 19. I LOOK ABOUT ME, AND MAKE A DISCOVERY31 min
  22. CHAPTER 20. STEERFORTH’S HOME17 min
  23. CHAPTER 21. LITTLE EM’LY38 min
  24. CHAPTER 22. SOME OLD SCENES, AND SOME NEW PEOPLE42 min
  25. CHAPTER 23. I CORROBORATE Mr. DICK, AND CHOOSE A PROFESSION28 min
  26. CHAPTER 24. MY FIRST DISSIPATION16 min
  27. CHAPTER 25. GOOD AND BAD ANGELS37 min
  28. CHAPTER 26. I FALL INTO CAPTIVITY30 min
  29. CHAPTER 27. TOMMY TRADDLES18 min
  30. CHAPTER 28. Mr. MICAWBER’S GAUNTLET36 min
  31. CHAPTER 29. I VISIT STEERFORTH AT HIS HOME, AGAIN14 min
  32. CHAPTER 30. A LOSS15 min
  33. CHAPTER 31. A GREATER LOSS18 min
  34. CHAPTER 32. THE BEGINNING OF A LONG JOURNEY36 min
  35. CHAPTER 33. BLISSFUL32 min
  36. CHAPTER 34. MY AUNT ASTONISHES ME16 min
  37. CHAPTER 35. DEPRESSION39 min
  38. CHAPTER 36. ENTHUSIASM32 min
  39. CHAPTER 37. A LITTLE COLD WATER15 min
  40. CHAPTER 38. A DISSOLUTION OF PARTNERSHIP31 min
  41. CHAPTER 39. WICKFIELD AND HEEP36 min
  42. CHAPTER 40. THE WANDERER17 min
  43. CHAPTER 41. DORA’S AUNTS29 min
  44. CHAPTER 42. MISCHIEF38 min
  45. CHAPTER 43. ANOTHER RETROSPECT16 min
  46. CHAPTER 44. OUR HOUSEKEEPING29 min
  47. CHAPTER 45. MR. DICK FULFILS MY AUNT’S PREDICTIONS29 min
  48. CHAPTER 46. INTELLIGENCE25 min
  49. CHAPTER 47. MARTHA21 min
  50. CHAPTER 48. DOMESTIC22 min
  51. CHAPTER 49. I AM INVOLVED IN MYSTERY22 min
  52. CHAPTER 50. Mr. PEGGOTTY’S DREAM COMES TRUE19 min
  53. CHAPTER 51. THE BEGINNING OF A LONGER JOURNEY34 min
  54. CHAPTER 52. I ASSIST AT AN EXPLOSION43 min
  55. CHAPTER 53. ANOTHER RETROSPECT9 min
  56. CHAPTER 54. Mr. MICAWBER’S TRANSACTIONS28 min
  57. CHAPTER 55. TEMPEST23 min
  58. CHAPTER 56. THE NEW WOUND, AND THE OLD12 min
  59. CHAPTER 57. THE EMIGRANTS20 min
  60. CHAPTER 58. ABSENCE13 min
  61. CHAPTER 59. RETURN30 min
  62. CHAPTER 60. AGNES16 min
  63. CHAPTER 61. I AM SHOWN TWO INTERESTING PENITENTS22 min
  64. CHAPTER 62. A LIGHT SHINES ON MY WAY16 min
  65. CHAPTER 63. A VISITOR14 min
  66. CHAPTER 64. A LAST RETROSPECT8 min

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This edition contains the complete English literary text, with 66 sections and 356,312 words. This reading edition preserves the checked English text and its section order. No study notes have been added.

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