<ul> <li>This edition includes the following editor&#39;s introduction:<i> </i><i>The parallel lives of two of the great masters of British literature: Dickens and Thackeray</i></li></ul><br />Originally published in 1839 under the pen name of Ikey Solomons, Esq., Jr., &ldquo;Catherine: A Story&rdquo; was William Makepeace Thackeray&#39;s first full-length work of fiction.<br /><br />Catherine&#39;s character was based on the real life criminal, Catherine Hayes, who was burned at the stake for committing petty treason by killing her husband in London in 1726.