[Letters.] Typescript Letter to Angus Fletcher, reproduced from one written from Devonshire Terrace, Monday Thirteenth May 1844. 'You have (unconsciously) covered me with shame; and degraded me to an ignominious and deplorable level.'

DICKENS, Charles.

Published by 1844 [c.1925], 1844

About this Item

A long letter, printed on 2pp folio, lightly folded. Without imprint, but stamped 'With George Gregory's Compliments, 4 Daniel Street, Bath'. See Pilgrim Letters Vol. IV, p.80, for the original ALS, now part of the Berg collection. A lovely playful letter to the Scottish sculptor Angus Fletcher, 1799-1862, firstly (mock) admonishing him from failing to honour a dinner date at Devonshire Terrace, and seventhly ('I think it was seventhly I left off at') informing Fletcher that he is planning a trip to Italy with, 'bag and baggage, children and servants. for twelve months'. He requests that Fletcher, his 'modern Canova', and now resident of Carrara in Tuscany, advise on several details of planning: 'Tell me your opinion about the best way of coming. whether we shall meet, and where, together with all other matters and things that occur to you.' Dickens travelled to Italy, via Paris and Marseilles, in July 1844, returning to London briefly in November to facilitate a reading tour of The Chimes. The whole family returned in England in June 1845. Dickens's experiences on the continent were described in Pictures from Italy, published in 1846. The original autograph letter was evidently once in the hands of the Bath bookseller George Gregory, 1852-1930, as identified by the compliments stamp on the front. It was perhaps once a constituent part of his heavily graingerised 10-volume copy of Forster's Life of Dickens that is now in New York's Morgan library. Gregory produced an index for this 'unique copy' of Forster's Life in 1925, which included references to an ALS from Dickens to Fletcher. It is not clear why this letter was printed, or how many copies were made, but it forms a delightful example of Dickens's innate playfulness. We can find no other examples.

Seller Inventory # 100419

Bibliographic Details

• Title: [Letters.] Typescript Letter to Angus Fletcher, reproduced from one written from Devonshire Terrace, Monday Thirteenth May 1844. 'You have (unconsciously) covered me with shame; and degraded me to an ignominious and deplorable level.'
• Publisher: 1844 [c.1925]
• Publication Date: 1844