BIB_ID
421133
Accession number
MA 1352.247
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1852 February 19.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 17.8 x 11.0 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 "Tavistock House / Thursday Nineteenth February / 1852."
Written from "Tavistock House / Thursday Nineteenth February / 1852."
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
Saying he has an appointment at the House of Detention to see a girl recommended by the Magistrate; returning a copy of "Dens of London" and saying it was written "...with such an excruciating flatness and insipidity that it is hard labor to read it;" suggesting that he and Mr. Brown go together to inspect a piece of property and possibly including Dr. Southwood Smith; accepting an invitation to dine with her and giving the dates he is available; adding "The idea of the wooden building is an excellent one, - but I fear the Building Act, which (like most other Acts) is full of preposterous stipulations."
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