Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Letter from Charles Dickens, London, to Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1843 April 24 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
419925
Accession number
MA 1352.26
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 11.1 cm + envelope
Notes
Envelope with seal and Dickens' signature to "Miss Coutts / Stratton Street."
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."
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 on behalf of his brother, a Civil Engineer, who is looking for employment; outlining his experience over the preceding four years; adding "The work on which he was engaged, being completed; and the Profession being, as I dare say you know, most horribly overstocked; he has applied to me to exert any interest or influence I may possess in his behalf. And knowing the kind interest you take in any application or design of mine, I have determined to write to you to ask you if it be possible that you can assist me in this. I know him to be possessed of great energy, industry, and ability; and I am more anxious than I can tell you to procure him the means of exercising these qualities, either at home or abroad."