George Claridge Esqr 23, Harp Lane E. C. ---------------- Wilkie Collins |
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LONDON W 4 AU 1 7 [7] |
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26 6 77 |
NOTES
This envelope front is addressed to one of Wilkie's wine merchants, George Claridge. The slightly ambiguous year on the postmark is confirmed as 1877 by the prepaid envelope stamp which is clearly dated 26 6 77.
No letters to Claridge are extant but Wilkie's accounts at Coutts reveal that he bought goods from him from the mid 1870s. On 12 September 1877 a cheque for £13-3s was paid to Claridge. This envelope may have contained the cheque, though the time delay perhaps indicates it contained the order.