Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-07-27


and is in his own handwriting. The
Great Unpaid was your humble SER
want, John Dickens, Arlington, 9Th
June, 1912" According to r. Lang
toms work on THE Childhood and
Youth of Charles Dickens" when no
more than nine years of age Dickens
tried his Ooyish hand on tragedy,
"Alisnad; or. The Sultan of India,
and later on, while reporting for his
uncle's Mirror of Parliament" he
wrote this "Travestie O'Tello," as de-
scribed. Mr.. Sabin, who has had in
possession other fragments of this
early burlesque, secured the opening
scene for G35. 1t is to be regretted
that the scattered leaves cannot be
brought together, and some literary
record secured Of this spirited pro-
duction.
More Juvenile writings were repre-
scented within the leaves of Dickens S
old petty cash book, kept by the lad
when he fulfilled the instructive func-
tions of lawyers clerk in the office OF
Edward Blackmore in Lincoln's Inn
ISIbH' Ht HE GIlIIN III DlGhPuS >
handwriting is dated January 5, 1928.
He was at that date 16 years of age,
and was imbibing fruitful experiences
with remarkable ayidity for future
use, as his subsequent writings wildly
eXemplify. The lawyers ard lawyers
clerks introduced With such lifelike
effect in the "Pickwick Papers" were
studied from nature at this epoch
when, as appears from the cash book
! his own salary was 13s Cd per week
1t is noteworthy that many of the
names of clients and firms occurring
in this book against professional en-
tries were by Dickens later on adapted
for characters in his tfctions. The
recovery of this rough memorandum
book was considerable triumph in
the way of research. Mr. Robson car
ried it off from Mr.. Wright's collection
for eos.
Writing Of combinations generally
but little familiar, and pertaining TO
stagedOm, We are tempted to refer in
ChiS place TO another precious manu-
script, also secured b. Mi. robson for
- guineaa. Happiiy this inimitabie
ieu dcsprit has toHnG its way into
print, though never published in the
sense Ii was devised ny its gifted
author, addressing his consistent lit
erary adviser, JOAN Fors En- respecting
III amateur performance for tie 6cne-
dr of Leigh Hunt limited 10 his
judicial friend what ne thought would
bring funds To- This cause; Il was u
be published in the Horm he had de
yiscd. as a history Of tho trip to Man
chester. pokng good-naturcd fun al
lac party of slr0llers, such as George
ClnikshanE Holm Leech, Douglas Ter
rold, himself as "Crummles, the man
ager OF the company" and other
"spcndid strolcrs;" his notion being
to- write the lively slit in the charac-
ter and phraseology Of Mrs. Camp.
An Account of Late Expedition into
the North for an Amateur Theatrical
Benefit written by Mrs. Camp (who
was an eye witnessD, inscribed to Mrs
Harris, and edited by Charles" The
portion printed of this dclectable mar
rative is admirable reading, and
makes one long for more; this was
happily illustrated by the late Fred
Barnard; aud it had been Dickens's
original happy thought" that Egg
5tanfeld, Gilmore, Cattermole, phz
Leech, Cruikshank and other artist
friends should do their best to col
laborate in the Illustrations; the re
mi re tnloipu from thn frau re
would have furnished an unequaled
example of friendly pleasantly, and
the merry freaks of men of genius at
play.
Naturally one of the strongest items
in the sale was a complete manu-
script and one of the few ever likely
to come into the market. This was
The Battle OF Life-a Love Story,
written on so quarto pages, with
numerous alterations, interpretations
and additions. In many parts it varies
from the printed version. As all the
Dickens manuscripts available were
left to John Forster, and are now
treasured at South Kensington, the
interest in this favorite Christmas
DOCK received further incentive, the
only remaining exceptions are the i'm
mortal "Christmas Carol" and Our
Mutual Friend" manuscripts still in
the hands of private collectors. Messrs,
Sotheran secured rhe Battle of Life
for G400 An interesting copy of the
first issue Of another Christmas book,
The Chimes, had its value materially
enhanced by the insertion of four Of
the original drawings by John Leech,
plus another drawing by the same
artist-Unpubiished This copy
brought G66, and was purchased by
Z. Sabin. In a similar spirit Dickens S
Sketches of Young Couples had its
value increased in Mr.. Wright's YER
sion by the insertion of Phizs original
drawings. +. Sabin secured this
unique example for G32.
\ striking feature among the
Dickens memorials was the prevalence
of unusually memorable presentation
copies Some notice OF these ex-
amnlps cannot fail TO nrOye how