BIB_ID
421088
Accession number
MA 1352.236
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
Broadstairs, England, 1851 August 17.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.0 x 11.0 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 on mourning stationery from "Broadstairs, Kent. / Seventeenth August, 1851."
Mourning envelope with postmarks and Dickens' signature to "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street / Piccadilly / London."
Written on mourning stationery from "Broadstairs, Kent. / Seventeenth August, 1851."
Mourning envelope with postmarks and Dickens' signature to "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street / Piccadilly / London."
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 on a letter from a former inmate, Rachel Bradley; saying "I don't see anything to distrust much [...] How she got the 'ladies' old clothes' is inscrutable to us, but the state of society is strange and unsettled where she is, and there may be ways and means of proceeding there, that look unlikely to old-world eyes;" reporting that he had contacted the "Registrar of Merchant Seamen." who replied to his letter and said that he can supply "'...exactly the sort of information you want. Whenever you will let me know where you wish to send - when - and how many - I will ascertain at any time which is the best ship, and who is the best Captain, and all other particulars.' I really hope this will relieve you of one of the most troublesome and anxious of the details. He is (as you may suppose from his office ) a thoroughly practical man, well acquainted with the whole mercantile service;" writing "I begin to be pondering afar off, a new book. Violent restlessness, and vague ideas of going I don't know where, I don't know why, are the present symptoms of the disorder;" commenting, in a humorous way, on Lord and Lady Granville and their reception by the French.
Catalog link
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