Krook and Spontaneous Combustion

From Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Krook, the illiterate 'Lord Chancellor' of a rag-and-bottle shop, dies of spontaneous human combustion—a notoriously controversial scene Dickens defended in his preface.
Chapter 32 (The Appointed Time)

Krook's death by spontaneous combustion: 'The Lord Chancellor of that Court... has died the death of all Lord Chancellors in all Courts, and of all authorities in all places... Spontaneous Combustion.' The scene drew attacks from G. H. Lewes, prompting Dickens's defense in the Preface.

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