Beschreibung:

DICKENS, CHARLES Autograph letter signed, single page on Gad's Hill Place stationery, dated December 29, 1869, to "Arthur Sketchley" [pseudonym of George Rose, the dramatist] and W. R. Sams; written in blue ink and signed with a strong, flourished signature. 7 x 4 3/8 inches (17.5 x 11 cm); 11 lines text, plus address, salutation etc. Small repaired tear to blank upper margin, old provenance note on verso; also on rear a pale old mounting stain (not visible from the front of the letter, which presents well). Framed with a Dickens carte de visite of the period Dickens declines a speaking engagement on the 10th of January 1870, because of an engagement in Birmingham on the 6th (he died later the same year). George Rose originated a humorous character "Mrs. Brown" based on Dickens' Mrs. Gamp. C