Spicer, Henry I H. Spicer, Spicer I d. 1891, dramatist, misc. writer. Brought out theatrical periodical, the Curtain, 1847; co-lessee of Olympic Theatre, 1847–49; some of his plays produced there. Author of The Lords of Ellingham, 1839; Honesty, 1842; both in five acts, in verse; and other plays; also of a volume of poems, some volumes of prose fiction, and books on spirit-manifestation. As writer on spiritualism, was to Mrs. Browning "the famous Mr. Spicer" (Letters to Her Sister, p. 193).

      Spicer was, according to Boase, an "intimate friend" of Dickens. He dedicated his Old Styles's to Dickens, "with the regard and gratitude of the author." He presented to Dickens a copy of his Strange Things among Us (Stonehouse, Catalogue). In Some Experiences of a Barrister's Life (I, 140), William Ballantine, writing of Dickens, recorded: "I and Mr. Spicer, a friend of his and mine, had put him up at the Union club, and, to our great grief, the news of his death reached us upon the day on which he would have been elected."
       Spicer's "A White Hand and a Black Thumb" and various other items appeared in A.Y.R. In a letter to Wills, Nov. 25, 1862, Dickens suggested a subject for a possble "droll paper" by Spicer; in a letter of Dec. 20, 1863, he mentioned his having deleted and then restored an incident in one of Spicer's stories, stating that he had himself written to Spicer concerning the matter.
                    Boase

Author: Anne Lohrli; © University of Toronto Press, 1971