Dickens's Preface and the Combustion Controversy

From Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Dickens defended spontaneous combustion against G. H. Lewes's scientific objections in the preface, insisting on documented cases—one of the most famous author defenses in Victorian publishing.
Preface (1853)

'I shall not be regarded as having committed any impropriety against the truth, if I observe that I do not wilfully or negligently mislead my readers... There are about thirty cases on record.' Dickens also defends the realism of Chancery here.

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