Dickens and His Illustrators Part 11

"In extreme excitement C. D.

"My hand fails me.

"P.S.--PAUSE PUT IT OFF "P.P.S.--EMIGRATE "P.P.P.S.--AND LEAVE ME THE BUSINESS-- I MEAN THE STRAND ONE."

On the conclusion of the second volume of "Master Humphrey's Clock," a dinner was given by d.i.c.kens to celebrate the event. Serjeant Talfourd presided, and the guests included those engaged in the production of the work. "Phiz," in accepting the invitation to be present, wrote as follows:--

33 HOWLAND STREET [1841].

"MY DEAR d.i.c.kENS,--I shall be most happy to remember not to forget the 10th April, and let me express a _dis_interested wish that, having completed and established one 'Shop' in an 'extensive line of business,' you will go on increasing and multiplying suchlike establishments in number and prosperity till you become a d.i.c.k Whittington of a merchant, with pockets distended to most Brobdignag dimensions.--Believe me, yours very truly,

"HABLoT K. BROWNE.."

PLATE x.x.xIV

"MR. PEGGOTTY'S DREAM COMES TRUE"

_Facsimile_ of the Original Drawing for "David Copperfield" by

H. K. BROWNE ("PHIZ")

In the published version the figure of Rosa Dartle (on the left) is omitted, and David's hat is placed upon the table.

_Lent by Her Grace the d.u.c.h.ess of St. Albans._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Through the courtesy of Mr. J. F. Dexter, I am enabled to reproduce in _facsimile_ one of the original designs for "Master Humphrey's Clock,"

depicting Master Humphrey and the Deaf Gentleman. This drawing, executed in pencil, differs slightly from the engraving; underneath it d.i.c.kens has written, "Master Humphrey ADMIRABLE. Could his stick (with a crooked top) be near his chair? I mis...o...b.. the deaf gentleman's pipe, and wish he could have a better one."

To the first cheap edition of "Barnaby Rudge," 1849, "Phiz" contributed the frontispiece,--a drawing on wood (engraved by W. T. Green) representing Dolly Varden, with Hugh hiding in the bushes. In the Library Edition (1858-59) the stories were published independently, each in two volumes, with pretty vignettes on the t.i.tle-pages, specially designed by the same artist and engraved on steel. The original drawings were delicately tinted in water-colours, the subjects being Little Nell and her Grandfather, d.i.c.k Swiveller and the Marchioness, Dolly Varden and Joe Willet, Barnaby and Hugh. In these engravings the female characters are much more charmingly conceived than are those in the woodcuts.

In 1848, when the first cheap edition of the story appeared, Hablot Browne made four new designs as "Extra Ill.u.s.trations" for "The Old Curiosity Shop," viz., Little Nell and her Grandfather, the Marchioness, Barbara, and the Death of Little Nell. They were beautifully engraved in stipple, and issued as an independent publication by the artist and his coadjutor, Robert Young, whose joint venture it was. In the following year they produced a similar set of four plates ill.u.s.trating "Barnaby Rudge," viz., Emma Haredale, Dolly Varden, Mrs. Varden and Miggs, and Hugh and Barnaby. The portraits of the various characters were engraved by Edwards and Knight, under the superintendence of Browne and Young.

The original drawing of Dolly Varden, one of "Phiz's" happiest conceptions, is in the possession of Her Grace the d.u.c.h.ess of St.

Albans, together with an unengraved study for Emma Haredale. There are extant, in Mr. J. F. Dexter's collection, two other studies for the Dolly Varden plate, neither of which has been reproduced; the same gentleman also owns the drawings of Nell and Barbara, the latter being slightly different from, and superior to, the engraving.

A complete series of original water-colour drawings by "Phiz" for "The Old Curiosity Shop" and "Barnaby Rudge," including an unused design for a tailpiece, were sold at Sotheby's in 1897, and realised 610. These drawings were executed as a commission for Mr. F. W. Cosens.

[Sidenote: =Martin Chuzzlewit, 1843-44.=]

Browne's versatile pencil was again actively employed in embellishing the story begun by d.i.c.kens soon after his return from America in 1842, and to this he contributed forty etchings. Here the figures are drawn on a larger scale than usual, thus affording more scope for the delineation of character.

The frontispiece is a most elaborate design, representing the princ.i.p.al characters and incidents in the story, with Tom Pinch at the organ as a central idea. In the ill.u.s.tration where Mark Tapley is seen starting from his native village for London, "Phiz" exhibits his sense of the picturesque in the old gables and dormers of the ancient tenements in the background, while that depicting "Mr. Pecksniff on his Mission" is an excellent verisimilitude of such a locality as Kingsgate Street of fifty years since. But the etching in "Chuzzlewit" which may be described as the artist's happiest effort as a comic creation is that where Mrs. Gamp "propoges" a toast. Here he has admirably ill.u.s.trated the text,--the two midwives in friendly chat, surrounded by bandboxes and other accessories, while behind are seen the immortal Sarah's rusty gowns, which, depending from the bedposts, "had so adapted themselves by long usage to her figure, that more than one impatient husband, coming in precipitately at about the time of twilight, had been for an instant stricken dumb by the supposed discovery that Mrs. Gamp had hanged herself."

All the designs for "Martin Chuzzlewit" were etched on quarto plates, two on each plate. Five of these plates were etched three times, these including, besides the frontispiece and vignette t.i.tle, the first six ill.u.s.trations in the book, and two which appeared in the fourteenth number, viz., "Mr. Pinch Departs to Seek his Fortune," and "Mr. Nadgett Breathes, as Usual, an Atmosphere of Mystery." A careful examination of different copies of the first edition will disclose minute variations in these particular ill.u.s.trations, worthy of special mention being the vignette t.i.tle, where, in the earliest impressions, the mark is incorrectly placed after the figures in the amount of reward on the bill.

In the majority of the "Chuzzlewit" etchings there is a vigour and precision of touch indicating the artist's riper experience. It must, however, be admitted that a few of the plates are so feeble in execution in comparison with the rest as to suggest that "Phiz's" drawings were copied on the plate by a less expert etcher. An instance of this poverty of execution will be found in the first design, depicting "The Meekness of Mr. Pecksniff and his Charming Daughters," and the fact that this plate is unsigned seems significant; in reply to my enquiry respecting it, Mr. Robert Young a.s.sured me that "no one ever copied or etched plates for Browne; he traced the subject on the steel himself, and etched every line before it was bitten in. I know no reason for the omission of his signature to any of his plates."

In a few instances the artist has not strictly followed the text. For example, in the plate where Mr. Pecksniff calls upon Mrs. Gamp, the pie-shop is placed next door, whereas it is clearly described as being next door _but one_. In the etching of Mark Tapley "finding a jolly subject for contemplation," instead of Mark's name being inscribed in full upon the "Rowdy Journal" door, his initials only should appear, "in letters nearly half a foot long, together with the day of the month in smaller type;" the four horses harnessed to the coach in which Tom Pinch departs to seek his fortune ("Phiz's" horses, by the way, are always well drawn) are described as "greys," while in the plate only one is thus represented. Such discrepancies, however, although interesting to note, are unimportant. As usual, we find in the accessories (such as the t.i.tles of books and pictures) sly touches of humour peculiarly _apropos_ of the princ.i.p.al theme. "Phiz's" design for the wrapper of the monthly parts is emblematical of the story; here "silver spoons" and "wooden ladles," as embodied in the original t.i.tle, play a conspicuous part.

The "Chuzzlewit" drawings, all of which have been preserved, are executed in pencil, some having washes of neutral tint. They vary but slightly from the etchings, the greatest differences being noted in the first two designs, this doubtless arising from the difficulty experienced by the artist in immediately seizing the author's meaning.

In one special instance d.i.c.kens favoured his ill.u.s.trator with very precise instructions. Respecting the American scenes, the artist desired more details than usual, so he received from the novelist the following letter (now in Mr. J. F. Dexter's collection), giving particulars for the plate representing "The Thriving City of Eden, as it appeared in Fact."

"Martin and Mark are displayed as the tenants of a wretched log hut (for a pattern whereof see a vignette brought by Chapman & Hall) in a perfectly flat, swampy, wretched forest of stunted timber in every stage of decay, with a filthy river running before the door, and some other miserable log houses distributed among the trees, whereof the most ruinous and tumble-down of all is labelled 'Bank and National Credit Office.' Outside their door, as the custom is, is a rough sort of form or dresser, on which are set forth their pot and kettle and so forth, all of the commonest kind. On the outside of the house, at one side of the door, is a written placard, 'Chuzzlewit and Co., Architects and Surveyors,' and upon a stump of tree, like a butcher's block, before the cabin, are Martin's instruments--a pair of rusty compa.s.ses, &c. On a three-legged stool beside this block sits Martin in his shirt sleeves, with long dishevelled hair, resting his head upon his hands--the picture of hopeless misery--watching the river and sadly remembering that it flows towards home. But Mr. Tapley, up to his knees in filth and brushwood, and in the act of endeavouring to perform some impossibilities with a hatchet, looks towards him with a face of unimpaired good humour, and declares himself perfectly jolly. Mark, the only redeeming feature. Everything else dull, miserable, squalid, unhealthy, and utterly devoid of hope--diseased, starved, and abject.

The weather is intensely hot, and they are but partially clothed."

The artist, naturally bewildered by such elaborate directions, has written underneath this note: "I can't get all this perspective in, unless you will allow of a long subject--something less than a mile!"

For the plate, "Martin Chuzzlewit Suspects the Landlady," two drawings were prepared, but the second was probably only to guide the biter-in of the steel as to the effect of light and shade required; for it occasionally happened that "Phiz" had not time to give verbal instructions to his a.s.sistant, when he would send a rough indication of what was needed in the matter of _chiaroscuro_. In the original drawing representing "The Meekness of Mr. Pecksniff and his Charming Daughters,"

the figure of Tom Pinch differs from the plate, and shows signs of having been quickly sketched in, as though the first idea was not to introduce him at all; in a second delineation of the same subject this figure is limned with greater care.

The original designs for "Chuzzlewit" were disposed of at Sotheby's in 1889 for 433, 13s., the beautifully-finished drawing of the frontispiece realising 35, while that of "Mrs. Gamp 'Propoges' a Toast," rightly considered as one of the artist's _chef-d'oeuvres_, was purchased for 35, 10s.

To the Library Edition (1858-59) "Phiz" contributed a vignette for the t.i.tle-page of each of the two volumes of "Martin Chuzzlewit," which were engraved on steel from the original water-colour drawings. The subject of the first design is almost a repet.i.tion of the etching in the original issue, and depicts the "Meekness of Mr. Pecksniff and his Charming Daughters," the ladies being certainly more attractive in the later conception. In the second vignette we see Mrs. Gamp and Betsy Prig, at the moment when the latter, in her wrath, denied the existence of the memorable Mrs. Harris.

[Sidenote: =Dombey and Son, 1846-48.=]

Among the forty ill.u.s.trations prepared by "Phiz" for "Dombey and Son"

will be found some of the artist's happiest efforts. By this time his experience with the etching-needle enabled him to execute his designs upon the steel plates with wonderful facility and dexterity, and continual practice had made him almost perfect in this particular branch of art. All these plates were etched in duplicate; the greater number were drawn on quarto plates, having two subjects on each as usual, but the frontispiece, the last four ill.u.s.trations, and the duplicates of three others were etched singly on steels of octavo size.[25]

Footnote 25: An American edition (published in 1844) contains fourteen clever _replicas_ of the "Dombey" etchings.

The duplicates do not vary much; that in which an alteration is most noticeable, although hardly perceptible, is "Abstraction and Recognition," the bills on the wall near Alice in one plate being less mutilated than in the other. There was such a large circulation of the book in part form that the printing from the plates could not be executed quickly enough, the etchings being rarely sent in until the last minute; so that it became necessary to resort to lithographic transfers until the duplicate plates could be etched. In "Dombey and Son" the artist first introduced the oblong form of ill.u.s.tration, this lending itself more appropriately to the subjects so treated, and in succeeding novels we find a fair sprinkling of designs of this shape.

When nearing the end of the story he essayed, with considerable success, a new method of obtaining _chiaroscuro_, and he afterwards adopted it whenever striking effects were required. The only plate in "Dombey" so treated is "On the Dark Road," on which, by means of a ruling-machine, a tint had been placed before the subject was drawn, and, by a process of biting-in, stopping-out, and burnishing, an effect resembling mezzotint was obtained. The machine was kept in Mr. Young's studio at Furnival's Inn, and could be manipulated by a boy, the operation of "ruling" being a purely mechanical one; it was the subsequent treatment by acid and burnisher, in reproducing the tones of the original drawing, that required the knowledge of an expert.

A few anomalies may be discovered in the "Dombey" plates. In the various representations of Captain Cuttle the artist has depicted him, in two instances, with the hook upon the left arm instead of the right. When comparing the three plates portraying Sol Gills's little back-parlour, certain little discrepancies are apparent, such as the altered position of the model of a brig, &c. In the plate ent.i.tled "The Wooden Midshipman on the Look-out," Florence is delineated as a well-developed young woman, whereas, according to the text, she was then but a mere child of fourteen. In the same ill.u.s.tration the artist has drawn a pair of horses (or rather their heads) which can have no possible connection with the omnibus near by, although they are evidently intended to be a.s.sociated therewith. In the etching "Abstraction and Recognition," Alice and her mother standing in the archway are much too tall; it is interesting to note here the advertis.e.m.e.nt on the wall of Cruikshank's "Bottle," which may be considered as denoting the popularity of that remarkable series of pictures, then being issued. Two palpable errors are discoverable in the ill.u.s.tration ent.i.tled "On the Dark Road," for not only does the driver hold the reins in the wrong hand, but it will be seen that the wheels of the rapidly-moving carriage are really represented as stationary, while the "off" wheels are omitted altogether. In the last plate but one, the figure of Florence is not sufficiently visionary, and therefore fails to convey the author's meaning respecting the conscience-stricken Dombey.

Hablot Browne invariably laboured under some disadvantage when designing his ill.u.s.trations for d.i.c.kens; indeed, he was sometimes compelled to draw his inspiration merely from the author's verbal explanation or reading of a particular pa.s.sage; so it is not surprising that we discover an occasional discrepancy. In the case of "Dombey," he experienced a difficulty of another kind, for during the writing of the story d.i.c.kens was living at Lausanne in Switzerland, and the sketches had to be sent there for his criticism and approval, which not only caused delay, but gave the artist some trouble in understanding the suggestions made by the author when returning the drawings.

PLATE x.x.xV

"MR. CHADBAND 'IMPROVING' A TOUGH SUBJECT"

_Facsimile_ of the Original Drawing for "Bleak House" by

H. K. BROWNE ("PHIZ")

In the Etching the figure of Jo is placed on the opposite side of the picture.

_Lent by Her Grace the d.u.c.h.ess of St. Albans._

[Ill.u.s.tration]