- 43
# - Dickens, Charles.
Estimate
1,500 - 2,000 GBP
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Description
- Autograph letter signed, to Dr Thomas Southwood Smith
thanking him for a pamphlet on establishing a sanatorium, and for the instructions of the Children's Employment Commission ("...which seem to me to have been devised in a most worthy spirit, and to comprehend every point on which humanity and forethought could have desired to lay stress..."), 3 pages, 8vo, 1 Devonshire Terrace, London, 15 December 1840, tears at folds, dust stains on final blank
Literature
Published in The Letters of Charles Dickens, ed. Storey et al. (Oxford, 1965-2002), II, pp.164-66
Condition
Condition is described in the main body of the catalogue, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."
Catalogue Note
"...I could not forbear ... cursing the present system and its fatal effects in keeping down thousands upon thousands of God's images, with all my heart and soul..."
dickens writing on child labour in early victorian britain. Southwood Smith (1788-1861) was one of the four commissioners appointed to investigate the issue, and their first report (1842), which documented the brutal working conditions of children in mines, caused widespread public outrage.