History In Ink®  Historical Autographs


1431441

Charles Dickens

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Holograph note by the renowned Victorian novelist

Charles John Huffam Dickens, 18121870.  British author.  Third-person Autograph Note Signed in text, Mr. Dickens, one page, 4½" x 4½", on engraved stationery of Gadʼs Hill Place, Higham by Rochester, Kent, [England], June 28, 1869.

Less than a year before his death, Dickens writes to send a correspondent a check, which is no longer present with this piece.  In full:  “Monday Twenty Eighth June 1869  /  Cheque enclosed with Mr. Dickensʼs compliments." 

Widely regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era, Dickens is popular with readers even today.  Many of his characters—such as Ebeneezer Scrooge, Tiny Tim, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, and David Copperfield—are household names.  Famous as a writer of humor, satire, and social observation, he used his notoriety to promote social reform, especially for the poor and for children.

Dickens became successful through publication of the serial The Pickwick Papers, which began in 1836.  He subsequently published more than a dozen major novels, all initially in serial form and then in standard book format, along with five novellas and hundreds of short stories and nonfiction articles.  His greatest work of historical fiction, and perhaps his greatest overall work, was A Tale of Two Cities (1859), set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution.  But works such as The Adventures of Oliver Twist (1839), The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1839), David Copperfield (1850), and Great Expectations (1861) command enduring interest.  The first of three Christmas stories, the novella A Christmas Carol (1843), which Dickens wrote in fairly short order when he needed income, remains popular and has been frequently adapted in other genres, as have Oliver Twist and Great Expectations.

Dickens wrote this note from his country retreat, Gadʼs Hill Place, near Higham in Kent, in southeast England.  He bought the property for £1,790 in 1856 and moved there in June 1857.  Among the notable people who visited Dickens there were authors Hans Christian Andersen and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.  Dickens died there at age 58 on June 9, 1870. 

Dickens has written this note in blue on the top portion of the stationery that has been smoothly, but not squarely, trimmed at the bottom.  There are two horizontal folds, one of which affects one word of the text.  Paperclip stains in the upper margin barely touch the first word of text, and there is a small stain at the bottom edge, affecting nothing.  Overall the piece is in very good to fine condition.

Unframed.  Click here for information about custom framing this piece.

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