Charles Dickens' pocket watch up for auction
Stride & SonA pocket watch once owned by Charles Dickens is going up for auction.
The open-faced key-wind watch dates from 1836 and was gifted to the famous author on the first anniversary of his editorship of the magazine Bentleys Miscellany.
The watch, along with a desk set, both come from Dickens' descendants and will go on sale in Chichester, West Sussex.
Stride & Son auctioneers described the watch as "unprecedented in terms of historical Dickens memorabilia".
The items are to go on sale after the death of a Dickens' descendant in the Portsmouth area.
The William IV watch has the initials CD and is engraved with the words Dearest Boz editor Bentleys Miscellany Dec 1836.
Boz was a pseudonym used by Dickens in his early writings.
Stride & SonThe brass-bound walnut ebonized desk set dates from 1859 and is engraved Happy Birthday Little Lucifer Box with a plaque to Catherine Elizabeth Dickens, the author's daughter.
It is believed to be a gift for her 20th birthday.
Dickens is thought to have referred to her as Little Lucifer Box on account of her fiery temper.
Getty ImagesBarnaby Chiari, from Stride & Son auctioneers, said: "Both items are of national importance.
"The watch would appear to be unprecedented in terms of historical Dickens memorabilia, both as a talisman of the author's early literary career, and a unique object, the like of which we can find no comparison."
The watch has an auction estimate of £2,000 - £4,000.
The desk set has an estimate of £400 - £600.
Both items go up for auction in Chichester on Wednesday.
