Opening
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
Part I
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
AMERICAN NOTES
TEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY A. B. FROST
[Illustration: "RATHER A HEAVY SEA ON, SIR, AND A HEAD WIND"--Chap. ii].
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
A CHILD'S HISTORY OF ENGLAND
FIFTEEN ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. McL. RALSTON
BLEAK HOUSE
SIXTY-ONE ILLUSTRATIONS
BY FRED BARNARD
[Illustration: "OF ALL MY OLD ASSOCIATIONS, OF ALL MY OLD PURSUITS AND HOPES, OF ALL THE LIVING AND THE DEAD WORLD, THIS ONE POOR SOUL ALONE COMES NATURAL TO ME, AND I AM FIT FOR"--Chap. xxiv].
HARD TIMES
TWENTY ILLUSTRATIONS BY H. FRENCH
Book 3
LITTLE DORRIT
FIFTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY J. MAHONEY
Book 2
REPRINTED PIECES
NINE ILLUSTRATIONS BY E. G. DALZIEL
A TALE OF TWO CITIES
TWENTY-FIVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD
Book 3
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
[Illustration: "HERE YOU ARE AGAIN," REPEATED MR. WEGG, MUSING. "AND WHAT ARE YOU NOW?"--Chap. v].
Book 4
CHRISTMAS STORIES FROM "HOUSEHOLD WORDS" AND "ALL THE YEAR ROUND"
TWENTY-THREE ILLUSTRATIONS BY E. G. DALZIEL
Act IV
THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROOD
TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS BY SIR LUKE FILDES, R.A.
THE LIFE OF CHARLES DICKENS
TWENTY-EIGHT ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRED BARNARD
Book 1
* * * * *
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)