BIB_ID
421276
Accession number
MA 1352.557
Creator
Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870.
Display Date
Boulogne, France, 1854 August 9.
Credit line
Purchased with the assistance of the Fellows, 1951.
Description
1 item (4 pages) ; 17.9 x 11.2 cm + envelope
Notes
Written from "Villa du Camp de droite, Boulogne."
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 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
Thanking her for her letter containing an account of Giulia Grisi's farewell performance at Covent Garden; saying that he has a hard time saying goodbye to anyone or anything and is almost glad he wasn't there: "It is not a slight thing to let a Genius go, out of any sphere ; and out of that bright one where people are never really sick and never really die, but come back tomorrow superior to all the hard conditions on which we hold life, it is a sad sensation to see any one depart into real existence;" telling her that his ear is much improved and "I relapsed into my usual beauty, yesterday;" writing of how pleased Chauncy Hare Townshend was to be received by Angela Burdett-Coutts and how much he admires her; mentioning that Townshend has "the finest collection of Ghost stories I ever heard, and his quiet way of telling them gives them a peculiar effect;" discussing the furnishing of a room and advising them not to give the upholsterer his own way in anything; sending best regards to Miss Coutts from himself and his family; mentioning an anecdote about an Irishman in a postscript.
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