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, Broadstairs, to Angela Burdett-Coutts, 1848 August 3 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
420698
Accession number
MA 1352.113
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
Broadstairs, England, 1848 August 3.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.0 x 11.1 cm + envelope
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 "Broadstairs / Thursday, Third August 1848."
Envelope with seal, postage stamp, postmarks and Dickens' signature to "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street / Piccadilly / London." Dickens has writtten "Enquiry about Spirits" above the address.
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
Discussing his recommendation for disciplinary action to be taken against certain residents of Urania Cottage who appear to have gotten alcohol from some workmen; saying "I would take this time for making an example, and whoever had been active in that business, I would certainly discharge. I am quite clear that it is of no use taking any middle course, and that this is the proper kind of occasion for being sternly just with them."