Chatterton was published by Hamish Hamilton in 1987. The novel braids three timelines: the real Thomas Chatterton, the eighteenth-century teenage poet who forged an entire body of medieval poetry and died at seventeen (probably by suicide, possibly by accidental arsenic poisoning); Henry Wallis, the Victorian painter who in 1856 painted the famous deathbed portrait of Chatterton using the young George Meredith as his model; and Charles Wychwood, a modern poet who discovers a manuscript that appears to prove Chatterton faked his death and lived on to write the poems attributed to William Blake and others.
The novel’s central question — is a forgery less genuine than an “original” work? — was one that Ackroyd would return to throughout his career.
Collecting Chatterton
First edition (Hamish Hamilton, London, 1987): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- UK first edition, fine in jacket: $75–$200
- US first edition (Grove Press): $30–$75
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
The Boy Forger
Thomas Chatterton (1752–1770) was a teenage prodigy who invented a fifteenth-century monk, Thomas Rowley, and forged an entire body of medieval poetry before killing himself at seventeen. Ackroyd’s novel weaves three timelines — Chatterton’s eighteenth century, a Victorian painter’s studio, and contemporary London — around the themes of forgery, originality, and the question of whether literary fakes can contain genuine art. It is Ackroyd’s most philosophically ambitious novel.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are Ackroyd’s dual-timeline novels? Hawksmoor, Chatterton, The House of Doctor Dee, Dan Leno and the Limehouse Golem, and The Lambs of London all employ dual or multiple timelines set in different periods of London’s history. The technique reflects Ackroyd’s belief that the past persists in the present — that London’s stones retain the memory of everything that has happened upon them.