The Monk and the Lady
Jacque and Fussell
Bastin and G. Nichols
1841
Wood-engraving
5.9 cm by 5.9 cm
Tailpiece for A Sentimental Journey, p. 10.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Passage Suggested
When a man is discontented with himself, it has one advantage however, — that it puts him into an excellent frame of mind for making a bargain. Now there being no travelling through France and Italy without a chaise, and nature generally prompting us to the thing we are fittest for, I walked out into the coach-yard to buy or hire something of that kind to my purpose: an old désobligeant in the furthest corner of the court, hit my fancy at first sight, so I instantly got into it, and finding it in tolerable harmony with my feelings, I ordered the waiter to call Monsieur Dessein, the master of the hotel; but Monsieur Dessein being gone to vespers, and not caring to face the Franciscan, whom I saw on the opposite side of the court, in conference with a lady just arrived at the inn, I drew the taffeta curtain betwixt us, and being determined to write my journey, I took out my pen and ink and wrote the preface to it in the désobligeant. ["The Désobligeant. Calais," pp. 9-10]
Commentary
From the earliest illustrated editions of the last decade of the eighteenth century, the visual interpreters of the novel (probably responding to the reactions of the novel's earliest readers) selected the scenes between the Monk and Yorick for full-page illustration. The single most popular scene seems to have been that in which, fearing that his treatment of the old Franciscan has made him appear callous and materialistic to the young lady who has observed the interaction between the English traveller and the Italian Monk, Yorick gives the Monk his valuable tortoise-shell snuff-box. Preceding this significant scene, however, is Yorick's noticing the beautiful lady from Flanders talking to the the Monk. Fearing that he has ruined his chances with her by being so dismissive of the Monk's request for alms, Yorick determines to make amends — and repair his romantic image. At this point, Yorick's embracing sentimentalism has all the appearance of adopting a stratagem to enable Yorick to get the lady into his carriage for the trip to Paris.
Other Calais Scenes involving Yorick and the Monk (1792, 1841 and 1857)
Left: Stothard's group study of the Monk exchanging snuff-boxes with Yorick in the presence of the lady from Flanders, Yorick, the Lady, and the Monk from "The Snuff-box" (1792). Centre: Jacque and Fussell's wood-engraving of the snuff-box echange, Yorick and the Monk (1841). Right: Johannot's meeting of the Monk, the Lady, and Yorick, misentitled Sterne and The Monk. — The Snuff-Box (1857).
Bibliography
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. Illustrated with one hundred engravings on wood, by Bastin and G. Nichols, from original designs by Jacque and Fussell. London: Joseph Thomas, 1841.
Sterne, Laurence. A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. With 100 illustrations by Tony Johannot. London: Willoughby, 1857.
Last modified 30 September 2018