DICKENS CHARLES: (1812-1870) English novelist. A very fine, extensive A.Q.S., Charles Dickens (an excellent example, with paraph), one page, 4to, n.p., 28^th April 1858. Writing in his characteristic blue ink Dickens has neatly penned a twenty-three-line quotation from David Copperfield, in full -

 

-"We had only one check to our pleasure, and that happened a

little while before I took my leave, when Miss Mills chancing to make

some allusion to tomorrow morning, I unluckily let out that, being

obliged to exert myself now, I got up at five o'clock. Whether

Dora had any idea that I was a Private Watchman, I am unable

to say; but it made a great impression on her, and she neither

played nor sang any more.

"It was still on her mind when I bade her adieu; and she

said to me in her pretty coaxing way - as if I were a doll, I used

to think:

"Now don't get up at five o'clock, you naughty boy. It's so

nonsensical!"

"My love", said I, "I have work to do"

"But don't do it!" returned Dora, "Why should you?"

It was impossible to say to that sweet little surprised face

otherwise than lightly and playfully, that we must work to live.

"Oh! How ridiculous!" cried Dora

"How shall we live without Dora?" said I

"How? Anyhow!" said Dora.

She seemed to think she had quite settled the question,

and gave me such a triumphant little kiss, direct from her

innocent heart, that I would hardly have put her out of

conceit with her answer, for a fortune" -

 

David Copperfield, by……'

 

Signed and dated by Dickens at the foot of the quotation. Autograph Quotations Signed by Dickens are extremely rare, and this is a particularly handsome and desirable example, both for the physical size of the paper and length of the quotation. A few light stains to the right edge, only very slightly touching the concluding letters of three words, all of which remain perfectly legible. About VG

 

The present quotation is taken from towards the end of A Little Cold Water, the title of chapter 37 of David Copperfield, published in 1850. The passage illustrates, for the first time, how a shadow is temporarily cast over David's love for Dora Spenlow, his future wife. Copperfield is deeply in love and does not quite comprehend what the reader sees: Dora, in her present childlike state, unable to cope with the responsibilities of a household, will prove little more than a hindrance to him.

 

Maria Beadnell, Dickens's first love whom he met in 1830 is thought to have been the model for the character Dora in David Copperfield. Dickens regarded David Copperfield, a largely autobiographical work, as his favourite amongst all the novels he wrote.

 

The quotation was written and signed by Dickens at a significant time in his life, making his choice of passage an interesting one. A year earlier, in 1857, Dickens had fallen in love with the actress Ellen Ternan, and his passion for her was to last the rest of his life. Dickens was increasingly finding his wife, Catherine, to be an incompetent mother and housekeeper, causing him financial worries. In May 1858, after Catherine accidentally received a bracelet meant for Ellen Ternan, Dickens and his wife separated, and Catherine would never see her husband again.

 

After separating from his wife Dickens undertook a series of hugely popular and remunerative reading tours, and the present quotation was signed during the first such tour, which lasted from April 1858 to February 1859 and consisted of 129 appearances in 49 towns throughout England, Scotland and Ireland.

 

The original manuscript of David Copperfield was bequeathed by Dickens to his friend the biographer and literary critic John Forster (1812-1876), who in turn bequeathed the manuscript (together with other books, pictures and important manuscripts) to the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. American Book Prices Current record only three other examples of quotations from David Copperfield signed by Dickens as having appeared at auction in the last 25 years.