Information
From 1831 Andersen began to travel widely in Europe and soon realised that his reputation as a writer of fairy stories, plays and novels was more firmly established abroad than in his native Denmark. In particular he was greeted with great acclaim on his first visit to Britain in 1847. Charles Dickens was an admirer of his and invited Andersen to supper with him and his family at their house in Broadstairs on his last evening in the country. He also made a special journey to see him off at Ramsgate the following day, which Andersen found particularly gratifying.
Quotations
I rushed to get a carriage to take me there and back (six shillings) ; drove from Ramsgate to Broadstairs, which is said to be two and a half English miles away. It didn’t seem so far. It was a nice little town, close to the sea… They welcomed me very warmly; I was so happy there that I only later discovered that we were sitting right by the ocean - the waves were rolling under our windows….It was ebb tide ; the lighthouse lit up out on the sandbank where many ships run aground.
Place | Extract |
| Broadstairs | Charles Dickens was an admirer of his and invited Andersen to supper with him and his family at their house in Broadstairs on his last evening in the country... |
| Gadshill | In his diary, Andersen described the companionable walk the two men then took to what Dickens called ‘Andersen’s monument’ since he himself had not known of it before... |
| Ramsgate | His ten weeks in Britain had seen him receive the kind of acclaim and recognition he felt he had not been accorded in his own country... |
