Dickens (Charles) (1812-1870)

Dickens (Charles) (1812-1870) to Richard Monckton Milnes, 1st Baron Houghton (1809-1885) [patron of literature, politician who strongly supported social justice] regarding free dates for an appointment, single page autograph letter signed with printed letterhead for Gad’s Hill Place and handwritten below ‘5 Hyde Park Place W’, dated 29 April 1870, ‘My dear Lord Houghton’, signed Charles Dickens with flourish below

Rev. Sir George Drinkwater Bourne (1821–1901)

A letter to John Delane on the 23rd May 1870 refers to the visit to the Houghtons. Lady Houghton wrote that Dickens dined with the Houghtons to meet the King of the Belgians and the Prince of Wales, 'at the Prince's special desire'. Dickens was unwell at the time but Lady Houghton wrote that "he showed no distress".

Dickens notes in the above letter to Delane that 'I have been unlucky with the Baron and Baroness, in consequence of having got into a tangled labyrinth of engagements ... I sincerely wish to respond to the kindness of the Baron and Baroness, and I hope to do so ... as soon as I am literally on my feet again.

Not published in The Letters of Charles Dickens online. Not published in House (M) and Storey (G), The Letters of Charles Dickens, Oxford, 2002.

Dickens was writing Edwin Drood at the time, unfinished at the time of his death on 9th June 1870. Accompanied by a letter from Lord Houghton to Miss Doug regarding the letter.