Case 1
- From the Library of Dickens
Charles Waterton. Essays on natural history, chiefly ornithology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1838.
The Reed
Collections include four books from the library of Charles Dickens. None,
however, are as intimately attached to one of Dickens’ most memorable
characters as Waterton’s Essays on
natural history. The character of ‘Grip’, Barnaby Rudge’s pet raven, was a
composite of two successive ravens of that name which formed part of the
Dickens household while he was writing Barnaby
Rudge.
Dickens
quoted from Waterton in his preface to Barnaby
Rudge, and the pencilled markings in the chapter on ravens, bears evidence
that it assisted Dickens in describing the fictional ‘Grip.’
Charles Waterton. Essays on natural history, chiefly ornithology. London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green & Longmans, 1838.
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Richard H. Horne. Ballad romances. London: Charles Ollier, 1846.
Another
book from the library of Charles Dickens is R.H. Horne’s Ballad romances which bears the author’s presentation inscription
to Dickens.
Richard
Henry Horne (1802-1884) was an English poet and critic most famous for his poem
Orion. He was an acquaintance of
Dickens, who employed him as a sub-editor of the weekly journal Household words in 1849.
John Hollingshead. Ways of life. London: Groombridge and Sons, 1861.
Another
book from the library of Charles Dickens is John Hollingshead’s Ways of life which bears the author’s
presentation inscription to Dickens.
John
Hollingshead (1827-1904) was an English theatrical impresario, journalist and
writer. He too worked for Dickens at Household
words, beginning in 1854. In 1868, he became proprietor of the Gaiety
Theatre in London, which Dickens attended only once – Uncle Dick’s darling was the last play that theatre-buff Dickens
saw, a few weeks prior to his death.
Charles Dickens. Le magasin d'antiquites. Paris: Libraire de L. Hachette et Cie., 1857.
Another
book from the personal library of Dickens at Gadshill Place is a French
translation of Dickens’ The old curiosity
shop published in Paris in 1857 It also contains the bookplate of
Dickensiana collector Comte Alain de Suzannet (1882-1950).
Richard H. Horne. Ballad romances. London: Charles Ollier, 1846.
Twentieth
century brown morocco slipcase of Ballad
romances, a book formerly housed in the personal library of Charles
Dickens.
