LORELAI: What’s he so excited about?
EMILY: Oh, who knows? Dickens must have dropped a pencil here at some point.
English author Charles Dickens, previously mentioned.
Charles Dickens made his first trip to the US in 1842, and did visit New Haven and Yale University, praising both. In 1868, after another trip, he described Hillhouse Avenue in New Haven as the most beautiful street in America. It’s possible he really did drop a pencil somewhere on campus!
Yale University does have a quill pen once owned by Charles Dickens [pictured], held at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University. Richard may have taken Rory to see it, inspiring Emily’s comment.
The Annotated Gilmore Girls 