Charles Dickens’ desk to go on permanent display at museum

LONDON - Associated Press

In this Dec. 5, 2012 file photo, the study in Charles Dickens' home, part of the Charles Dickens Museum in London. AP Photo/Sang Tan, File

They were the best of lines, they were the worst of lines - and the desk where Charles Dickens wrote them has been saved for the British public.
                   
London’s Dickens Museum has received a 780,000 pound ($1.2 million) grant from a government-backed heritage fund to buy the desk at which the 19th-century novelist wrote books including "Great Expectations."
                 
The desk remained in the Dickens family until it was sold for charity in 2004.
                   
Dickens Museum director Robert Moye said Sunday that the desk and chair, which have been displayed on loan, would become permanent fixtures.
                   
Dickens used the desk during the last years of his life, when he wrote works including "A Tale of Two Cities," which opens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."