Letter from Charles Dickens, London, to William Scholefield, 1852 December 20 : autograph manuscript signed.

Thanking him for his kind note; discussing his upcoming visit to Birmingham (for a presentation and a "Banquet to Literature and Art" on January 6, 1853); saying that he needs to keep his time free during that part of the month and he will only be able to travel up to and back from Birmingham on the night of the event; sending news of their mutual friend William Charles Macready, now in retirement in Sherborne; writing that Macready's wife and eldest daughter have died, and two of his sons are very ill, with his eldest son being sent to Madeira.