DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.57119#0014
G. MICHELMORE & CO.
. . . The nature here is sure to influence my Agnete, which I
suppose you have read by now. . . . On your birthday I intend
to climb the Simplon and drink your health in the monastery
there ... be my faithful sister, as I am entirely your brother.”
Etc.
A full translation into English accompanies these two letters.
Charles Dickens
26 ANDERSEN (H. C.). A.L.s. 4 pp. 8vo. Paris, July
19, 1857. T° Miss Henrietta Wulff. Relative to His
Parting from Charles Dickens. £80
[Translation]
“ Yesterday afternoon I arrived in hot and sunny Paris, where I
feel lonely and a stranger, not at all as in London, or rather, with
the Dickens’s. I am not unknown in France but yet I am a
stranger here compared with England and Germany. Yesterday
at the railway station at Amiens-1 bought a French edition of my
Fairy Tales. I saw my name peeping out from the book-shelves.
. . . Last Wednesday, the 15th July, I left Dickens’s family at
Gadshill Place. I did not go via London, but Maidstone, whither
Dickens himself drove me in a little carriage, we two alone. I
did not speak much—I was sad. He was like a dear brother up to
the last moment. He looked sadly at me when we parted, kissed
me, and—I travelled alone in the steam serpent to Folkestone—I
had to wait a couple of hours for the steamer before she started,
and some hours afterwards I saw France. I felt as deeply grieved as
if I had left one of my dear ones whom I should never see again. ... A
little more of Shakespeare’s land, where I am not a stranger, but
the “ poet ” of Denmark. Albert Smith’s party was in the suburbs
of London, where he has a large house, and lives with his brother,
a young, handsome, and interesting man. We dined in the garden
in a large tent on the lawn, and drank champagne from big cups.
Dickens was so full of life. Mark Lemon, the editor of Punch, a
jolly elderly man, embraced me continually, and playfully accused
me of being satirical. I cannot give his English words. In the
evening the garden was illuminated with lights in bottles. A young
English singer was invited, together with several other ladies who
sang charmingly. The stars twinkled beautifully ; it was glorious.
Dickens told me how glad he was that a large sum had been
collected for Jerrold’s widow. His eyes sparkled. A moment
later I read in one of the many papers which were lying about that
Dickens had done it all from vanity—he desired to make himself
popular. Horrible ! It brought tears to my eyes. How unkind
is the world in its judgments ! Oh, God ! If I do the same without
thinking, then may the Lord forgive me as I forgive.
“ Albert Smith is one of the most amiable men I have ever met. You
can have confidence in him, and that is what other people say about
him. In Dickens’s house Dickens was absolutely the pearl; Mrs
Dickens so kind and good ; Mary next cared most for me, and so
10
. . . The nature here is sure to influence my Agnete, which I
suppose you have read by now. . . . On your birthday I intend
to climb the Simplon and drink your health in the monastery
there ... be my faithful sister, as I am entirely your brother.”
Etc.
A full translation into English accompanies these two letters.
Charles Dickens
26 ANDERSEN (H. C.). A.L.s. 4 pp. 8vo. Paris, July
19, 1857. T° Miss Henrietta Wulff. Relative to His
Parting from Charles Dickens. £80
[Translation]
“ Yesterday afternoon I arrived in hot and sunny Paris, where I
feel lonely and a stranger, not at all as in London, or rather, with
the Dickens’s. I am not unknown in France but yet I am a
stranger here compared with England and Germany. Yesterday
at the railway station at Amiens-1 bought a French edition of my
Fairy Tales. I saw my name peeping out from the book-shelves.
. . . Last Wednesday, the 15th July, I left Dickens’s family at
Gadshill Place. I did not go via London, but Maidstone, whither
Dickens himself drove me in a little carriage, we two alone. I
did not speak much—I was sad. He was like a dear brother up to
the last moment. He looked sadly at me when we parted, kissed
me, and—I travelled alone in the steam serpent to Folkestone—I
had to wait a couple of hours for the steamer before she started,
and some hours afterwards I saw France. I felt as deeply grieved as
if I had left one of my dear ones whom I should never see again. ... A
little more of Shakespeare’s land, where I am not a stranger, but
the “ poet ” of Denmark. Albert Smith’s party was in the suburbs
of London, where he has a large house, and lives with his brother,
a young, handsome, and interesting man. We dined in the garden
in a large tent on the lawn, and drank champagne from big cups.
Dickens was so full of life. Mark Lemon, the editor of Punch, a
jolly elderly man, embraced me continually, and playfully accused
me of being satirical. I cannot give his English words. In the
evening the garden was illuminated with lights in bottles. A young
English singer was invited, together with several other ladies who
sang charmingly. The stars twinkled beautifully ; it was glorious.
Dickens told me how glad he was that a large sum had been
collected for Jerrold’s widow. His eyes sparkled. A moment
later I read in one of the many papers which were lying about that
Dickens had done it all from vanity—he desired to make himself
popular. Horrible ! It brought tears to my eyes. How unkind
is the world in its judgments ! Oh, God ! If I do the same without
thinking, then may the Lord forgive me as I forgive.
“ Albert Smith is one of the most amiable men I have ever met. You
can have confidence in him, and that is what other people say about
him. In Dickens’s house Dickens was absolutely the pearl; Mrs
Dickens so kind and good ; Mary next cared most for me, and so
10
