| The Ladies' Battle | Translation. |
| The Village Tale | Three-act drama. |
| The Lost Husband | Four-act drama. |
| Masks and Faces[1] | Two-act comedy. |
| Gold | Drama, five acts. |
| Two Loves and a Life[1] | Drama, four acts. |
| The King's Rival[1] | Comedy, five acts. |
| The First Printer[1] | Drama, three acts. |
| The Courier of Lyons | Drama, three acts. |
| Honour before Titles | Drama, three acts. |
| It is Never too Late to Mend | Drama, five acts. |
| Griffith Gaunt | Drama, five acts. |
| Foul Play | Drama, five acts. |
| Dora | Pastoral drama, three acts. |
| The Double Marriage | Drama, five acts. |
| Put Yourself in his Place | Drama, five acts. |
| The Robust Invalid | Comedy, three acts. |
| Shilly Shally[2] | Comedy, three acts. |
This list shows that Charles Reade is the author, or joint-author—in four plays and one novel—of nineteen different stories, ranging in length from one-third of a volume to four volumes: and of eighteen dramatic works.
Now it certainly argues some want of real knowledge or study in the critics of the day, that they cannot assign his place, whatever that may be, to this writer. They can place inferior authors, but they really and honestly have no notion where this man stands, either as a novelist, or dramatist, or both. Perhaps it may tend to clear this absolute fog enveloping the judgment of the critics, if we descend from the indefinite to the definite, and compare him with a writer of acknowledged excellence. We are so fortunate as to possess in this country a novelist who, if contemporary criticism were to be trusted, is the greatest writer of fiction the world ever saw. With regard to Shakspeare, contemporary criticism has left but two remarks in print, both of them unfavourable. Corneille was so often lashed, and so little praised, that he has left a line behind him to celebrate the fact:
'J'ai peu des voix pour moi, mais je les ai sans brigue.'
