Chapter I

SCENES AND CHARACTERS

FROM THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS

BEING EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX
PICTURES PRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL
WOOD BLOCKS

SCENES AND CHARACTERS FROM THE WORKS OF CHARLES DICKENS

BEING EIGHT HUNDRED AND SIXTY-SIX DRAWINGS BY

FRED BARNARD
HABLOT K. BROWNE (PHIZ)
J. MAHONEY
CHARLES GREEN
A. B. FROST
GORDON THOMSON
J. McL. RALSTON
H. FRENCH
E. G. DALZIEL
F. A. FRASER
AND SIR LUKE FILDES

PRINTED FROM THE ORIGINAL WOODBLOCKS

ENGRAVED FOR "THE HOUSEHOLD EDITION"

THE MUSSON BOOK CO. LIMITED

LONDON ENGLAND
TORONTO CANADA

Printed by BALLANTYNE & CO. LIMITED
Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London

LIST OF WORKS AND ARTISTS

TITLE DESIGN _By Gordon Thomson_

SKETCHES BY BOZ 34 _Illustrations by Fred Barnard_

THE PICKWICK PAPERS 57 " " _Phiz_

OLIVER TWIST 28 " " _J. Mahoney_

NICHOLAS NICKLEBY 59 " " _Fred Barnard_

MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK AND
OTHER STORIES 9 " " _Fred Barnard_

THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP 39 " " _Charles Green_

BARNABY RUDGE 46 " " _Fred Barnard_

AMERICAN NOTES 10 " " _A. B. Frost_

MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT 59 " " _Fred Barnard_

CHRISTMAS BOOKS 28 " " _Fred Barnard_

PICTURES FROM ITALY 8 " " _Gordon Thomson_

DOMBEY AND SON 62 " " _Fred Barnard_

DAVID COPPERFIELD 61 " " _Fred Barnard_

A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND 15 " " _J. McL. Ralston_

BLEAK HOUSE 61 " " _Fred Barnard_

HARD TIMES 20 " " _H. French_

LITTLE DORRIT 58 " " _J. Mahoney_

REPRINTED PIECES 9 " " _E. G. Dalziel_

A TALE OF TWO CITIES 25 " " _Fred Barnard_

UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER 26 " " _E. G. Dalziel_

GREAT EXPECTATIONS 30 " " _F. A. Frazer_

OUR MUTUAL FRIEND 58 " " _J. Mahoney_

CHRISTMAS STORIES 23 " " _E. G. Dalziel_

EDWIN DROOD 12 " " _Luke Fildes_

LIFE OF DICKENS 28 " " _Fred Barnard_

INTRODUCTORY NOTE

THERE is one question upon which the critics and lovers of Dickens seem never able to get into agreement, and that is the question of the original illustrations to his works. To the thorough-going enthusiast Phiz and Dickens seem inseparable, and no edition which does not contain the old, familiar grotesques of Hablot Browne's imagination, or, in the earlier volume, the equally abnormal lineaments portrayed by Cruikshank or Seymour, would be deemed worthy of a place upon his bookshelf. But a younger generation is growing up, for whom the time-honoured pictures have not the charm of long association, and among them it is common to hear the complaint that the natural humour and pathos of the author's best works are spoiled to modern fancy by the violent caricatures of the illustrator. "Let us abolish these pictures altogether," they say: "and illustrate the books with pretty conventionalities by more fashionable artists." At the opposite pole stands yet another group of critics--the "Superior People" who have made up their minds that Dickens himself was a caricaturist, and that therefore the early illustrations, even if they do a little emphasise his exaggerations, are only conceived in fitting harmony with a world of fancy which drowns itself in excesses of the grotesque. Among so many doctors, and all so emphatic, who shall decide? It is, at any rate, no easy task.

It happens, however, that there does exist a series of Dickens illustrations, now in some danger of being unduly neglected, in which the artists were wonderfully happy in preserving the original features of Phiz and Cruikshank's interpretations, while they toned down the more extravagant details and brought imagination into closer harmony with reality. These were the illustrations to the square-shaped "Household Edition," published in 1870, just after the great novelist's death--and now reissued in this Dickens picture-book, in the hope that those who love the stories may like to possess in separate form what is, perhaps, the best pictorial accompaniment that the novels ever received. At the time of its first publication, the "Household Edition" enjoyed an enormous success. At the moment the name of Dickens was on every one's lips, and the fact that this splendidly illustrated reprint was issued in penny numbers and sixpenny parts placed it within reach of even the most humbly stocked purse. Its sale was stupendous, and the familiar green-covered pamphlets percolated through every town and village where the English tongue is spoken. The original copies may still be met with, under many a country timbered roof, carefully treasured as one of the most cherished household possessions.

Undoubtedly, a great part of the success was due to the art of the illustrators. To begin with, there was an unusually liberal display of pictures--the edition, as a whole, containing close upon nine hundred. But more important than the number were the truth and sincerity of the interpretations--qualities which helped to give a new life to characters already secure of immortality. First and foremost, of course, the edition will always be associated with the memory of Fred Barnard, whose pictures are the outstanding feature of the present volume. Barnard seemed destined by nature to illustrate Dickens; the spirit of "Boz" ran again in his veins. And nothing in his work is more impressively ingenious than the skill with which he took the types already created by his predecessors, preserved their characteristics, so that each was unmistakably himself, and yet by the illuminating touch of genius transferred them every one from the realm of caricature to that of portraiture. Not far inferior to him was that admirable draughtsman, Charles Green, who exactly adopted Barnard's attitude to the originals. The reader who will compare Green's illustrations to "The Old Curiosity Shop" with Phiz's, will scarcely fail to notice with interest how often Green has chosen the same subject as his predecessor, and all but treated it in the same manner, save that a twisted grotesque suddenly becomes, under the magic of his wand, a natural human being. His picture of Sally Brass and the Marchioness is a remarkable instance in point: but there are many others equally eloquent of his sympathetic and interpretative method. Nor should the work of Mahony, A. B. Frost, Gordon Thomson and others be forgotten, for each in his own way has helped to make this volume, what its publishers confidently claim it to be, a collection of Dickens pictures unrivalled for humour, pathos, character, and interpretative skill. In the certainty that such a gallery of good work can hardly fail to find appreciators, the volume is now offered to all lovers of the most widely popular author of the Victorian Era.

SKETCHES BY BOZ

ILLUSTRATIVE OF EVERY-DAY LIFE AND EVERY-DAY PEOPLE.

THIRTY-FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

BY FRED BARNARD

THE POSTHUMOUS PAPERS OF THE PICKWICK CLUB

FIFTY-SEVEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY PHIZ

THE ADVENTURES OF
OLIVER TWIST

TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS
BY J. MAHONEY

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY

FIFTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

MASTER HUMPHREY'S CLOCK AND OTHER STORIES

NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

THE OLD CURIOSITY SHOP

THIRTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY C. GREEN

BARNABY RUDGE

A TALE OF THE RIOTS OF 'EIGHTY

FORTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

"I!" SAID THE LORD MAYOR MOST EMPHATICALLY. "CERTAINLY NOT"--Chap. lxi.]

AMERICAN NOTES

TEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. B. FROST

.

THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF MARTIN CHUZZLEWIT

FIFTY-NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

CHRISTMAS BOOKS

TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

PICTURES FROM ITALY

EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY GORDON THOMSON

DEALINGS WITH THE FIRM OF DOMBEY AND SON WHOLESALE, RETAIL AND FOR EXPORTATION

SIXTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD

SIXTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

"DROWNDEAD," SAID MR. PEGGOTTY--Chap. iii.]

A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND

FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. McL. RALSTON

BLEAK HOUSE

SIXTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS

BY FRED BARNARD

.

HARD TIMES

TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. FRENCH

LITTLE DORRIT

FIFTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. MAHONEY

REPRINTED PIECES

NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY E. G. DALZIEL

A TALE OF TWO CITIES

TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

THE UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER

TWENTY-SIX ILLUSTRATIONS BY E. G. DALZIEL

GREAT EXPECTATIONS

THIRTY ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. A. FRASER

OUR MUTUAL FRIEND

FIFTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS

BY J. MAHONEY

.

CHRISTMAS STORIES FROM "HOUSEHOLD WORDS" AND "ALL THE YEAR ROUND"

TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS BY E. G. DALZIEL

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD

TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY SIR LUKE FILDES, R.A.

THE LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS

TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD

* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Many of these notes will only apply to the HTML version as they refer to captions that are small-capped in the original which cannot be represented in a plain text version.

Obvious punctuation repaired.

Page 24, "the" changed to "The" at start of sentence. (The body washed ashore)

Page 61, "i" changed to "I" (I'll eat my head)

Page 63, "i" changed to "I" (Directly I leave go)

Page 81, "i" changed to "I" (and I have the strength)

Page 82, "vi" changed to "xvi" (Chap. xvi.)

Page 85, "i" changed to "I" (here I am)

Page 86, first word of new sentence "He" capitalized. (He had now fallen)

Page 111, "i" changed to "I" (No, no, I'm not)

Page 111, "--Chap. lxiii." added to illustration

Page 117, "Heavans" changed to "Heavens" (Heavens! Can I write)

Page 150, "is'nt" changed to "isn't" (there he isn't)

Page 162, "--Chap. xlviii." added to illustration

Page 201, "xxvl" changed to "xxvi" (Chap. xxvi.)

Page 323, "Hamlet'8" changed to "Hamlet's" (Hamlet's aunt betrays)

Page 381, "Buckett" changed to "Bucket" (Mr. Bucket urging a sensible)

Page 402, "i" changed to "I" (that I have meant)

Page 431, "rome" changed to "Rome" (the walls of Rome)

Page 464, "sunday" changed to "Sunday" (theatre, Sunday night)

Page 521, "Wraeburn" changed to "Wrayburn" (Mr. Eugene Wrayburn)

Page 522, "p easant" changed to "pleasant" (It was a pleasant sight)

Page 545, "i" changed to "I" (if I gave it you)