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, London, to Hannah Meredith Brown, 1843 January 13 : autograph manuscript signed.

BIB_ID
421240
Accession number
MA 1352.545
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
London, England, 1843 January 13.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (2 pages) ; 18.2 x 11.1 cm
Notes
Addressed to "Miss Meredith." Hannah Meredith married Dr. William Brown in December 1844.
Written from "1 Devonshire Terrace."
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
Asking her to thank Miss Coutts on his behalf, "for her kindness in respect of the box;" apologizing for not being at home yesterday and missing her note; explaining "I was ploughing at a tremendous pace through the snow near Harrow, with Mr. Pinch on my right hand and the Pecksniffs on my left" (a reference to Martin Chuzzlewit); mentioning that he has sent Lady Sophia Burdett "a piece (a very small one) of Niagara, and also a tiny scrap of Virginia Marble;" sending Catherine Dickens's compliments; referring to the actor James Robertson Anderson, then playing several parts at Drury Lane.