Report of the Dinner given to Charles Dickens

1842. in Boston, February 1, 1842. Reported by Thomas Gill and William English. Most of the Speeches revised by their Authors. Boston: William Crosby and Company, 1842. Original printed wrappers.

First Edition. This is the report (written up by two reporters from the Boston Morning Post) on the dinner given in honor of Dickens in Boston, during his tour of America that formed the basis for his book AMERICAN NOTES. Included is Dickens's own speech on the International Copyright situation (pp 10-15), as well as the speeches of others assembled (such as James Russell Lowell, Oliver Wendell Holmes and Richard Henry Dana Sr., and by proxy William Ellery Channing and Washington Irving). This copy is still in its original delicate wrappers, in close-to-fine condition (a crease in the rear wrapper, very light soil, but scarcely any wear) -- quite remarkable condition for such a fragile piece 180+ years old. Podeschi (Yale) B112. Provenance: in the upper margin of the front wrapper is the inked inscription "W.H. Gardiner Esq. with respect of the Publisher". William Howard Gardiner (1796-1882) was a prominent lawyer in Boston, married to Boston Brahmin Caroline Perkins; many of his letters are now held by Harvard University and by the Massachusetts Historical Society.