Dirty Dick

Dirty Dick - Ye Olde Port Wine House, Dirty Dick was written about 'The Dirty Old Man (Dirty Dick), A Legend of Bishopsgate, from household Wards conducted by Charles Dickens: "In a dirty old house lived a Dirty Old Man, Soap, towels or brushes were not in his plan, For forty long years as the neighbours declared, His house never once had been cleaned or repaired......"

Nathaniel Bentley (c. 1735-1809), commonly known as Dirty Dick, was an 18th and 19th-century merchant who owned a hardware shop and warehouse in London. He was possibly an inspiration for Miss Havisham in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, after he refused to wash following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day.

Bentley had been quite a dandy in his youth, earning the nickname the Beau of Leadenhall Street, but following the death of his fiancée on their wedding day he refused to wash or clean and for the rest of his life lived in squalor. His house and warehouse shop became so filthy that he became a celebrity of dirt. Any letter addressed to "The dirty Warehouse, London" was delivered to him. He stopped trading in 1804. He died at Haddington about 1809, and was buried in Aubourn parish church. The warehouse was later demolished. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dirty_Dick)

This little rare booklet circa 1920s, is a nice little curiosity, cover is a little dirty however the pages are clean with a colour plate and some black and white pictures. The staple is a little rusty but overall it is a good copy. https://hungrytraveller.com.au/3d-flip-book/dirty-dicks/