BIB_ID
419913
Accession number
MA 1352.23
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1843 February 28.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.2 x 11.3 cm
Notes
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.
Written from "Devonshire Terrace / Twenty Eighth February 1843."
Written from "Devonshire Terrace / Twenty Eighth February 1843."
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
Concerning a Public Subscription "...for the purchase of a Testimonial to Macready, in honor of his exertions to elevate the National Drama;" explaining that due to a bank failure and the loss of part of the money that was raised, a second subscription was needed; saying "Firstly, because I know you are attached to the most rational of all amusements. And secondly, because in the horrible indifference to it which prevails among people of influence and station, any support from you, cannot fail to be at once most valuable to the cause, and most gratifying and cheering to Macready himself. Therefore, if you see no objection to aiding the object (a much higher one than the froth of the World suppose) I shall be most proud and glad to act as your Secretary or steward in the matter. Lord Lansdowne is one of the very few men in high places, who have dealt with it as they should. There be some (whose titles would startle you) who have put down their names with round sums attached, but have not put down their money; in consequence of which, I am in danger of turning misanthropical, Byronic, and devilish. I hope you liked the Much Ado - and the Comus - and that you will go to see Virginius next Monday. If you were not pleased last Friday, I shall certainly carry my misanthropical impulses into effect, and leave off my neck cloth without further notice."
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