DICKENS, Charles. ~ Two Original Photographs of Charles Dickens, gifted by his daughter Mary "Mamie" Dickens.
Two original carte de visite photographs by Mason & Co of Old Bond St. (printed on verso) each 9.5 x 6 cms. The first of Charles Dickens reading in the garden of his house Gad’s Hill Place and the second of him reading at this desk. Each with a manuscript ink inscription on verso stating they were “sent by Miss Mamie Dickens to Mrs James P. Davis on the demise of her father”. Few pieces of old stamp selvage on the versos, presumably used to mount them, and a few small flecks of ink to the second image, otherwise very good.
Two original photographs depicting Charles Dickens (1812-1870) presented by his eldest daughter Mary ‘Mamie’ to Eliza Davis (1817-1913), a notable correspondent of Dickens.
Eliza and her husband James Phineas Davis, bought Tavistock House in Bloomsbury from Dickens in 1860 after he had moved to Gad’s Hill but it wasn’t until 1863 that her lengthy and lively correspondence with Dickens began, criticising him for the anti-Semitism in his novels, most notably his depiction of Fagin in Oliver Twist which she said “encouraged a vile prejudice against the despised Hebrew”. This led to the author to halt the printing of the book in order to alter the text for the parts that had not been set, specifically replacing the derogatory “the Jew” with Fagin’s actual name, which explains the disparity between the first 38 chapters and the concluding part of the book.
The correspondence between Davis and Dickens became one of the must sustained exchanges between the author and anyone outside his immediate circle. After his death excerpts were published in several newspapers as “Letters from a Jewess”.
The photographs we are offering were sent by Mary Dickens after her father’s death in 1870 and Davis’s thanks are recorded on 4th August 1870: “I cannot tell you how pleased I am at the cordial good feeling expressed by yourself and your family - I am already in possession of a photograph of your much lamented father, but shall prize most highly those you have sent me - and the kindly sentiments you record of his having entertained towards me” (Baumgarten, p. 60).
The photograph of Dickens reading in his garden, taken in August 1866, is an uncommon one, the only other example we can trace is in the Charles Dickens Museum.