Letter from Charles Dickens to Mrs Stirling (5th August 1869). This unpublished letter from Dickens' own pen responds to actress Mary Anne (Fanny) Stirling's request to do a public reading from his novel 'Nicholas Nickleby'. Dickens notes that he is unable to meet her 'between now and Saturday as I am away directly holiday-making. You do not want my permission to read Mrs Nickleby (so far as I know), but you have it freely'. There would normally have been copyright implications in the use of his work