A fascinating 1857 handwritten and signed letter from Charles Dickens
Approx. size 25.5cm x 20.5cm.
Featuring Dickens' attractive handwriting and bold signature.
Folds and slight wear in evidence. Very good for its age.
The letter is headed 'Gallery of Illustration', a performance venue on London's Regent Street.
Dickens writes in reference to benefit performances he is arranging for the widow of his friend and fellow writer, Douglas Jerrold.
Dickens and friends are performing the Dickens play 'The Frozen Deep'.
Dickens writes the letter to Scottish poet Charles MacKay (1814-1889) on June 19, 1857.
It is likely that MacKay was among the actors who would perform the play.
Dickens writes, in part: "...We beg to inform you that we have taken the liberty of adding your name to this committee, in the full assurance that you would readily extend that same time and support..."
Further background
Following Jerrold's death on 8 June 1857, Dickens arranged four benefit performances at the Royal Gallery of Illustration.
The first of these, on 4 July, was a royal command performance for Queen Victoria, Prince Albert, and their family. Other guests included royals King Leopold I of Belgium, Prince Frederick William of Prussia, and his fiancée Princess Victoria, and literary figures William Thackeray and Hans Christian Andersen.
Victoria praised the performance, especially Dickens’ acting, in her diary. The young queen wrote in her diary: “The Play was admirably acted by Charles Dickens, (whose representation of Richard Wardour, was beyond all praise & not to be surpassed).”
Dickens said his performance also inspired him to write one of his greatest novels, A Tale of Two Cities.
Additional performances at the same venue took place on 11, 18 and 25 July.
And when he staged the play in Manchester a month later he began his affair with the young actress Ellen Ternan, which ended his marriage and lasted until his death in 1870.
So this is a letter layered with Dickens' personal history.
Discover more about this signed letter here.
Provenance: Ex. Stanley Gibbons
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