BIB_ID
420843
Accession number
MA 1352.467
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1856 December 4.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (2 pages) ; 18.1 x 11.3 cm + envelope
Notes
Signed with initials.
Written from "Tavistock House."
Envelope with stamp and postmarks: "Miss Burdett Coutts / Meadfoot House / Hesketh Crescent / Torquay / Devon."
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 / Meadfoot House / Hesketh Crescent / Torquay / Devon."
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
Sending her edits for the new edition of A Summary Account of Prizes for Common Things; asking a question about a point she has made; enclosing a copy of the Christmas number of Household Words and writing "I am the Captain of the Golden Mary ; Mr. [Wilkie] Collins is the Mate. We are out very early, as I want it to get all over England Ireland and Scotland, a good fortnight before Christmas Day;" sending love to Hannah Brown; describing the weather as "freezing, thawing, and snivelling;" adding "Mr. [Clarkson] Stanfield, after undergoing unspeakable perils in the passage from Hampstead, is being held on a board fixed between two tall ladders (on account of Rheumatism, held) by two Carpenters. It is exactly like a Coat of Arms."
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