BIB_ID
420681
Accession number
MA 1352.110
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1848 January 20.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (1 page) ; 18.0 x 11.4 cm + envelope
Notes
Envelope with seal, postmark and Dickens' signature to "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 "Devonshire Terrace / Thursday Night." The date of writing is from the published letter cited below which explains that the postmark indicates the 21st and the year 1848 but the month is illegible. The letter is dated Thursday Night "...presumably written on the 20th. In 1848, 20 Jan, Apr and July were Thursdays. Not 20 July since CD in Glasgow then; 20 Apr unlikely, since CD wrote to Miss Coutts the following Sat evening; 20 Jan most probable."
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 / Thursday Night." The date of writing is from the published letter cited below which explains that the postmark indicates the 21st and the year 1848 but the month is illegible. The letter is dated Thursday Night "...presumably written on the 20th. In 1848, 20 Jan, Apr and July were Thursdays. Not 20 July since CD in Glasgow then; 20 Apr unlikely, since CD wrote to Miss Coutts the following Sat evening; 20 Jan most probable."
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 "I grieve to say, I am engaged on Saturday. My anxiety to know that secret reason of Sarah's is so intense that I will call on Monday between one and two, on the chance of finding you at home, and becoming a party to her mystery."
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