BIB_ID
420876
Accession number
MA 1352.475
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1857 February 3.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.1 x 11.2 cm + envelope
Notes
Signed with initials.
Written from "Tavistock House."
Envelope with stamps 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 stamps 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
Discussing the death of a woman at St. George's Hospital, his understanding of what had happened, misrepresentations made by the people involved, and how to proceed; saying that he will go to see Henry Phillpotts, Bishop of Exter, on Monday morning; writing of the Bishop: "Publicly, I think he has done about as much harm to real Christian brotherhood and good will, by his uniform conduct since he has been a Bishop, as any mere mortal man could well do in his life time. Privately, I can of course have no other feeling towards him than that you commend him, and that is enough;" telling her of a serious drainage problem in Shepherd's Bush that he is dealing with immediately; teasing her about the difficulty of reading her handwriting; mentioning articles in the Times on Africa and saying that he thinks any deductions made by David Livingstone should be treated with caution: "The history of all African effort, hitherto, is a history of wasted European life, squandered European money, and blighted European hope -- in which the generous English have borne a great share. That it would be a great thing to cultivate that cotton and be independent of America, no one can doubt ; but I think that happy end, with all its attendant good results, must be sought in India. There are two tremendous obstacles in Africa ; one, the climate ; the other, the people;" referring to good news about the flats for working-class families built on the former Nova Scotia Gardens; sending kind regards to Hannah Brown; adding in a postscript that rumors are going around that the Queen would like them to perform "The Frozen Deep" at Windsor: "I have heard nothing of it otherwise, but slink about, holding my breath."
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