New-York tribune., 1899-06-29
RELICS OF DICKENS.
SALE OF THE WRIGHT COLLECTION IN
LONDON.
FROM The London Daily News.

e,iu on the increase the record of YESTERDAY
proceedings at Sothebys proves 10 9eI'Io" .ns ard
lion. Very animated were the piddillsSs e,ad GA
thousands Of pounds were quickly exchaneeu
for relics which may easily become - - 80 ex
for the present unprecedented dispersal noo r"e
sonwenirs OF the Youthful Dickens's love for tne
theatrical world and his almost luVenIe ne o,icol
ings for the stage which always heIu P,SS "a e.
attractions for his imaginaton, T., he pick
James's Theatre Dickens wrote IN in,ar the a
wick" year 1886. THE Strange SIeh,'en ars, nor
comic burletta in two acts. by BOZ; a1 n1S ,6rn,
formed September ~. to20 IN nss werks espe-
ciaIIv when furnished with the rare etch.ns Ss ps
"Phiz" which formed the fronuspiece Aorebt
published version Mr; Wriene as nyrrCcbased by
Mr. Frank Sabin. and it's enhanced Vaiue , onX, 80
accounted for by the circumstahGgi ina, drawing
In question also contained the origlnal Gemtie
aeeigned nv "Phiz" for The strange Ienti.
man" bearing remarks in Dickenss 5 nalr n, a.
ing; the paybill of the performance anu a. "a" The
i,stration by John Leech of J. T. Harley ID IN. 1IIe
character role The copy OF DICKENS ~ ~
panion contribution the same year, ,crbe
boards Of the st. James's Theatre-haaiiivg ia ~ acts
Village Coduettes." a comic opera IN tMo a.. 90
nv "Poz" the music by John Hullah' was u alsU
secured by Mr.. F. sabin for t36 los;' 'ne ne fact
figure being justified in this instance oy u"o ny,'
that this first edition was 'presentdtIoI ~
from Dickens with his own autograph i
scription to j. P. Hullah. Esq from the Au-
thor, 9TH January. 1851
EARLY DRAMATIC WORK
Some time before Dickens practically storihso
the footights at the ST. James, 3Ss family circle
with MS burlesque 30 Tello," an unpuohsheu
frayesty Of "Othello." Mr.. Wright whose Ia "a
lecting zeal nothing was allowed 10 i otbar
bappily secured the opening OF TINS WORK @o.nSi @
sheets Of this interesting MS. have neen seen
but are now dispersed, without the auNali,aSi lsti
of a Photographic facsimile belng tahTh iioS,
Interesting is this quarto page OF the edIIites'
reeerved dramatic writing of the great hoNeIsI
John Dickens. his father (also prolesslonariS ri
connected with The Dally News rsosIas,s III rns
days) with evident pride in young CharIes
dramatic instincts has added noteworthy
memorandum: This page Is from the Ilp unpuu
1ished Travesty written by Mr Chares DlCSens DSoos
for private performance in his own tanllE 'l0oo'
and is in his own handwriting. The Great IN
paid was your humble servant Jonn LlckeHs'
Alpington. 9th June. ISL According 10 i ML
r. Langtons work on The Chlldhooo anu
Youth of Charles Dickens" when no more thah
nine years of age Dickens trled ms oo!ls.
hand on a tragedy "Misnad or The sultan OF
India and later on, while reporting Tor ms
n,ncles Mirror OF Parliament" he wrote TINS
s'Travestie O'Thello," described MI Seolh
who has had in his possession other tragfn1nts
~ this early burlesque. secured the opening
scane for fS5 II is TO he regretted that the
scattered leaves cannot he brought together
and some literary record secured or tnls spi-
ited production. ., .,.h
More Juvenile writings were represented with
IN the leaves of Dickens's old petty cash BOOK
kept by the lad when he fulfilled the lnsuucuEe
functions Of lawyers clerk In the office or MI.
Edward BlackmOTe IN Lincoln AHH-Heluo ~"
frst entry in Dickens's handwriting Is dated
January 3 1928 He was at that date sixteen
wears of age and imhibing fruitful expert
ences with remarkable avidity for future use
as his subsequent writings vividly exemplify.
The lawyers and lawyers clerks INTRODUCED
with such lifelike effect in the "Pickwick Pa
pers' were studied from nature al ih>s epocm,
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 ana nrms oC-
curing in this book against professional entrles
nly lot ~ q
in his fictions. The recovery of this rough mem
orandum book was considerable triumph IN
the way Of research. Mr.. Robson carried 1t on
from Mr.. Wrights collection for TO.
MRS CAMP WITH THE PLAYERS.
Writing OF contributions generally but little
familiar and pertaining to stagedom we are
tempted TO refer in this place TO another pre-
cious manuscript. also secured by Mr.. Robson
for 70 guineas. Happily this inimitable Jeu
desprit has found its way into print thoush
never published in the sense II was devised by
its gifted author. Mrs. Camp with the Stroll
ing Players" original manuscript In August
1s47 the author. addressing his consistent lit
erary adviser. John Forster. respecting an anna
teur performance for the benefit OF Leigh Hunt,
hinted to his judicial friend what he thought
would bring funds to this cause: IT was to be
published in the form he had devised. as his
tory of the trip to Manchester poking good
natured fun at the party Of strollers, such as
George Cruikshank John Leech. Douglas Jer-
rold himself as "Crummles, the manager Of the
company" and other splendid stroers"; his
notion being TO write the lively skit in the char
acter and phraseology of Mrs Camp. AN Ac-
count OF a Late Expedition into the North for
an Amateur Theatrical Benefit, written by Mrs
Camp (who eye-Witness). inscribed 10
Mrs. Harris. and edited by Charles" The por-
tion printed of this deleCtable narrative is ad-
lInirabe reading. and makes one long for more;
this was happily illustrated by the late Fred
Barnard; and IL had been Dickenss original
'"happy thought" that Egg. Stanhed, Elmore
'Cattermole, Phz Leech. Cruikshank and other
artist friends should do their best 10 collaboratc
I'm the Illustrations; the results. judging from
the fragments, would have furnished un
equalled example Of friendly pleasantly, and the
merry freaks of men of genius at play.
Naturally one of the strongest items in the
sale was complete manuscript. and one Of the
few ever likely to come into the market. This
was The Battle OF Life-a Love Story" writ
ten on fifty quarto pages. with numerous alter
ations. interpretations and additions In many
parts II varies from the printed version. AS
2al the Dickens manuscripts available were left
ITO John Forster and are now treasured at South
sKensington. the interest in this favorite Christ
kmas book received further incentive; the only
remaining exceptions are the immortal Christ
tmas Carol" and our Mutual Friend" manu-
sscripts sti1 In the hands Of private collectors
Messrs. Sotheran secured THE Battle Of Life
Tor t4D. An interesting copy of the first issue
OF another Christmas book. The Chimes" had
It's value materially enhanced by the insertion
OF four Of the original drawings by John Ieech
plus another drawing by the same artist-un-
published This copy brought fG6 and was
purchased by Mr.. F Sabin In a similar snirit
Dickens's Sketches Of Young Couples" had IFS
value increased in Mr.. Wright's version bv the
insertion OF Phz's original drawings MIR F.
Saoin secured this unique example for 49,
PRESENTATION COPIES
A striking feature among the Dickens Memo
fIlaIs was the prevalence Of unusually memorable
presentation copies" Some notice of these ex-
ampes cannot fail to prove how genially ex-
pansive wa Dickens's nature, and many of the
dedlcations are characteristic Mr. Tregaskjs
secured an 1896 copy OF Sketches by Boz -
This was inscribed ITO Simon McGillivray
Esq From the Author" Another copy Of this
work brought TO los. while Messrs. Pearson
secured for f2S the presentation conv ~
Sketches by Boz" inscribed to his friend O,
the st James's Theatre. j. p Harley. Esore.
from MS very sincerely. Charles Dickens Jan'S
A copy OF the same illustrations Of Every
Day Life and Every Day People" in the orig
inal parts was carried of for SAG by Mr. F
Harvey friend OF the illustrator Georg,
Cruikshank. to whose quaint illustrations tn,
sketches" are indebted