Item Info

Accession Number: 87-1709
Physical Description: [2] pages
Transcription:

 Gad’s Hill Place,

Higham by Rochester, Kent.

Monday Thirty First October, 1859

Sir.

I am bound to assure you, in reply to your letter, that it is quite out of my power conscientiously to offer you any advice in reference to the young lady in whom you are so kindly interested. I could as soon read her destiny in the palm of her hand, as tell you whether there is hope for her in Literature, on no stronger grounds of judgment than some five and forty lines of blank verse. But I must add to them that although they are a very meritorious composition for a young lady of fifteen, I see, every day of my life, many such pieces—no better, and no worse—which are within the ability of many people, and which do not suggest to me that the writers have any special vocation in this difficult and rugged road.

Faithfully Yours

Charles Dickens

W. J. Parsons Esquire

MssDate: Monday Thirty First October, 1859
Media Type: Letters
Source: Rare Book Department
Recipient: Parsons, W. J.
Provenance: Elkins, William M. 1947

Bibliography:

 The British Academy Pilgrim Edition: The Letters of Charles Dickens, Volume Nine, 1859-1861. Graham Storey, ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997, p. 147.

Country: Creation Place Note:Gad's Hill Place
Country:England
City/Town/Township:London

Creation Year: 1859
Call Number: DL P257 1859-10-31
Creator Name: Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 - Author