DICKENS (CHARLES) Autograph letter in the third person to Charles Elmé Francatelli of the St James's Hotel, beginning 'Mr Charles Dickens sends his compliments to Mr Francatelli...', going on to advise him that Dickens' servant has made '...a strong complaint to him respecting the contact of the Hotel Porters this morning...' when they refused to help him with the luggage and that '...he had to bring down Miss Dickens' large trunk from the second floor, single handed...', something he has never had to complain of elsewhere and is contrary to the '...quick and obliging...' service usually provided, 2 pages on a bifolium, dust-staining, marks, creased at folds, small tears along folds, 8vo (178 x 114mm.), Gad's Hill Place, 18 [but 19] May 1869 Footnotes: 'THEY PASSED THE DUTY OF HELPING HIM WITH HIS LUGGAGE, FROM ONE TO ANOTHER, IN A MANNER WHICH PLAINLY SHOWED THEY DID NOT MEAN TO HELP HIM AT ALL': DICKENS COMPLAINS OF POOR SERVICE AT THE ST JAMES'S HOTEL. Our letter of complaint, made by Dickens after a stay at the hotel with his daughter Marnie, is addressed to Charles Elmé Francatelli (1805-1876) of the St James's Hotel, on the corner of Berkeley Street and Piccadilly. Trained under Carême in Paris, he held posts at Crockfords, the Reform Club and, for a time was head chef to Queen Victoria. He published several successful cookery books, including The Modern Cook and, a subject close to Dickens' heart, A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes. The note comes after a difficult few months for Dickens, which perhaps may have made him less sympathetic than usual to the shortcomings of hotel staff, shown too by his misdating of our letter (Wednesday of that week was actually the 19th). His first public performance of 'Sikes and Nancy', a virtuoso tour de force which left him (and by all accounts his audiences) mentally and physically exhausted, had taken place in London in January 1869, followed by a gruelling tour including Ireland and the west of England after which his health collapsed. In All The Year Round he wrote of his being, '...for the first time in his life '...giddy, jarred, shaken, faint, uncertain of voice and sight and tread and touch, and dull of spirit...'...' (Peter Ackroyd, Dickens, 1990, p.1043). After a sojourn at Gad's Hill, in May he returned to the St James's Hotel, where he was a frequent guest, to resume his London life. Whilst he was there, perhaps mindful of his ill health, he instructed his solicitor Ouvry to draw up his will which was signed in the offices of All The Year Round on 12 May. His servant at the time was Scott, the successor to John Thompson who had been discharged for theft in November 1866. Our letter is published in the Pilgrim edition of Charles Dickens' letters, Vol.12, p.358. Provenance: Sotheby's, 15 March 1971, lot 628. This lot is subject to the following lot symbols: * * VAT on imported items at a preferential rate of 5% on Hammer Price and the prevailing rate on Buyer's Premium. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing