istics. Nothing with him was worth doing unless it was done
well. As an illustration of work in this direction, it may be mentioned
that a proof copy of the speech delivered at the meeting of the
Administrative Reform Association at Drury Lane Theatre on Wednesday,
June 27th, 1855, in the possession of the writer of these lines, has
over a hundred corrections on the nine pages of which it consists, and
many of these occur in punctuation. On careful examination, the
alterations show that the correction in every case is a decided
improvement on the original. The following _fac-similes_ from the
_Hand-Book_ to the _Dyce and Forster Collection_, and from Forster's
_Life_, illustrate the earlier, later, and latest handwritings of
Charles Dickens as shown in the MSS. of _Oliver Twist_, 1837, _Hard
Times_, 1854, and _Edwin Drood_, 1870.

[Illustration: "OLIVER TWIST," 1837, vol. i. ch. xii.]

[Illustration: "HARD TIMES," 1854, vol. i. ch. i.]

[Illustration: "DAVID COPPERFIELD," 1850 (corrected proof), ch. xiv.]

[Illustration: "EDWIN DROOD," 1870, ch. xxiii. p. 189 (_last MS.
page_).]

A proof of the fourteenth Chapter of _David Copperfield_, 1850, shows
that the allusion to "King Charles the First's head"--about which Mr.
Dick was so much troubled--was _not_ contained in the first draft of the
story, for the passage originally had reference to "the date when that
bull got into the china warehouse and did so much mischief." The
subsequent reference to King Charles's head was a happy thought of
Dickens, and furthered Mr. Dick's idea of the mistake "of putting some
of the trouble out of King Charles's head" into his own.

Mr. R. F. Sketchley, the able and courteous custodian of the collection,
allows us to see some of the other rarities in the museum not displayed
in the cabinet--prefaces, dedications, and memoranda relating to the
novels; letters addressed by Dickens to Forster, Maclise, and others;
rare play-bills; and the originals of invitations to the public dinner
and ball at New York, which Dickens received on the occasion of his
first visit to America in 1842. After turning these over with
reverential care, we regretfully leave behind us one of the most
interesting and important literary collections ever presented to the
Nation.

We next visit the Prerogative Registry of the United Kingdom at Somerset
House, wherein is filed the original Will of Charles Dickens. The search
for this interesting document pursued b