BIB_ID
419923
Accession number
MA 1352.25
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1843 April 24.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (3 pages) ; 18.3 x 11.2 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 Fourth April 1843."
Written from "Devonshire Terrace / Twenty Fourth April 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 note he had written to Mr. Marjoribanks (see also MA 1352.26) and explaining why he reached out to him; expressing his concern for Miss Meredith's illness and relating his own health issues; saying "I am myself kept within doors by the doctor for a kind of rheumatism in the face, which penetrates into the depths of my ears, and makes me feel at times as if a beehive had been upset in the intricacies of my brain. But as divers small tortures are to be inflicted on me this morning, I look for a release into the open air tomorrow; and whenever I do get out, I shall walk straight to your door, and make my personal enquiries. Pray let me recommend the Dragon in the Easter Piece to your particular regards, I look upon him as the most comic animal of modern times. When he gets drunk at the Fountain, he is Sublime - the Learned Pig turns pale before him, in his dullest moments."
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