BIB_ID
157858
Accession number
MA 1352.633
Creator
Bickersteth, Robert, 1816-1884.
Display Date
Ripon, England, 1858 December 6.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 17.9 x 11.1 cm
Notes
Written from "The Palace, Ripon."
On stationery with blind engraved letterhead.
This letter is referred to (and may have been enclosed in) a letter that Dickens wrote to Miss Coutts dated December 13, 1858, which has been cataloged as MA 1352.515.
The letter is part of a collection, MA 1352, which consists of letters from Charles Dickens to the Baroness, to her companion Hannah (Meredith) Brown, or the latter's husband, William Brown; with 70 letters written by others to Miss Coutts or to Dickens in his capacity as her unofficial almoner; and a few others. See the collection-level record for more information.
On stationery with blind engraved letterhead.
This letter is referred to (and may have been enclosed in) a letter that Dickens wrote to Miss Coutts dated December 13, 1858, which has been cataloged as MA 1352.515.
The letter is part of a collection, MA 1352, which consists of letters from Charles Dickens to the Baroness, to her companion Hannah (Meredith) Brown, or the latter's husband, William Brown; with 70 letters written by others to Miss Coutts or to Dickens in his capacity as her unofficial almoner; and a few others. See the collection-level record for more information.
Provenance
The letters formed part of the Burdett-Coutts sale (Sotheby, 17 May 1922); they were purchased for Oliver W. Barrett in whose collection they remained until it was sold by his son (Parke-Bernet, 31 October 1951).
Summary
Writing that he believes the case of Antonina Matthews to be one of much distress, but it is difficult to know how best to deal with it: "I have no doubt of their extreme poverty ; but this is no more than many other Clergymen in this diocese are enduring with much patience & even cheerfully;" telling her that he has had to answer many inquiries from people all over the country to whom Mrs. Matthews has applied for help; saying that he has helped her a bit, "but I am not aware that she has hitherto obtained help from any of our diocesan Societies - Your generosity to her has been far beyond what our Societies could afford to any one case;" adding that he does not feel he can recommend her case strongly when he knows "how much you have done for her already ; - how freely she asks for help in every direction - and how many others [illegible] are in similar distress and bearing it with so much Christian resignation;" sending greetings from his wife and himself.
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