BIB_ID
420978
Accession number
MA 1352.192
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1850 March 4.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (2 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 "Devonshire Terrace / Fourth March 1850."
Written from "Devonshire Terrace / Fourth March 1850."
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
Commenting that the "Colonial letters" were discouraging and that he found Sir W. Napier's letter "...a very good and characteristic one, and has interested me very much;" commenting on Caroline Chisholm: "I dream of Mrs. Chisholm, and her housekeeping. The dirty faces of her children are my continual companions. I forgot to tell you that she asked me if it were true that the girls at Shepherd's Bush 'had Pianos'. I shall always regret that I didn't answer yes - each girl a grand, down stairs - and a cottage in her bedroom - besides a small guitar in the wash-house."
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