{"product_id":"charles-dickens-signed-dinner-invitation","title":"Charles Dickens Signed Dinner Invitation","description":"\u003cp\u003eThis handwritten note is a personal letter from Charles Dickens, dated April 13, 1864, inviting a couple for dinner at his home, Gads Hill Place, in Kent. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTranscription and Context\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe text in the letter reads:\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGads Hill Place,\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHigham by Rochester, Kent.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSaturday Thirteenth April, 1864\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCharles Dickens will be very happy\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eto dine w. Mr and Mrs Benzon\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eon Tuesday the seventeenth of May.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis note uses Dickens's personal stationery from Gads Hill Place, the only house he ever owned and his country home from 1856 until his death in 1870. He frequently hosted friends and literary figures at the house, and similar personal letters from this period are known to exist and sometimes appear for sale as historical documents. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe note is a standard piece of social correspondence, indicating an invitation to dine on a specific Tuesday in May of that year.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \"Mr and Mrs Benzon\" mentioned in the letter were likely Elizabeth and Frederick Benzon, close friends of Charles Dickens in the 1860s. Frederick Benzon was a successful businessman in London. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDickens had a strong friendship with the couple, and the Charles Dickens Letters Project website has records of multiple letters he wrote to Mrs. Benzon (Elizabeth). The letter is a social invitation, a common form of correspondence for Dickens, who frequently hosted guests at his home, Gads Hill Place. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Benzons and Dickens\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSocial Circle: The Benzons were part of Dickens's active social life in his later years, during which he was separated from his wife, Catherine.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCorrespondence: The frequent letters indicate a close and personal friendship, not just a casual acquaintance.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGads Hill Place: They were invited to dine at his only owned home, a significant place for Dickens. \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Princeton Audubon Prints","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51499890737434,"sku":"EB-326925257523","price":2000.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2221\/0931\/files\/57_414760d1-db67-4ac6-9833-aa9dce4d2a5c.jpg?v=1766884173","url":"https:\/\/www.thearchiveauthority.com\/products\/charles-dickens-signed-dinner-invitation","provider":"Signature Documents LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}