BIB_ID
420052
Accession number
MA 1352.348
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
Milan, Italy, 1853 October 25.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 21.2 x 13.5 cm + envelope
Notes
Written from "Hotel de la Villa, Milan."
Envelope with postmarks: "Miss Burdett Coutts / Hôtel Bristol / Paris."
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.
Envelope with postmarks: "Miss Burdett Coutts / Hôtel Bristol / Paris."
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
Describing coming over the Simplon Pass in Italy; describing in detail their visit to Chauncy Hare Townshend in Lausanne; mentioning their hikes near Mont Blanc and his physical fitness; saying that they go to Genoa tomorrow and giving the rest of their itinerary through December; writing of Italy: "It is so strange and like a dream to me, to hear the delicate Italian once again, and to recover the knowledge of it (such as it is) which I almost thought I had lost! So beautiful too to see the delightful sky again, and all the picturesque wonders of the country. And yet I am so restless to be doing -- and always shall be, I think, so long as I have any portion in Time -- that if I were to stay more than a week in any one City here, I believe I should be half desperate to begin some new story!!!"; discussing the idea of Augustus Egg marrying Georgina Hogarth, and praising her highly; conveying Egg's impressions of the Milan cathedral and general greetings from Egg and his other traveling companion, Wilkie Collins; sending regards to the Browns and promising to write again, probably from Rome.
Catalog link
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