BIB_ID
420895
Accession number
MA 1352.172
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
Bonchurch, England, 1849 August 12.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 17.8 x 11.2 cm
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 "Bonchurch, Isle of Wight / Twelfth August 1849."
Written from "Bonchurch, Isle of Wight / Twelfth August 1849."
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
Thanking her on behalf of Charley whom he says has completely recovered; agreeing with her "about the Cape" and referring to the "Bishop's letter" and a "letter from the girls;" saying he is sorry to hear about Isabella Gordon and adding "I should have come to town on Tuesday, but for my friend David, who has a tight hold upon me at this distance, but will release it for the month (I hope) next day. Will you ask Mrs. Morson, if she be expelled, to write and tell me exactly how she goes away. I have a particular reason, as a point of experience, for asking this, and for hoping that she will observe her behaviour particularly;" reporting that he had a letter from Mr. Tracey about a prospective Inmate and he has replied that they will be glad to accept her; saying he does not remember the "exact pedigree of Mrs. Goldsmith's family" but that he will write again when he has looked at an earlier letter from her; concluding "The only point I should be particularly careful about, if I were at the Committee on Tuesday, would be to ascertain beyond all question that the case against Isabella Gordon is an undoubted matter of fact, and does not originate in any league against her."
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