Description:

Charles Dickens
London, England, December 3, 1849
Charles Dickens, Journalist! ALS Re: Spanish Armada Newspaper Hoax & Newsvendors' Benevolent & Provident Institution
ALS
A 2pp autograph letter signed by British journalist and novelist Charles Dickens (1812-1870) as "Charles Dickens" at the center of the third page. "Monday," December 3, 1849. "Devonshire Terrace," referring to 1, Devonshire Terrace, Dickens's home in London between 1839-1851. Inscribed on watermarked laid bifold paper. The second (inner) and fourth (outer) pages are blank. Expected wear including flattened transmittal folds. Several light and reversible pencil inscriptions from a former collector are found near the bottom margin of the first page. Else near fine. 4.25" x 7." Accompanied by a former catalog description and envelope from Winifred A. Myers (Autographs) Ltd. (London, England). Other provenance information includes a photocopy of a May 29, 1985 letter on "The British Library" letterhead pertaining to a long-term loan of this Dickens letter to The British Library authorized by the Guthrie Theatre of Minneapolis.

Although Charles Dickens is best-known today for being the most popular novelist in Victorian Britain, he was also a professional journalist, regularly contributing serial stories and articles of social commentary to periodicals of the day like "Daily News," "Household Words," and "All The Year Round." This interesting letter underscores this under-considered aspect of his literary career in two ways; first, by discussing the history of newspaper printing in England; and second, by mentioning Dickens's involvement with the Newsvendors' Benevolent & Provident Institution (NBPI), a charitable organization founded in 1839 to provide a safety net for newspaper hawkers and other distributors. (Dicken would serve as president of NBPI from 1853-1870).

Charles Dickens wrote this letter to Thomas Watts (1811-1869), an academic and linguistic phenom who worked for the British Museum after 1838. From context, it appears that Watts had recently contacted Dickens to correct a statement that the author had made in a November 21, 1849 address delivered at Albion Tavern on Aldersgate-street in London. Dickens, who was speaking on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Newsvendors' Benevolent & Provident Institution on that evening, had probably referenced the importance of newspapers in England, and cited the industry's since-disproven origin story. Watts, who was a fellow journalist as well as a scholar, wanted to correct the record.

Dickens wrote to Watts in full:

"Devonshire Terrace

Monday Third December 1849.

Sir,

I beg you to accept my best thanks for your very curious and interesting pamphlet. I was not aware of the discovery it describes, and indeed had never given any attention to the subject which it treats. I had a general idea that the first Newspaper published in England, was published in the Armada Time; and looking into some books of reference within an hour or so of going out to the News Vendors' dinner, and finding that idea confirmed, took its accuracy for granted, and thought no more about it.

Yours faithfully and obliged,

Charles Dickens

Thomas Watts Esquire."

Watts worked in the library of the British Museum, rising up the hierarchy from temporary assistant (1838) and Assistant Keeper of Printed Books (1856), to Superintendent of the Reading Room (1857) and finally Keeper of Printed Books (1866). During his exemplary tenure at the British Museum, Watts focused on the fundraising for and acquisition of mostly foreign language titles in addition to performing administrative duties related to cataloging, organization, and classification.

Most interestingly, Watts had also exploded a myth in 1839 that upended the prevailing understanding of the history of the printed word in England. Several printed and manuscript issues of a newspaper purportedly from July 1588 called "The English Mercurie" recounted details of viewing the Spanish Armada off the English coastline, and described the defensive strategy of English seadogs. Watts was able to prove that the fake Elizabethan newspapers were forgeries from the 18th century produced by Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, as well as members of his circle, by comparing handwriting samples. In 1766, "The English Mercurie" issues had been gifted to the British Museum without any explanation or contextualization, and it was taken at face value that the newspapers were firsthand accounts. Watts described his discovery in a "Letter to Antonio Panizzi on the Reputed Earliest Printed Newspaper" in 1839. [Sir Antonio Panizzi (1797-1879) was Watts's mentor, serving as Keeper of Printed Books in the 1830s, and later as Principal Librarian of the British Museum from 1856-1866.] Historians believe that the creation of the spurious "The English Mercurie" was not malicious; it was probably a diverting literary hoax.

This item comes with a Certificate from John Reznikoff, a premier authenticator for both major 3rd party authentication services, PSA and JSA (James Spence Authentications), as well as numerous auction houses.

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  • Dimensions: 4.25" x 7"
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