The manuscript of Old Love Letters is dated by Sullivan both on its title page and at its close on the fifth page of music "January 1879". There is no mention of a dedication in the manuscript. However, copies of the "New and Revised Edition" bear the dedication to Mrs. Ronalds. In an undated letter, Sullivan wrote to his mother:

I am having my tea & re-writing Old Love Letters...& have had Lloyd here today to go through it & he likes it immensely. I am copying it & sending it to Boosey."

Edward Lloyd (1845-1927) was described by Grove as "the most famous tenor of his generation" and sang the part of Olybius in the first performance of Sullivan's The Martyr of Antioch in Leeds in October 1880.