Choice ALS signed "Charles Dickens," one page on 4.25 x 7 black-bordered stationery, December 15, 1848. Handwritten letter to Dr. James Wilson, his wife's physician. In full: "In thanking you for your kind note of yesterday, allow me to beg your acceptance of a little book that will not be published before next Tuesday. I hope you may find something in it that will not accord ill with this time of year." In fine condition.
The work to which Dickens refers is The Haunted Man and the Ghost’s Bargain, the fifth and last of Dickens’s 'Christmas' books, published a few days later on December 19th. The theme of the story, which explores the spirit of the holidays through memory, grief, anger, and self-discovery, is aptly summed up by the character Milly: 'It is important to remember past sorrows and wrongs so that you can then forgive those responsible and, in doing so, unburden your soul and mature as a human being.' As in the most famous of Dickens’s Yuletide tales, A Christmas Carol, the story incorporates a sage specter—a doppelgänger of the main character, Redlaw—as a narrative plot device.
The Haunted Man sold some eighteen thousand copies on the day of issue and was produced in a successful stage version at the Adelphi Theatre by the end of the year. Dickens’s use of mourning stationery relates to the death of his sister, Fanny, who died of tuberculosis a few months earlier at the age of 38. Subtle handling wear, otherwise fine, bright condition. A handsome letter with an excellent association.
Past sales history: RR Auction, Fine Autographs and Artifacts, December 10, 2008.
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