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Charles Dickens collection
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Held at: Free Library of Philadelphia: Rare Book Department [Contact Us]Philadelphia, PA, 19103
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Free Library of Philadelphia: Rare Book Department. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) was one of the most popular English novelists of the Victorian era as well as a vigorous social campaigner. He was one of eight children, born on February 7, 1812 in Portsmouth, England to John and Catherine Dickens. Dickens’s career as a writer officially began in 1832, when he joined the staff of the Mirror of Parliament, recording the proceedings of the House of Commons. Around the same time, he was made parliamentary reporter for the newspaper The True Sun, through which he was exposed to London’s political scene. In 1845, he founded and served as editor of a radical newspaper, The Daily News, and shortly thereafter he became half owner and editor of the magazine Household Words. Household Words offered social commentary on issues like public health, education and prison reform.
Beginning in 1836 with The Pickwick Papers, Dickens wrote no less than fifteen novels and countless short stories. His work was often autobiographical and, like his work as a reporter and social commentator, frequently brought attention to the current political and social conditions of the day through criticism and satire. His fiction was often serialized in popular magazines prior to publication as novels. His works of fiction were extremely popular, gaining him fame and fortune throughout Europe and the United States. Some of his more famous works included The Pickwick Papers (1836-1837); Oliver Twist (1837-1839); Nicholas Nickleby (1838-1839); A Christmas Carol (1843); David Copperfield (1849-1850); and Hard Times (1854).
Throughout his career, Dickens travelled to work or vacation in Italy, France, Switzerland and the United States. During his trip to America in 1841, Dickens and his wife, Catherine, travelled to major cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Saint Louis, Cincinnati, Niagara Falls, and many other places in between. At each stop, the Dickens were greeted with much acclaim and celebration. This American tour inspired his book, American Notes. In 1867, Dickens embarked on a series of public dramatic readings of his work, which took him throughout England, Scotland, Ireland, and back to the United States. The readings proved immensely popular and profitable, though exhausting.
Dickens married Catherine Hogarth in 1836. They had ten children together. Dickens separated from Catherine in 1858, presumably to pursue a romantic relationship with a young actress named Ellen Ternan. Charles Dickens died at his home, Gad's Hill, on June 9, 1870. He was in the process of writing his last work, The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Bibliography:
Page, Norman. A Dickens Chronology. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1988.
Priestley, J.B. Charles Dickens and His World. New York: The Viking Press, 1969.
This is a collection of correspondence, manuscript material, and other items related to Charles Dickens. The material dates from 1832-1993, with the bulk of the material dating from 1832-1870. The bulk of the correspondence consists of autograph letters by Dickens. Significant correspondents include William Harrison Ainsworth, George Cattermole, George Cruikshank, John Leech, Mark Lemon, Daniel Maclise, Clarkson Stanfield, Frank Stone, and Thomas Adolphus Trollope. There are also autograph letters from some of these correspondents and from other members of Dickens’s circle of family, friends, and associates. Manuscripts in the collection include: The Life of Our Lord; five leaves of Pickwick Papers; a corrected copy of The Cricket on the Hearth; and fragments of several other stories, plays, and poems. Ephemera and memorabilia include: various printed notices, prospectuses, letters to the editor, and printed commentaries; invitations; announcements of readings; cartes de visites; advertisements; a silk commemorative bookmark; and photographs, cabinet card photographs, and engravings of Dickens, his family, and members of his circle. The collection also contains 20th century ephemera including: postcards; stamps, including a first day of issue; newspaper articles; brochures; a set of playing cards; and a set of cocktail napkins. Additionally the collection includes playbills (several of which are framed) from a variety of London and Philadelphia theaters for plays based on Dickens’s writings ( Oliver Twist, Martin Chuzzlewit, Domby and Son, Cricket on the Hearth, A Christmas Carol); and playbills for performances in which Dickens appeared.
The letters from Charles Dickens himself have been published in the Collected Letters. The correspondence from Dickens’s circle is less readily available to scholars and is extremely useful for scholarship.
The Charles Dickens collection at the Free Library of Philadelphia consists largely of items collected by D. Jacques Benoliel and William McIntire Elkins. The collection of Dickens's autograph letters assembled by D. Jacques Benoliel, a Philadelphia industrialist, was donated to the Free Library by his family after his death in 1954. Mr. Benoliel's collecting had focused on Dickens's keen and lifelong interest in the theatre. William Elkins, a Philadelphian and a trustee of the Free Library, left his collection to the library upon his death in 1947. It contains all of the books in their original periodical parts as well as first book editions of speeches, addresses, magazines, and ephemeral pieces, original illustrations, mementos, letters, and numerous association items.
Later gifts to the collection from Mrs. Benoliel included nearly 100 playbills, more letters, and early and rare editions of Dickens's novels that were adapted for stage. The collections have been extensively augmented from an endowment set up by the Benoliel family in Mr. Benoliel's memory.
Finding aid entered into the Archivists' Toolkit by Garrett Boos.
Subject
- Publisher
- Free Library of Philadelphia: Rare Book Department
- Finding Aid Date
- 2010.11.23
- Sponsor
- The creation of the electronic guide for this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources’ “Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives” Project.
- Access Restrictions
-
This collection is open for research use.
- Use Restrictions
-
The right of access to material does not imply the right of publication. Permission for reprinting, reproduction, or extensive quotation from the rare books, manuscripts, prints, or drawings must be obtained through written application, stating the use to be made of the material. The reader bears the responsibility for any possible infringement of copyright laws in the publication of such material. A reproduction fee will be charged if the material is to be reproduced in a commercial publication.
Collection Inventory
On mourning stationery.
On the stationery of the "Office of All the Year Round."
Cf. Pilgrim ed. Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed. Mourning stationery. With seal.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
With seal.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Concerning papers in Bulwer-Lytton's possession that have to do with passage of international copyright law with America.
On the stationery of the "Office of All the Year Round."
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Error in Pilgrim ed. corrected.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
On the stationery of the "Office of All the Year Round."
Mourning stationery.
Accompanied by photocopies of letter and envelope, and photocopy of transcription.
Mourning stationery.
Cf. Nonesuch ed. Framed with engraved portrait of Dickens.
See : DCL D 555c1 9999-99 h.
Cf. Pilgrim ed. Pencil sketches by Browne on both sides of leaf on which note is written, all but one of which are for this illustration.
On the stationery of the "Office of All the Year Round," transcription laid in.
Address possibly clipped from envelope.
Tipped into Dickens's Great Expectations (London, 1861).
Two postmarks on envelope: recto, Liverpool, 10 AP 69, and verso, London S.W. AP 12 69.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
On the stationery of the "Office of All the Year Round."
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Includes diagram on p. 2.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Apparently there was a second page with a postscript.
On Gad's Hill Place stationery.
On the stationery of the "Office of All the Year Round."
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Two postmarks on envelope verso: MR 30 1851, 31 MR 1851.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Mourning stationery.
Written on the recto of the integral address leaf of a printing of Dickens's tribute to Talfourd, published in Household Words 25 March 1854; on mourning stationery; bound as a volume.
Cf. Pilgrim ed., paragraph in the Brighton guardian referred to in letter has been clipped and pasted to second leaf of letter.
"(Copy)" at head of letter; autograph note signed to Forster appended to copy; removed from album, Spring 1989.
Autograph manuscript signed of "Love Song. Air-'London now is out of Town'" on third page; letter is signed "Cupi D."
See Pilgrim ed., v.5, p. 300 for letter to Cole dated May 7, 1848.
Framed with engraved portrait of Dickens.
Attached to the front end-paper of Dickens's David Copperfield, London, 1850.
Mourning stationery.
With portrait engraving.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Autograph note signed from George Cruikshank to Dr. West dated Nov 24, 1842 at head of letter.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Two sketches on face of envelope.
Includes an autograph note signed from George Cruikshank to Thomas Greenwood, 6 lines, at the head of the letter. Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Nonesuch ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
On inside flap of envelope. On stationery of All the Year Round.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Transcription laid in
Cf. Nonesuch ed., v.1, p. 550.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed., volume 5, page 518.
Also includes an autograph letter in shorthand by Frederick Dickens to an unidentified recipient on pages 3-4, cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Nonesuch ed.
Place and date from postmark.
See 87-1698, for letter originally enclosed, from Rebecca Adcock Stanfield to Charles Dickens.
Name of recipient at foot of third page cut out. Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Written on Athenaeum stationery. Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Includes envelope, removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Address and text of letter in Catherine Dickens's hand. Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Nonesuch ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Framed with an engraved portrait of Dickens.
Letter is dated ten days before Dickens's death.
Cf. Nonesuch, ed.
Printed letterhead: "Tavistock House, Tavistock Square, London W.C.," inscribed below letterhead: "(which means, Limerick)," letter attached to larger sheet of paper, inscribed at top of inscribed sheet, presumably in Finlay's hand: "First visit to Ireland in 1858. Great Success at Cork & Limerick," signature has been cut from letter, note inscribed below mutilation, presumably in Finlay's hand: "Signature begged by an autograph-hunter."
Signature cut out.
On the stationery of Household Words.
On the stationery of "Office of Household Words."
On mourning stationery.
Articles concerning identity of recipient laid in.
On mourning stationery.
Source of date unknown.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Includes envelope and portrait engraving.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
On the stationery of "Office of Household Words."
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
On the stationery of Gad's Hill Place.
On Gad's Hill Place stationery.
Two lines, on envelope for: Autograph letter signed, to Georgy, May 12, 1870.
Place from postmark. Autograph note in Georgina Hogarth's hand on envelope. Cf. Nonesuch ed.
On approximately half of page, crossed letter, precedes: Autograph letter signed, to Mary Hogarth, July 4, 1835.
Cf. Pilgrim ed. Follows autograph letter signed, to Mary Hogarth from Catherine Hogarth Dickens (fragment).
Framed with a photograph of Dickens.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Three lines, at head of: Autograph letter signed, to R.H. Horne, July 19, 1849.
Includes envelope with seal, autograph note signed by Horne at head of letter, another autograph note in pencil, in an unidentified hand, on verso of third page.
Tipped into Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth, London, 1846.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Written on the verso of the integral leaf now separated of the program of the Committee "In Rememberance of the Late Mr. Douglas Jerrold."
Concerns about WI's ill health, looking forward to visit to America.
Written on Gad's Hill stationery. Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Includes seal.
Date from correspondence with Madeline House; see letter of 24 February 1970.
Part of an envelope, addressed by Dickens to Jones, postmarked October 31, 1860, laid in.
Includes envelope, three page letter in Dickens's hand, envelope with seal, formerly housed with four page pamphlet: "Proofs Private and Confidential".
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Written on Gad's Hill stationery, removed from album, Spring 1989.
Written on Gad's Hill stationery, removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Housed with: Autograph letter signed, to Henry Kolle, December 26, 1865.
Housed with: Autograph letter signed, to Henry Kolle, December 26, 1865).
Housed with: Autograph letter signed, to Henry Kolle, December 26, 1865).
Three autograph letters signed from Ann Kolle : to possibly C. Fendelow Febry 17th/90; to C.E. Shepheard, June 26th/90; and to C.E. Shepheard, July 12th/90, all concerning Dickens's letters to her father).
On mourning stationery.
Address and text of letter presumably in Alfred Dickens's hand. Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Date from postmark.
Salutation and closing in Dickens's hand; body of letter in hand of Catharine Dickens; cf. Pilgrim ed., another Autograph letter signed, to Leech, two pages, second October 1845, on same sheet.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Date from postmark. Cf. Pilgrim ed.
P.S. under envelope flap.
Address, date, salutation and close in Dickens' hand, with the text in Catherine's hand.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Mourning stationery.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Text includes transcription of letter to Dickens from his son Charles.
Autograph note fragment in Dickens's hand on Leech's stationery laid in.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed. removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Mourning stationery.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Nonesuch ed., removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Nonesuch ed. Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Nonesuch ed. Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Accompanies an Autograph letter signed, to Dr. Locock.
In text, Dickens refers to enclosure, a three-page letter by James Shoesmith.
Envelope is postmarked London, MR 28 61.
Dated in possibly Longhurst's hand at head.
Printed letterhead has Gad's Hill address; "5 Hyde Park Place W." is inscribed.
Signed by Dickens. Letter in the hand of John Dickens; Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Clipped signature, attached to envelope bearing identifying caption in her hand, engraved portrait of Lady Bulwer-Lytton laid in.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Second leaf comprises a two-page printed announcement.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Accompanied by French translation of the letter.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Lower right-hand portion of letter is missing.
Autograph letter signed on letterhead of All the Year Round to Lady Molesworth regretting his inability to meet with her due to prior engagements.
On Gad's Hill stationery.
Envelope postmarked AU 19 57.
End of letter and signature cut out.
Housed with an Autograph letter signed, to Mrs. Morrison
Retained copy of an autograph letter signed from Cornelia Morrison to Dickens, March 6th 1866, laid in; described separately.
Additional leaf from another letter with complimentary close and Dickens's signature.
Place from postmark. Written under flap of envelope.
Postmarked DE 8 63.
Small hole with loss of text.
Cf. Pilgrim ed., engraved portrait of Dickens attached.
Includes envelope.
Letter written in French.
In French on mourning stationery.
Includes envelope with seal, in French on mourning stationery.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Copy of letter to Mr. Morell, Secretary of the Sunday League, appended in Dickens's hand.
Postmarked DE 2 69.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. Nonesuch ed.
Cf. Dickensian volume 56, pt. 3, September 1960.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Transcription laid in.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Postmark reads Birmingham SP 21 58.
Autograph note at end of letter signed by G.A. Sala and dated Dec 13/71.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Photograph of Dickens enclosed.
Signed: Boz.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Engraved portrait of Dickens mounted on board opposite letter.
Written on Gad's Hill Place stationery.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Signed: Bobadil.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Address and text of letter in Catherine Dickens's hand. Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Signed: Sparkler.
On mourning stationery
On mourning stationery
Addressed to Frank Stone, 1852.
Autograph note signed with initials GH (i.e. Georgina Hogarth); envelope originally held a drawing done by Marcus Stone.
On a newspaper clipping, housed with an autograph envelope, signed, to Frank Stone, August 7, 1855.
Date postmarked, autograph note signed by Gladys Story to J.E. Forrest, on a newspaper clipping, laid in.
At foot of Autograph letter signed, to Frank Stone, July 10, 1857.
Autograph note in possibly Frank Stone's hand at foot of page.
Letter written under flap of envelope.
Postmark: Margate August 31, 1851.
Place and date from postmark.
Place and date from postmark.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Cf. Pilgrim ed., removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Apparently produced in multiple copies by a planographic process, envelope addressed in an unidentified hand.
On Gad's Hill Place stationery.
Housed with an Autograph letter signed, to George Thomson, November 26, 1841.
One page letter and one page manuscript of the inscription.
Autograph letter signed fragment to Edward Trimmer, with an envelope postmarked possibly December 22, 1852, laid in.
Close and signature by Dickens, but body of letter in the hand of G.W. Putnam, secretary to Dickens on his American trip; cf. Pilgrim ed., Addenda, volume 7.
Place and date from postmark.
Place and date from postmark.
Bound as a volume, with an engraved portrait of Dickens.
Includes carte-de-visite taken by John Watkins.
Expressing satisfaction with "our Atheaeum prospects".
Brother and partner of John Watkins, photographer.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Includes photographs, removed from album, Spring 1989.
Transcription in pencil of phrase from letter, in hand of recipient, removed from album, Spring 1989.
Date postmarked.
Cf. Nonesuch ed., v.2, p. 838, footnote.
On mourning stationery
Cf. Pilgrim ed. Letter has been cropped at bottom with loss of some text from front page.
On mourning stationery
Foreshadows Leigh Hunt's death.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
On mourning stationery
Cf. Nonesuch ed., v. 2, p. 245.
Recepient's name inked out in salutation.
Removed from album, Spring 1989.
Cf. signature to sample 14 in Pilgrim ed., mounted and bound into v.2 of the extra-illustrated copy of Dickens's Pickwick Papers, London, 1887, in four volumes.
Recipient's name scribbled over with ink at foot of letter.
Cf. Johnson.
Four pages in Dickens's hand, and three possibly in Mary Dickens's hand, stitched in original wrappers with title in Dickens's hand. Cf. Johnson
Housed in leather case, with key (64-0917), engraved plate on case bears the date 1849, but cf. Pilgrim ed., published as The Life of Our Lord (London, 1934). Letter from Marie Dickens to Dr. Rosenbach, concerning the manuscript, laid in
Part of Chapter 57, as published in Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, London, November 1837 - October 1839.
Autograph letter signed from Fanny Barker to Francis Fletcher Barker, Canterbury, New Zealand, 10 June 1893, concerning the manuscript, laid in, housed separately.
Leaves are numbered 76 to 80 at head, part of chapter 37, as published in Dickens's Pickwick Papers, London, 1836-1837.
Leaf is numbered 6 at head. "A small star in the east" first appeared in All the Year Round, December 19, 1868, and was published in the third edition of Dickens's The Uncommercial Traveller, London, 1875.
Leaves are numbered 3 to 8 at head. Four leaves wholly in Dickens's hand; final two leaves have three pages from Dickens's The Uncommercial Traveller (London, 1861) attached, with directions for integrating part of the text with this manuscript. Transcription laid in, housed separately.
Written on verso of letter to Dickens from John Bowring, Claremont Exeter, February 12, 1867, part of the text appeared in the anonymous article, "What is sensational?" in All the Year Round for March 2, 1867.
Three stanzas of verse, "the 2nd verse by Mary Boyle," said to be in autograph of Mary Boyle, and to have been composed by Dickens and her during a visit at Rockingham Castle, probably in January 1851.
Written on mourning stationery possibly at death of Mrs. Ainsworth, March 6, 1838.
In Egg album.
Possibly addressed to Mr. Overs; cf. Ellis, S.M. William Harrison Ainsworth and his friends, London, 1911, v.1, p.391, in Egg album.
Cf. Ellis, S.M. William Harrison Ainsworth and his friends, London, 1911, v.2, p. 92, in Egg album.
In Egg album.
In Egg album.
In Egg album.
Autograph note signed to "Amelia" from W.H. Ainsworth at foot of fourth page.
In the hand of Ainsworth, signed "W.H.A." and "F.A.," i.e. Fanny Ainsworth, autograph note signed in prose from Ainsworth at foot of second page, autograph note signed by Gladys Storey in pencil on recto of integral address leaf, identifying the recipient.
Mentions his novel Crichton, London, 1836, as nearing completion).
Inscribed on verso in Dickens' hand: "Dear Mr. Overs, Thinking you might like to see this note, I send it you. Faithfully yours, CD. Tuesday Ninth March 1841".
Original pen-and-ink sketch at foot of letter.
Original pen-and-ink sketch on verso of first leaf.
Attached to the dedication page of Charles Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit, London, 1844.
In Cattermole album.
Refers to Wainewright's presence in Europe, where he lived from 1831 to 1837; cf. DNB, signed "B.W. Procter," with seal
Signed by "Alfred Crowquill", i.e. Alfred Henry Forrester. Both he and his brother Charles Robert Forrester, who died in 1850, used this pseudonym. Tipped into the autograph album of Priscilla Horton, i.e. Reed.
The notes give a list of the sketches under the heading "Tales", as they appeared in the octavo edition of Dickens's Sketches by Boz, London, 1839.
Sketch signed in ink, pen and ink and watercolor on paper, see also 61-1263
Includes calling card., calling card of Mrs. Charles Dickens is attached to recto; two sketches, one in pencil, one in ink, on verso; unidentified holograph text on verso.
Pencil and watercolor on paper. One sketch possibly a preliminary study for "Bumble" in Oliver Twist.
In Egg album.
See: DL B815 1845-06-03.
With typed transcript.
Illegible address at head of letter.
Date from postmark, letter crossed, mourning stationery, with seal.
On mourning stationery
On mourning stationery, transcription laid in.
Inscribed in another hand on p. 1: "PM Dec 19th 1854".
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Lower half of third page missing. On mourning stationery, transcription laid in.
On mourning stationery, transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Cf. H.F. Dickens. On mourning stationery
Letter written before 1845; Mr. Wilson died before 1845; cf. Pilgrim edition of the letters of Charles Dickens, v. 4, p. 456, Mr. Wilson is mentioned in the letter, transcription laid in.
Transcription laid in.
Copy of contract, discussed in letter, laid in.
Identity of recipient is uncertain.
Postmark on envelope reads "12:15 AM, 4 No, 05." Presumably, "Friday night" was November 3, 1905.
Transcription laid in.
Typewritten letter signed from Maggs Bros. to C.S. Sessler, December 23rd, 1908, laid in.
On the stationery of 8, Mulberry Walk, S.W., with the address crossed out. Mourning stationery. Laid in with Dickens's The life of our Lord, 64-0915).
Stamped: Answered Feb 6 1888 J.B. Pond.
Dated from postmark.
Date inscribed on envelope.
Printed in red and black at head of page: "Office of All the Year Round, a weekly journal conducted by Charles Dickens. No. 26 Wellington Street, Strand, London W.C."
on mourning stationery. Dated on the basis of mourning period for husband and residency of mother-in-law.
Announces death of Henry Austin, October 8, 1861.
On mourning stationery
Mamie is Charles Dickens' daughter.
Transcription laid in.
Dated from postmark.
Entire letter in pencil, endorsed: April 27. 1852, Ct. D'Orsay.
Letter of appreciation to CD from the children of E.W. Eton, who died in 1843, leaving them orphaned.
Letter signed "Gov".
Dated from postmark, in Egg album.
In Egg album
Letter tells of Dickens's recent death.
Invitation to party welcoming Dickens on his return from America.
In Cattermole album.
In Cattermole album.
In Cattermole album.
In red cloth case: Charles Dickens Original Letter June 8th 1864. Illustrated with sketch of Dickens by Furniss.
Letter transmitting letter of A.D.T. Dickens, the author's 4th son, written right before his sudden death while on a lecture tour in the states.
Dated from postmark.
Mounted on last page is small piece of paper assumedly clipped from envelope in which letter was sent, on which is written in Georgina's hand: A.G. Solomon Esq.
Typescript of letter laid in.
Portion torn from top of first leaf, location from postmark.
Postmark reads MY 26 88.
Autograph letter signed, laid in with letter are a sheet with "Miss Dickens 21, Tavistock Street & 8, Old Jewry, E.C." and an envelope addressed to Miss Zenaide Vislaire postmarked from Philadelphia Nov 22 88.
Mourning stationery, transcription laid in.
On mourning stationery
On mourning stationery.
Illustration pen and ink on paper, date postmarked, on mourning stationery.
On stationery of 81, Gloucester Terrace, Hyde Park W.
On mourning stationery.
Volume 1, page 341 is inscribed at top of p. 1; probably refers to page of The letters of Charles Dickens, edited by Georgina Hogarth in which it is stated, "in explanation of the letters to Mr. John Saunders on the subject of the latter's play called 'Love's Martyrdom'...," written on mourning stationery.
In Egg album.
Written on Portland Club stationery.
On mourning stationery.
Dated from postmark.
Relates to the publication of Evenings of a Working Man by John A. Overs, with a preface by Charles Dickens, signed by Thos. C. Newby and John Overs.
Year from postmark, on mourning stationery.
Autograph letter signed by Georgina Hogarth.
Final page on stationery of 32, Victoria Road, Kensington, W.
No salutation, dated from postmark, on mourning stationery, envelope addressed to Storey and possibly not associated with letter. Cf. Storey, Gladys. Dickens and daughter, p. 191, 230.
Dated from postmark. Cf. Storey, Gladys. Dickens and daughter, p.191, 230, on mourning stationery, envelope addressed to Storey and possibly not associated with letter.
Date from postmark.
Date from postmark. Cf. Storey, Gladys. Dickens and daughter, p. 191, 230, note in pencil in Gladys Storey's hand, at foot of letter.
Date from postmark. Cf. Storey, Gladys. Dickens and daughter, p. 191, 203.
Date from postmark.
Date postmarked.
Salutation: Dear Mark (Kate Perugini's nickname for Mrs. Storey was Mark Tapley). Cf. Storey, Gladys. Dickens and daughter, p. 191, 230.
Autograph note signed by Gladys Storey on verso of "In Portsmouth town a boy was born, " autograph note by Kate Perugini to Gladys Storey on verso of "I know a noble Prince who lives," "A Favourite Story" is on stationery of 32, Victoria Road, Kensington, W.
Son of Edmund Yates.
Addressed to Philp with signature of Wilkie Collins at lower left and postmarked London July 23, 1874; undated clipping from the Washington Evening star eulogizing Philp; and envelope on which is written "Dickens visit to Washington-written by grandpa under his newspaper name of Semi-Occasional," all laid in.
Cf. Pilgrim ed.
Removed from 87-0276.
Copy written at top of letter; reply to Dickens's letter of the previous day - DL St71f 1851-09-19.
Paper watermarked 1857.
Note at foot: "Presented to Charles Dickens, Esqr. To be sung at the Dinner," tear at head with loss of text.
Certainly a reply to Mary Angela Dickens letter (87-1945), signed: Zennaide sic Vislaire.
Form letter in longhand which appears to have been reproduced by lithography, two copies of slip on which memorandum of price of dinner is printed are laid in.
Signed "J".
Bound notebook, inscribed "Fanny Ebers, Boulogne sur Mer, Septembre 1824," text in hand of W.H. Ainsworth, autograph letter signed contains rough sketches.
Published in Ainsworth's Jack Sheppard (London, January 1839-February 1840), mounted and bound in Egg album, with transcription.
Signed: Thos Wm Boult.
Portrait published by Mason and Co., 7, Amen Corner, London, the portrait by J. & C. Watkins, 34, Parliament Street, verso incribed: "Chas. Dickens".
Exercises in Dickens's hand and in Stone's hand, autograph note signed by Arthur P. Stone, concerning the notebooks, laid in; housed separately.
Cf. Johnson.
Written on the verso of the integral leaf of the program of the Committee "In Remembrance of the Late Mr. Douglas Jerrold".
Checks issued to the following payees: George Baker, Mr. Conchmere, Messrs. Coutts & Compy., Messrs. Miller and Sons, and Messrs. I. & G. Stewart.
Cf. Johnson.
Possibly concerns Bentley's miscellany.
Autograph note signed by T.J. Serle, identifying writer as Dickens, at foot.
Cf. Pilgrim ed., autograph note signed of Georgina Hogarth, described separately, at foot.
Attached to blank page in Dickens's No Thoroughfare, London, 1867.
Date postmarked. Cf. 87-1609. Mounted and bound into Cattermole album.
On the stationery of Gad's Hill Place, with the address crossed out. Autograph note by Mrs. Cattermole on verso. Cf. 87-1608. Mounted and bound into Cattermole album.
Probably an announcement for the press. Mourning stationery.
In album of Lemon letters.
At head of title: Charles Dickens. Clippings mounted on sheets in album.
Firm name crossed out.
In Dickens's autograph, above address, Athenaeum Club.
With corrections and deletions in Dickens's hand, as used in public readings.
With additions and corrections in Dickens's hand. Tipped into Martin Chuzzlewit (London, 1844).
With additions and corrections in Dickens's hand. Bound as a volume, with the final version as published in the Cornhill magazine, February 1864.
In the Horton album.
Cf. Nonesuch ed. The committee resolved to thank Dr. Sheridan Muspratt and Mr. Kelly. Signed: E. Bulwer Lytton, President; Charles Dickens, Vice President.
Signed by E. Bulwer Lytton and Charles Dickens, president and vice president of the Guild. Page of explanatory text laid in.
At foot of: Dickens, Charles, 1812-1872. Autograph manuscript signed circa 1848.
Signed "R.H.B." i.e. Richard Harris Barham. With seal. Transcription tipped in. Mounted and bound in the Egg album.
Signed: W.L. Coghlan. Note appended, dated Jan. 2, 1840.
Dickens's visiting card bearing autograph order laid in, Accompanied by a typed copy of Dickens's recipe for punch.
Accompanies admission card for a performance of the Guild, signed on verso by Lytton, Dickens, and twelve other members of the Guild. Illustration on card etched by T.O. Barlow, from a design by E.M. Ward.
Printed form, with some holograph text, possibly in Dickens's hand.
Signed. In the Horton album.
Dimensions note19 cm.
Prepared for Dickens's Pickwick Papers (London, 1836-1837). A sketch of a female figure on the verso is identified, in an unknown hand, as "Little Nell."
Dimensions note19 cm. x 23 cm.
17 cm.
Signed. Probably later redrawings. Thirty-nine illustrations and an autograph note signed by W.S.R. Browne, Oct 24/77, certifying that these drawings were executed by his father, Hablot Knight Browne. Mounted and bound into Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby (London, 1839, D 5 N599 1839a Dickens Ey).
Dimensions note18 cm.
Signed "Phiz". Mounted and bound into Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (London, 1844).
Dimensions note14 cm.
One sketch with watercolor. Three signed "H.K.B.". Mounted and bound in F.G. Kitton's Phiz, (London, 1882).
Dimensions note12 cm. x 18 cm.
Signed "H.K.B." The three illustrations for The Old Curiosity Shop, and four illustrations for Barnaby Rudge, first appeared in the serial publication of Master Humphrey's Clock (London, April 4 1840 - November 27 1841). Two of the illustrations for The Old Curiosity Shop are usually attributed to George Cattermole; cf. Nonesuch ed. Mounted and laid in with the set of Master Humphrey's Clock in weekly parts.
Dimensions note10 cm. x 12 cm.
Signed. These are later redrawings by Browne for the Household edition of Dickens's Pickwick Papers (London, 1874). Cf. Cohen. Mounted. Housed separately.
Dimensions note13 cm. x 18 cm.
19 cm.
Published in Dickens's Bleak House (London, March 1852 - September 1853). Housed separately.
Dimensions note18 cm.
Published in Dickens's Dombey and Son (London, October 1846 - April 1848). Number 36 is signed at the top by Dickens. Housed separately.
Dimensions note23 cm.
Signed. Prepared for Dickens's Master Humphrey's Clock (London, April 4 1840 - November 27 1841). Autograph note signed by Leonardo Cattermole, 18 Nov. 1890, authenticating the sketches, is at front of album. Mounted and bound into Cattermole album.
Dimensions note19 cm.
Two of the sketches are signed. Later versions of the two illustrations for The Old Curiosity Shop, and the one illustration for Barnaby Rudge, first appeared in the serial publication of Master Humphrey's Clock (London, April 4 1840 - November 27 1841). Mounted and bound into the three volume set of Master Humphrey's Clock in monthly parts.
Dimensions note13 cm. x 15 cm.
Prepared for Dickens's Oliver Twist (London, February 1837 - March 1839). Framed.
Dimensions note23 cm.
Signed. Published in Dickens's Sketches by Boz, (London, 1836-1837).
Dimensions note18 cm.
Signed "Geo. Cruikshank". In the Horton album.
Dimensions note19 cm.
Signed "G.C.". In the Horton album.
Dimensions note19 cm.
Nineteen pen and ink drawings on paper. Twelve proofs of some of these, with the artist's notes and directions to the printer in the margins. Prepared as designs for the dust-wrappers for Dickens's American Notes, Barnaby Rudge, Bleak House, Christmas Stories, David Copperfield, Dombey and Son, Great Expectations, Hard Times, Little Dorrit, Martin Chuzzlewit, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, Oliver Twist, Our Mutual Friend, Pickwick Papers, Sketches by Boz, and A Tale of Two Cities, published by Thomas Nelson as the New Dickens, (London, 1920-1921).
Dimensions note55 cm.
Signed. Mounted. Published in Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop in the Charles Dickens library, (London, circa 1910).
Dimensions note43 cm.
Contents include a poem and a sketch by Charles Dickens; two sketches by George Cruikshank; two sketches by Robert B. Brough; a letter to Priscilla Reed by "Alfred Crowquill" i.e. Alfred H. Forrester, with a sketch; a portrait of Charles Dickens, by Priscilla Reed; signed entries by T.J. Serle, W.C. Macready, and many members of the Theatre Royal Covent Garden, the Theatre Royal English Opera, Drury Lane, Haymarket, Olympic, etc. The signature of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy is also laid in.
Dimensions note19 cm.
Thirty-six watercolor sketches on paper, signed. Six pen and ink sketches on paper, signed. Several leaves watermarked 1886. Bound into extra-illustrated copy of Dickens's Pickwick Papers (London, 1887), in four volumes. Fourteen watercolors and three pen and ink sketches are in v.1; five watercolors and one pen and ink sketch in v.2; fourteen watercolors and two pen and ink sketches in v.3; and three water-colors in v.4.
Dimensions note24 cm.
Signed. Twenty-four character sketches, with illustrated title-page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Eighteen character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty character sketches, with illustrated title page and pen and ink and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty-six character sketches, with illustrated title-page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
29 cm.
Signed. Forty-eighty character sketches, with two illustrated title pages and two tables of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed in two portfolios.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Forty-one leaves of character sketches (one with two characters), with two illustrated title pages and two tables of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed in two portfolios.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Six character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Ten character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Eighteen character sketches, with illustrated title-page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Nine character sketches, with illustrated title pages and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Twenty-seven character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty-six character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Twelve character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty-six character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty-six character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Sixty character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed in two portfolios.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Seventy-two character sketches, with two illustrated title pages and two tables of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed in two portfolios.
Dimensions note29 cm.
Signed. Thirty -six character sketches, with illustrated title page and table of contents in Kyd's hand. Housed separately.
Dimensions note29 cm.
15 cm. x 24 cm.
Signed. Autograph note signed in artist's hand, giving title of work, attached to mount.
Dimensions note23 cm.
Signed. Published in Dickens's The Lamplighter (London, 1887); cf. Kitton.
Dimensions note15 cm.
Bound into extra-illustrated copy of Dickens's Pickwick Papers (London, 1887), in four volumes.
Dimensions note24 cm.
Bound into volume 2 and volume 4 of the extra-illustrated copy of Dickens's Pickwick Papers (London, 1887), in four volumes.
Dimensions note24 cm.
Attributed to Priscilla Horton (i.e. Reed); laid into her autograph album.
Dimensions note12 cm.
Signed.
Dimensions note18 cm. x 26 cm.
Apparently clipped from autograph letter.
Dimensions note13 cm. x 17 cm.