et, in the private letters of
Dickens, the simple "C. D." is very frequent; a few examples of it are
given in this article, and their present number in no way represents the
numerical relation of these simple signatures to the more "showy" ones.
It may at once be said that this point of difference is alike
interesting to the student of gesture and to the student of Dickens's
character. He was certainly a very able man of business, and the wording
of his "business" letters fully bears out the idea conveyed by his
"business" signature--so to speak--that Dickens was fully aware of his
own powers, and that, quite fairly, he did not omit to impress the fact
upon other people when he thought fit. Both the wording and the
signature of many of his private letters are simple and unostentatious
to a high degree. This curious fact, which is now illustrated by Charles
Dickens's own hand-gesture, ought to be remembered when people talk
about Dickens's "conceit" and "love of show." My explanation is, I
think, both logical and true.

[Illustration: NO. 14.--WRITTEN IN 1837.]

[Illustration: AGE 30.
_From a Portrait-Bust by H. Dexter._]

No. 14 closes this series for the year 1837. It shows a quaint and
pretty signature on a wrapper.

[Illustration: NO. 15.--WRITTEN MARCH 12, 1841.
_(Announcing the Death of "Raven", a prominent character in "Barnaby
Rudge")_]

[Illustration: AGE ABOUT 30.
_From a Drawing by R.J. Lane, A.E._]

No. 15 shows part of a very humorous and famous letter announcing the
death of the raven which figures in "Barnaby Rudge." Notice the curious
originality of form shown in the capital _Y_ and _R_. The wording of
this letter is also quaintly original, and the sensitive mind of this
man again caused his nerve-muscular action--his gesture--to harmonize
with his mood. Points of this kind, which the handwriting of Dickens
illustrates so well, have a deeper meaning for the observant than for
the casual reader of a magazine article; they indicate that these little
human acts, which have been so long overlooked by intelligent men, do
really give us valuable data for the study of mind by means of
written-gesture.

[Illustration: NO. 16.--WRITTEN IN 1841]

[Illustration: NO. 17.--WRITTEN IN 1841.]

[Illustration: NO. 18.--WRITTEN IN 1843.]

[Illustration: CHARLES DICKENS READING "THE CHIMES," 1844.
_From the original Sketch by David Maelise, R.A._]

[Illustration:
CHARLES DICKENS AS "CAPTAIN BOBADIL" IN "EVE