The Charles Dickens Letters Project

To W. H. WILLS, 4 MAY 1855

MS The Free Library of Philadelphia.

Tavistock House | Fourth May 1855

My Dear Wills

I omitted two points yesterday. First, will you remind Morley at any odd time, of the History of the Sappers and Miners by the Quartermaster Sergeant.1 Secondly, will you specially ask him if he will try to do any little fanciful thing in reference to the accompanying book of Leigh Hunt’s,2 that may do it a service? I am anxious about this, for reasons.3 As it is a sort of Railway book, he might perhaps, under some such title as an extraordinary Railway Ride, describe the chief things in it as circling about him during a Railway journey and changing an ugly ride (say, along the fenny Eastern Counties for instance) into something sunny and beautiful.4 Don’t lose time about this, for I believe Hunt’s race on this side of the Moon to be nearly ended.5

Faithfully alwys | CD.6

• 1. See To T.W.J. Connolly, 14 Apr 55.
• 2. James Henry Leigh Hunt (1784-1859; Dictionary of National Biography), essayist, critic and poet: see Pilgrim Letters 1, p. 341n and later vols. The original of Skimpole in Bleak House: see Pilgrim Letters 4, pp. 623 & n, 628 & n, Pilgrim Letters 7, p. 460 & nn. Stories in Verse, a gathering of verse tales, was published 30 Apr
• 3. CD may have wanted to make some reparation for his portrayal of Hunt as Skimpole.
• 4. Henry Morley’s “By Rail to Parnassus”, Household Words, 16 June 55, XI, 477, takes the form of an account by a poor clerk of the diversion Hunt’s book provides on a train from Waterloo to Southampton (it was issued by Routledge in their Railway Library).
• 5. I.e. “his earthly life is nearly over”: although he survived until 1859, Hunt described himself in a letter, Feb 55, as “a bundle of clothes sitting by a fire”: see Pilgrim Letters 7, p. 609, n.6.
• 6. Wills sent CD’s letter to Morley with the note: “Will you attend to the enclosed”.