Dickens: Dark London, Museum of London

Museum of London has launched an interactive graphic novel to coincide with its Dickens and London exhibition. Accompany Dickens on his night time walks and experience the darker side of Dickensian London in this app, based on Dickens’ short stories. Dickens: Dark London is illustrated by David Foldvari and voiced by actor Mark Strong. New editions will be released monthly. Dickens: Dark London, iPhone and iPad only, first edition free, subsequent editions, £1.49

Treasures by The British Library

Get your fingers on a handwritten draft of Nicholas Nickleby with The British Library’s Treasures app. This fascinating manuscript from the library’s collection is now available to view in a digital format on your phone, and shows the corrections and alterations Dickens made to the story. Among the other, erm, treasures on the app are sketches by Leonardo da Vinci, a first edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and audio excerpts from the library’s expert curators. iPhone and Android editions (£2.39), HD iPad edition (£3.49)

Dickens Map on Spottd

Find and visit highlights of Dickensian London on location-based sharing app Spottd. The Dickens map pinpoints famous locations from his novels, as well as some of Dickens’ own favourite haunts, including his family home in Camden; The Prospect of Whitby pub; and The Old Curiosity Shop on Portsmouth Street (often cited as the inspiration for the novel of the same name). Spottd, iPhone only, free

What do you think of these apps and are there any we’ve missed? Let us know in the comments below?

7 February 2012 marks 200 years since Dickens’ birth and institutions and organisations all over the world are staging a variety of cultural events to celebrate.

The programme, called Dickens 2012, is being co-ordinated by the Charles Dickens Museum and Film London and patrons include Sir Derek Jacobi, Peter Ackroyd and Claire Tomalin.

In London – the city that Dickens more than anyone else helped to document and mythologise – venues include the British Library, BFI Southbank and of course the Charles Dickens Museum. The main highlights are:

• Dickens and London at the Museum of London
  See original Dickens’ manuscripts and discover what London was like in Victorian times. Until 10 Jun
• Dickens on Screen at the BFI Southbank
  The largest ever retrospective of film and TV works based on or inspired by Charles Dickens. Until 28 Feb
• A Hankering after Ghosts: Charles Dickens and the Supernatural at The British Library
  Discover Dickens’ fascination with the supernatural and how it features in his writing. Until 4 March
• Charles Dickens: Life and Legacy at the National Portrait Gallery
  A unique collection of prints, drawings, and photographs illustrating Dickens’ life and circle. Until 22 April

Other Dickens 2012 events are at the V&A Museum of Childhood, the V&A itself and there’s even a Dickens book club at Foyles bookshop. (My 2012 resolution is to finally finish Little Dorrit).

For more information on Dickens 2012 visit www.dickens2012.org. And use the comments below to let us know if you’ve enjoyed any of the bicentenary events, or even your favourite Dickensian London spot.