Charles Dickens "The Pickwick Papers" appeared originally in serial form between March 1836 and October 1837. It is a series of loosely related comical adventures of a cast of exaggerated personalities, the principal of which is Mr. Samuel Pickwick, a wealthy old gentleman and the founder of the Pickwick Club. With the introduction of Mr. Pickwick"s valet, Sam Weller, in chapter ten, "The Pickwick Papers" gained immense popularity and became one of the first real publishing successes of the pre-Victorian era.