Londra, 4 giugno 2008
La scrivania e la sedia dove Charles Dickens ha scritto un buon numero di novelle e piccoli racconti è stata venduta da Christie’s a una cifra redord: £ 433,250 / $847,004 / €548,495 (stima pre-sala: £50,000-£80,000). Sia la scrivania che la sedia sono state recentemente donate da Jeanne-Marie Dickens al Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital per essere vendute e per ricavarne dei fondi. Sono state comprate da un collezionista irlandese.
lotto 369
A mid-Victorian mahogany pedestal desk and walnut desk chair,
[c. 1850], used by Charles Dickens at Gad’s Hill Place.
Margaret Ford, Director and Head of the Books and Manuscripts Department, Christie’s London: “Charles Dickens is a literary legend and one of the finest authors of the English language; we are thrilled to have presented his writing desk and chair to the international market, and to have realised an impressive price which maximises the financial benefit to Great Ormond Street Hospital. It is particularly fitting that the proceeds from this sale should benefit Great Ormond Street Hospital which was dear to Dickens’s own heart, and which received his support and patronage in its early history. The international interest in valuable books and manuscripts continues to grow, and we welcomed a significant number of new international collectors to today’s sale which also saw impressive prices for works by Shakespeare, Churchill, Karl Marx, Lord Tennyson and Charles Darwin amongst others.”
Tim Johnson, Executive Director at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity: “We are very grateful to Jeanne-Marie Dickens for this hugely generous gift to the hospital. Charles Dickens was not only a formidable champion for Great Ormond Street Hospital but also a tireless fundraiser. We are also thankful to the new owner who won the bidding battle and acquired the desk and chair for £433,250. It is an astonishing amount and is a vital contribution to help Great Ormond Street Hospital Children’s Charity rebuild and refurbish the hospital, buy vital equipment and fund pioneering research. We need to raise £50 million every year to help provide world class care to very ill children and their families – this gift will help us do that.”
Jeanne–Marie Dickens, Countess Wenckheim: “Charles Dickens was a champion of the poor and needy and an enthusiatic patron of Great Ormond Street Hospital in its early days. My husband Charles shared his ancestor’s desire to help the disadvantaged and when I became aware of the fundraising needs of Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, I knew that I had to give the desk and chair to them. I felt that it was Charles’ wish, and it is an honour for me to fullfill this wish. The desk and chair have been seen and admired by the public for almost 40 years while on public view first at Dickens House Museum in London and then at Dickens Center, Eastgate House, Rochester until 2005, and it is fitting that their sale will provide care and support for the patients of Great Ormond Street hospital 150 years after Dickens himself spoke at their first fundraising dinner.”
Info: www.christies.com
