A House to Let

A House to Let

"A House to Let" is a short story by Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell and Adelaide Anne Procter. It was originally published in 1858 in the Christmas edition of Dickens' "Household Words" magazine. Each of the contributors wrote a chapter and the story was edited by Dickens.

"A House to Let" was the first collaboration between the four writers, although Collins and Dickens had worked with Procter on previous Christmas stories for the magazine in 1854, 1855, and 1856. The four authors would write together again in 1859's "The Haunted House" which appeared in the extra Christmas number of "All the Year Round", the successor to "Household Words" which Dickens had started after a dispute with his publishers.

In a letter to Collins from 6 September 1858, Dickens outlined his idea for a Christmas story. He originally envisioned the story being written by himself and Collins with his plot outline fleshed out by Collins, but was later to invite Gaskell and Procter to contribute chapters. Dickens and Collins wrote the first chapter, "Over the Way", and the last chapter "Let at Last" together, and each of the writers wrote one of the intervening chapters: Gaskell "The Manchester Marriage", Dickens "Going into Society", Procter "Three Evenings in the House" and Collins "Trottle's Report".

The plot concerns an elderly woman, Sophonisba, who notices signs of life in a supposedly empty dilapidated house (the eponymous "House to Let") opposite her own and employs the efforts of an elderly admirer, Jabez Jarber, and her servant, Trottle, to discover what is happening within.

A dramatisation of "A House to Let" was broadcast on BBC Radio 4 during the week 11-15 December 2006.

References


*cite web|url=http://www.blackmask.com/jrusk/wcollins/letters/letters.htm|title=The Letters of Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins|accessdate=15 December|accessyear=2006
*cite web|url=http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/collins/pva200.html|title=A List of Collaborative Works by Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins|author=Philip V. Allingham (Ed.)|publisher=Victorian Web; Faculty of Education, Lakehead University, Canada|accessdate=15 December|accessyear=2006
*cite web|url=http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/2324|title=A House to Let|author=Charles Dickens, Wilkie Collins, Elizabeth Gaskell, Adelaide Anne Proctor|publisher=Project Gutenberg|accessdate=15 December|accessyear=2006

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • house to let — Cockney Rhyming Slang Bet …   English dialects glossary

  • Let — Let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Let} ({Letted} (l[e^]t t[e^]d), [Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n. {Letting}.] [OE. leten, l[ae]ten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l[=ae]tan (past tense l[=e]t, p. p. l[=ae]ten); akin to OFries. l[=e]ta, OS.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • Let — Let, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Let} ({Letted} (l[e^]t t[e^]d), [Obs].); p. pr. & vb. n. {Letting}.] [OE. leten, l[ae]ten (past tense lat, let, p. p. laten, leten, lete), AS. l[=ae]tan (past tense l[=e]t, p. p. l[=ae]ten); akin to OFries. l[=e]ta, OS.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • let — let1 [let] vt. let, letting [ME leten < OE lætan, to leave behind, akin to Ger lassen < IE * lēd < base * lēi , to neglect, leave behind > LATE, L letum, death] 1. to leave; forsake; abandon: now only in phrases let alone or let be or …   English World dictionary

  • let — 1. v. & n. v. (letting; past and past part. let) 1 tr. a allow to, not prevent or forbid (we let them go). b cause to (let me know; let it be known). 2 tr. (foll. by into) a allow to enter. b make acquainted with (a secret etc.). c inlay in. 3 tr …   Useful english dictionary

  • LET — 1. v. & n. v. (letting; past and past part. let) 1 tr. a allow to, not prevent or forbid (we let them go). b cause to (let me know; let it be known). 2 tr. (foll. by into) a allow to enter. b make acquainted with (a secret etc.). c inlay in. 3 tr …   Useful english dictionary

  • let — [let] verb let PTandPP letting PRESPART [transitive] PROPERTY also let out to allow someone to use a room or building in return for rent …   Financial and business terms

  • House (TV series) — House Also known as House, M.D. Format Medical drama Mystery Dramedy …   Wikipedia

  • House (musique) — Pour les articles homonymes, voir House. House Origines stylistiques Électro …   Wikipédia en Français

  • House Music — House (musique) Pour les articles homonymes, voir House. House Origines stylistiques Électro …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”