BIB_ID
421179
Accession number
MA 1352.268
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1852 June 1.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 18.0 x 11.3 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 "Tavistock House / Tuesday Evening / First June 1852."
Envelope with Dickens' signature to "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street."
Written from "Tavistock House / Tuesday Evening / First June 1852."
Envelope with Dickens' signature to "Miss Burdett Coutts / Stratton Street."
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
Welcoming her home; referring to a prospective new girl for the Home, expressing his doubts about her character, and saying he believes he should see her; telling her that after her inquiry "about the Australian Newspaper, I did not find that it seemed a promising affair;" questioning a word in her letter: "The most bewildering doubts beset me concerning 'Trip' - or 'Flip' - I can't make out which it is;" saying he "...cannot get out in the middle of the day on Thursday, for I am hard at work with No. 5 and anxious to get it done. And if I let myself out of my room under such circumstances, I have lost my power over myself for the day. But I will try;" saying he could come any day the following week if he does not come on Thursday.
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