BIB_ID
420551
Accession number
MA 1352.418
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1855 May 2.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 17.8 x 11.1 cm + envelope
Notes
Signed with initials.
Written from "Tavistock House."
Envelope with stamp and postmarks: "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street / Piccadilly."
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 "Tavistock House."
Envelope with stamp and postmarks: "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street / Piccadilly."
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
Giving her his detailed thoughts about a plot of land in Highgate and why it would be suitable to preserve as a open space; asking if she could talk to her gardener about planting a tree at the Dickens family grave in Highgate Cemetery; mentioning a prophecy he had made to Mr. Brown and saying that he thinks a meeting in Sheffield about reform of the Army is a good sign: "I begin to hope the Country is waking up. Its doing so, is the only safety for you and me and all well-disposed people."
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