The Charles Dickens Letters Project

To MISS J___ D___,1 14 DECEMBER 1839

Text from Glasgow Evening Citizen, 15 June 1870, p. 3.

1 Devonshire Terrace, York Gate, Regent's Park

14th December 1839 

            Mr Dickens having just removed,2 and having been much engaged within the last few days, did not read Miss D­­­____'s note until yesterday. He hastens to enclose her some slight temporary relief, and will communicate with her again almost immediately.3

• 1. Unidentified; but Miss D____'s first initial is revealed in To Miss J____ D____, 17 June 1839. The Glasgow Evening Citizen expands on the history of the addressee: "Miss D____ got back to Glasgow, where she was married, and in such a position of comfort, that on Mr. Dickens's first visit to this city [in July 1841], she found him out, and desired him to accept repayment of the sums he had advanced, at which, in her own simple phrase, 'he only laughed.' Now [1870], however, somewhat advanced in years, her husband completely invalided, and herself broken down in health, she is again in need of aid. These original letters of Mr. Dickens, which she has so long treasured, she is now anxious to dispose of to any benevolent admirer of the distinguished author, and it will afford a curious illustration of the fruitfulness of good actions, if they should prove, once more, a source of hope and relief, to one who seems a thoroughly deserving, if a somewhat romantic and unfortunate person. The letters may be seen at our office."
• 2. CD and his family moved from Doughty Street to Devonshire Terrace in December 1839.
• 3. No further communication between CD and Miss D____ has been uncovered.