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Charles Dickens

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:10,000.00 - 15,000.00 USD
Charles Dickens

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Auction Date:2015 Feb 11 @ 18:00 (UTC-5 : EST/CDT)
Location:236 Commercial St., Suite 100, Boston, Massachusetts, 02109, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Choice AQS on an off-white 8.75 x 10.5 sheet, prominently signed at the conclusion, “Charles Dickens, Tremont House, Boston, Twenty ninth January 1842.” Dickens quotes from the famous scene of Little Nell’s death in his 1841 novel The Old Curiosity Shop. In full: “She was dead. No sleep so beautiful and calm, so free from trace of pain, so fair to look upon. She seemed a creature fresh from the hand of God, and waiting for the breath of life—not one who had lived and suffered death.” In fine condition.

Due to the immense popularity of The Old Curiosity Shop upon its initial serialization, this passage became one of the most famous in the history of British literature. Little Nell, an angelic 14-year-old girl protecting her mentally infirm grandfather during a perilous journey into the countryside, became a beloved character within the Victorian reading public. Crowds of Americans anxiously waited at ports for English ships, hoping to hear news from the next installment about the whereabouts and well-being of Little Nell. The anticipation for the last installment of the serial was unparalleled, and her tragic end provoked emotional reactions from Dickens’s readership around the world.

At the time that he penned this quote, Dickens had just begun his stay at the Tremont House in Boston to begin his first American tour, with masses of enlivened fans anxious to greet him. As word spread of the internationally renowned author’s presence, the city buzzed with excitement; publisher’s scrambled to reprint editions of his work, newspapers lauded his masterful writing, and enterprising locals produced commemorative trinkets and decorations to capitalize on the occasion. The combination of this significant date in Dickens’s career and the importance of the Little Nell quote make this one of the finest Dickens pieces we have offered.