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, 1850 August 23 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
421029
Accession number
MA 1352.211
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
Broadstairs, England, 1850 August 23.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (3 pages) ; 19.8 x 12.7 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 on the letterhead of the Office of Household Words "Friday Twenty Third August 1850."
Envelope with seal, postmarks and Dickens' signature to "Miss Burdett Coutts / 1 Stratton Street / Piccadilly."
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 a possible candidate for Shepherd's Bush from the Ragged Schools; saying he is unable to make up his mind about "...the only girl I saw at all likely to suit us...I have thought it best to write to the Secretary (who is out of town) and gravely point out to him the immense importance of what you propose to do, and of their trying to take advantage of it in a proper manner. The teachers at those schools, though devoted to their uninviting work, are so narrow-minded and odd - and the whole thing (which might be so good) is such a scramble - that unless they exert themselves and interest themselves zealously in a case, I really think we ought not to take it, even if we could find it. They seem to have no idea of the value of such help as your taking one or two would be;" adding "I am happy to say that Mrs. Dickens is in a noble condition, and that Household Words is taking its ground vigorously;" adding, in a postscript, that there are several cases they may get from Mr. Chesterton and Mr. Tracey.