Lot 121
Dickens (Charles) Autograph Letter signed to Joseph Paxton, 1858, expressing his surprise and annoyance at Paxton's explanation of his absence at a dinner held in honour of Dickens's reading of "A Christmas Carol" to benefit the Coventry Institute.
Estimate: £3,000 - 5,000
Description
Dickens (Charles, novelist, 1812-70) Autograph Letter signed to Joseph Paxton, 4pp., Gads Hill, Rochester, Kent, 6th December 1858, expressing his surprise and annoyance at Paxton's explanation of his absence at a dinner held in honour of Dickens's reading of "A Christmas Carol" to benefit the Coventry Institute, "'Of course you know the local lights and shadows of Coventry, better than I do; but I am strongly of the opinion that Mr. Whitten's [Whittem] discretion is not remarkable, and that in this matter he made a mistake... if you had been there you would have been heartily received. The members were toasted; and Mr. Whitten, in returning thanks for you, said you were 'prevented from coming by an important engagement'. He did not make the faintest reference to his having done anything to keep you away. I talked of you to all of them and I considered with some anxiety whether I should refer to your absence, in speaking. After a careful study of our Blunder-headed Whitten, I came to the conclusion that I had better not... if he could only find a hole big enough to put his foot in, he would unquestionably do it. I therefore did my very best to hold them all together, in the brightest condition of general good humour. My hope and belief are that I succeeded", folds.
⁂ "I... did my very best to hold them all together, in the brightest condition of general good humour." - Dickens.
A fine letter to Sir Joseph Paxton describing an awkward dinner in Coventry, held in honour of Charles Dickens. Paxton, the local MP had been persuaded by Whittem (misspelt Whitten) not to attend the dinner on political grounds and Dickens was annoyed to hear him lie to the assembled diners as to the reason for his non attendance. In a few lines Dickens brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the dinner, and one can imagine his spellbinding table talk to his fellow guests in an effort to make the evening a success. In 1858 Dickens, in three months, gave 85 readings of A Christmas Carol and The Cricket on the Hearth in over 40 towns across Britain.
Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-65), landscape gardener and architect: MP for Coventry.
Provenance: Published: Tillotson & Storey (ed.), The British Academy/The Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens, Vol. 8: 1856-1858 (1995), pp. 714-6.
Description
Dickens (Charles, novelist, 1812-70) Autograph Letter signed to Joseph Paxton, 4pp., Gads Hill, Rochester, Kent, 6th December 1858, expressing his surprise and annoyance at Paxton's explanation of his absence at a dinner held in honour of Dickens's reading of "A Christmas Carol" to benefit the Coventry Institute, "'Of course you know the local lights and shadows of Coventry, better than I do; but I am strongly of the opinion that Mr. Whitten's [Whittem] discretion is not remarkable, and that in this matter he made a mistake... if you had been there you would have been heartily received. The members were toasted; and Mr. Whitten, in returning thanks for you, said you were 'prevented from coming by an important engagement'. He did not make the faintest reference to his having done anything to keep you away. I talked of you to all of them and I considered with some anxiety whether I should refer to your absence, in speaking. After a careful study of our Blunder-headed Whitten, I came to the conclusion that I had better not... if he could only find a hole big enough to put his foot in, he would unquestionably do it. I therefore did my very best to hold them all together, in the brightest condition of general good humour. My hope and belief are that I succeeded", folds.
⁂ "I... did my very best to hold them all together, in the brightest condition of general good humour." - Dickens.
A fine letter to Sir Joseph Paxton describing an awkward dinner in Coventry, held in honour of Charles Dickens. Paxton, the local MP had been persuaded by Whittem (misspelt Whitten) not to attend the dinner on political grounds and Dickens was annoyed to hear him lie to the assembled diners as to the reason for his non attendance. In a few lines Dickens brilliantly captures the atmosphere of the dinner, and one can imagine his spellbinding table talk to his fellow guests in an effort to make the evening a success. In 1858 Dickens, in three months, gave 85 readings of A Christmas Carol and The Cricket on the Hearth in over 40 towns across Britain.
Sir Joseph Paxton (1803-65), landscape gardener and architect: MP for Coventry.
Provenance: Published: Tillotson & Storey (ed.), The British Academy/The Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens, Vol. 8: 1856-1858 (1995), pp. 714-6.
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