[Literature & Art] [Dickens, Charles. (1812 - 1870)]
Charles Dickens’ “Nécessaire de Voyage” box taken with him on his travels
Walnut “Nécessaire de Voyage” box, 8.5” x 3” x 3”, with keyhole. The hinged cover at left lifts to reveal two layers of swiveling lids, each section intricately carved out to accommodate various items (none are present) such as toothbrush, tweezers, scissors (2), penknife, cut throat razors, shaving soap, book hook, clothes & hair brushes, and manicure items. This box accompanied Dickens on his reading tours outside London.The lid is inset with an ornately shaped brass plate engraved “C.D.” A plaque on the front of the case, with patina, is engraved “Nécessaire de Voyage / of / [keyhole] / CHARLES J.H. DICKENS / presented by Aunt Bessie to your father / before he left to serve King and Country.”
On November 19, 1861, Charles Culliford Boz Dickens – Charles Dickens, Jr. (1837-1896) – first child of novelist Charles Dickens, married Bessie Evans, daughter of Frederick Evans, his father's former publisher.
By the engraved inscription, Aunt Bessie had given this Nécessaire de Voyage to the family member’s father “before he left to serve King and Country.” As Bessie died in 1907, the only service “to King” must have been in the Boer War in 1901-1902, after the death of Queen Victoria and the accession of King Edward VII.
The soldier identified by Aunt Bessie as “your father” was not a brother or son of Charles Dickens, Jr. or Bessie Evans Dickens, as none of them served in the Boer War; he may have been a grandson. After making use of it in the Boer War, this Nécessaire de Voyage was evidently returned to Aunt Bessie who presented it to a niece or nephew of one of the soldier’s children. (10630)
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