The Charles Dickens Letters Project

To LILIAS HOPE,1 4 AUGUST [1847]

Text from facsimile in Lyon & Turnbull online catalogue, Sep 2022.

Broadstairs, Kent2
Fourth August 1849.3

I am afraid, kind Lilias Hope, that your letter may have been wandering after me to Liverpool,4 and to London, and then down here where I received it this morning. But I hope you have never seriously supposed that I would leave it unanswered, or pass it proudly by, or receive it with anything but interest, pleasure, and respect. Believe me, its modesty and good sense are delightful to me, and that I have the musical little tribute you send with it, as a man ought to read the earnest thoughts of a true heart. I shall not readily forget it, or  you, trust me. With many thanks, and every good wish, I am, dear Lilias Hope,

        Your friend

            CHARLES DICKENS

• 1. Unidentified.
• 2. CD was at Broadstairs with his family from 28 June to 27 September 1847.
• 3. The original “47” was overwritten with “49”, using a darker iron gall ink. CD was in fact staying at Bonchurch on the Isle of Wight on 4 August 1849.
• 4. CD’s Amateur Company performed Every Man in His Humour in Liverpool on 28 July 1847, for the benefit of Leigh Hunt.