Charles Dickens and Maria Beadnell ("Dora") (Classic Reprint)

Book excerpt: Excerpt from Charles Dickens and Maria Beadnell ("Dora") The exception is a letter that was returned to Dickens by Miss Beadnell, after a lovers' quarrel, but which before returning she care fully copied in her own, handwriting. See facsimile at p. 46. Uk]of possessing the first printed edition of these excessively valuable mss. That a collection of such important autobiographical material should have remained so long in obscurity is a most singular fact. So sacredly were these letters guarded after their discovery and pur chase from a daughter of Mrs. Winter in England by one who realized their worth, that their owner allowed only a single one of them ever to be copied, and that only for private reference, with all the names omitted. Find ing that their publication in England would be prohibited, he personally brought them to America, when the entire collection was pur chased by Mr. Bixby. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.