American Toby Jug Museum 

Nicolas Nickelby candle snuffer produced by Beswick of Longton, England, circa 1983 for the Dickens House Museum. "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby" is the third novel by Charles Dickens originally published as a serial from 1838 to 1839. The character of Nickleby is a young man who must support his mother and sister after his father died and left Nicholas and his family penniless. Nicholas is honest and steadfast, but his youth and inexperience of the world can lead him to be violent, naïve, and emotional. In his preface to the novel, Dickens writes, "There is only one other point, on which I would desire to offer a remark. If Nicholas be not always found to be blameless or agreeable, he is not always intended to appear so. He is a young man of an impetuous temper and of little or no experience; and I saw no reason why such a hero should be lifted out of nature." He devotes himself primarily to his friends and family and fiercely defies those who wrong the ones he loves.