TC-JF, 28 Oct. MS: FC. Hitherto unpbd.

1. Charles Whitehead (1804–62; ODNB), poet, novelist, and dramatist. To help pay for the keep of his insane brother in an asylum, he published, by subscription, The Solitary, and other Poems. With the Cavalier, a Play (1849). The Solitary was originally pbd. in 1831, and the 1849 edn. added twelve poems and a verse play. Dickens had written to TC, 7 May: “I shall take it as a personal favor if you will give me your permission to put you down as subscriber to a certain book of poems, price (when published) ten shillings. … [T]he author … is Mr. Charles Whitehead … and the object he seeks to obtain by this means is such a very melancholy and unusual one that I am much interested in getting him the best names in Literature.” TC had presumably agreed but forgotten.

2. Bernard Barton (1784–1849; ODNB), poet, had died 19 Feb., leaving a da., Lucy, with limited resources. To supplement these, Edward FitzGerald helped prepare, mainly by writing a biographical notice, Selections from the Poems and Letters of Bernard Barton. Edited by his Daughter, pbd. late Oct.; see TC to JCHI, 19 April. TC was a subscriber. FitzGerald married Lucy, 4 Nov. 1856 (after a seven-year engagement), to his later regret.