Master Humphrey's Clock was an ambitious weekly literary magazine published by Dickens himself. Lasting only from 1840 to 1841, it spun off some major works, including The Old Curiosity Shop and this collection of stories and sketches. The narrator is Master Humphrey , not "churlish" and not a "misanthrope", who describes his daily life and his encounters with vivid characters including Mr. Pickwick. The clock is his old companion, where he stores manuscripts.