Brief description
Letter from Charles Dickens to Thomas Beard, 12 October 1841
Label
Letter from Charles Dickens to Thomas Beard, written around 12 October 1841, from Devonshire Terrace. The letter, written by Catherine, is dictated by Dickens, and he tells his old friend that he has been ‘very ill for a week’. Dickens fell ill soon after his return to London from his summer in Broadstairs, and says to Beard that on the 8 October he had ‘ a cruel operation’ for an anal fistula. However, by November he was convalescing at a hotel in Windsor, and reporting ‘Thank God I am getting stout and hearty’.
Collection
Archives & Manuscripts
Object number
A31
Object type
letter
Production person
Dickens, Charles
Production date
12/10/1841
Inscription content
PM 12 Oct 41. Address: Free | Thomas Beard Esq | 42 Portman Place | Edgeware Road.
1 Devonshire Terrace | Tuesday Morning
My dear Beard.
You will hardly believe it I dare say, for I can’t, but I have been very ill for a week, and last Friday Morning was obliged to submit to a cruel operation, and the cutting out root and branch of a disease caused by working over much which has been gathering it seems for years. Thank God it's all over and I am on the Sofa again -- rather lean but filling the Doctor with boundless astonishment notwithstanding.
Kate to whom I dictate this sends all kinds of loves. When you have time come and see me.
Faithfully yours always
CHARLES DICKENS

Letter from Charles Dickens to Thomas Beard, 12 October 1841