"The Apparition"

Sol Eytinge, Junior

1867

Wood-engraving

9.9 cm high x 7.4 cm wide

The fifth illustration for Dickens's Additional Christmas Stories in the Ticknor & Fields (Boston, 1867) Diamond Edition, facing page 298.

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Having the effect of a "dark plate" in the manner of Hablot Knight Browne in the serialised novel of 1852-53 Bleak House — such a plate being The Ghost's Walk, the simple wood-engraving conveys a sense of what the signalman thought saw in the railway tunnel — a supernatural visitation portending an accident on the line. [Commentary continues below.]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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