Chapter 1 of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is here in full — 74 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter I
Chapter 1 of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is here in full — 74 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower? How can the ancient English Cathedral tower be here! The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral? How can that be here! There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Chapter 1 of The Mystery of Edwin Drood is here in full — 74 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading “THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Belonging to the very distant past and no longer in existence or deeply revered.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How can the ancient English Cathedral tower be here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How can the ancient English Cathedral tower be here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How can the ancient English Cathedral tower be here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How can the ancient English Cathedral tower be here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How can that be here!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There is no spike of rusty iron in the air, between the eye and it, from any point of the real prospect.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading THE DAWN An ancient English Cathedral Tower?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The well-known massive gray square tower of its old Cathedral?
Chapter 1 of The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens holds 74 sentences, grouped into 15 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 1 holds 74 sentences of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 1 of The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 74 sentences, grouped into 15 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 1 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5297 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #564 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #564, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 441 minutes of reading across 1060 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mystery of Edwin Drood section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 23 chapters of The Mystery of Edwin Drood to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in The Mystery of Edwin Drood, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
