BIB_ID
421084
Accession number
MA 1352.515
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1858 December 13.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.1 x 11.4 cm
Notes
Written on stationery with engraved letterhead: "Tavistock House, / Tavistock Square, London. W. C."
The letter from the Bishop referred to here may be Robert Bickersteth's letter to Miss Coutts dated December 6, 1858 and cataloged as MA 1352.633.
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.
The letter from the Bishop referred to here may be Robert Bickersteth's letter to Miss Coutts dated December 6, 1858 and cataloged as MA 1352.633.
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
Mentioning papers being sent to her and to Hannah Brown from Manchester (possibly copies of the Guardian with his recent speech in it); saying that he believes Antonina Matthews's case to be hopeless: "I have had another letter from her this morning, which I have put in the fire. Her former letter, and the Bishop's [Robert Bickersteth, Bishop of Ripon], I enclose;" reporting that Arthur Smith is in France and has fallen dangerously ill: "The Work of our tour was a little too hard for him, I fear. I thank God that I have been, and am, wonderfully well, and that I have never felt the fatigue ; though it came upon me under no commonly harassing circumstances, when I would sometimes as soon have laid myself down and given up all, as I would have gone into a bright crowd and read;" saying that London has been very dark: "It is like living in a large dirty slate;" mentioning that the people of Coventry have given him a watch; sending his love to Mrs. Brown.
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