Fantastic matte-finish 4.5 x 6.5 vignette image of a detailed engraving depicting the renowned British author, affixed to a 9.75 x 11.75 mount, signed on the mount in black ink, “Charles Dickens, Boston, Twenty sixth February, 1868.” Some scattered staining (not affecting the signature or vignette), a couple insignificant tears to mount edges, and a small puncture to the left side of the mount, otherwise fine condition.
Dickens began his second tour of the United States in Boston on November 19, 1867, where he read in front of an excited audience at Tremont Temple, attended by the likes of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Ralph Waldo Emerson. He went on to energetically tour the rest of the country, giving over 400 readings during the course of four months. He returned to Boston before leaving, which is where he signed this photo—despite feeling ill, he gave another reading at Tremont Temple on February 27, 1868, where he was greeted by an even more enthusiastic audience, of which he wrote to his publisher: 'They took to it so tremendously…that I was stopped every five minutes. One poor young girl in mourning burst into a passion of grief about Tiny Tim, and was taken out.' He gave his last Boston reading on April 8, where he gave a brief farewell speech thanking the audience, saying that 'the spirit of the bright faces, the quick perception, the ready response, the generous and the cheering sounds that have made this place delightful to me, will remain.'
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