"Stand off a moment, Tom," cried the old pupil . . . . . "Let me look at you! Just the same! Not a bit changed!" (1872). — Fred Barnard's sixteenth illustration for Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (Chapter XII), page 97. [Former Pecksniff architectural student John Westlock, who parted from Pecksniff's establishment on ill terms, meets Tom Pinch in the presence of Young Martin, left, at an inn.] 10.6 cm x 13.8 cm, or 4 ¼ high by 5 ⅜ inches, framed. Engraving by the Dalziels. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Introducing Handsome, Affluent John Westlock
A famous Inn! the hall a very grove of dead game, and dangling joints of mutton; and in one corner an illustrious larder, with glass doors, developing cold fowls and noble joints, and tarts wherein the raspberry jam coyly withdrew itself, as such a precious creature should, behind a lattice work of pastry. And behold, on the first floor, at the court-end of the house, in a room with all the window-curtains drawn, a fire piled half-way up the chimney, plates warming before it, wax candles gleaming everywhere, and a table spread for three, with silver and glass enough for thirty — John Westlock; not the old John of Pecksniff’s, but a proper gentleman; looking another and a grander person, with the consciousness of being his own master and having money in the bank; and yet in some respects the old John, too, for he seized Tom Pinch by both his hands the instant he appeared, and fairly hugged him, in his cordial welcome.
"And this," said John, "is Mr. Chuzzlewit. I am very glad to see him!" — John had an off-hand manner of his own; so they shook hands warmly, and were friends in no time.
"Stand off a moment, Tom," cried the old pupil, laying one hand on each of Mr. Pinch’s shoulders, and holding him out at arm’s length. "Let me look at you! Just the same! Not a bit changed!"
"Why, it’s not so very long ago, you know," said Tom Pinch, "after all."
"It seems an age to me," cried John, "and so it ought to seem to you, you dog." And then he pushed Tom down into the easiest chair, and clapped him on the back so heartily, and so like his old self in their old bedroom at old Pecksniff’s that it was a toss-up with Tom Pinch whether he should laugh or cry. Laughter won it; and they all three laughed together.
"I have ordered everything for dinner, that we used to say we’d have, Tom," observed John Westlock. [Chapter XII, "Will Be Seen in the Long Run, If Not in the Short One, to Concern Mr. Pinch and Others, Nearly. Mr. Pecksniff Asserts the Dignity of Outraged Virtue. Young Martin Chuzzlewit Forms a Desperate Resolution," 102]
Commentary
Dickens uses the former pupil at Pecksniff's to shed light on Pecksniff's character and establish early in the novel that John Westlock will be the ideal brother-in-law for Tom Pinch. Other illustrators have bypassed this early scene in which Dickens introduces this character who will turn out to be significant; all the other artists do not flag this meeting, but wait until Chapter liv, when John is courting Ruth Pinch. His financial success in London after parting from the Wiltshire architect over his meanness and duplicity is obvious by his hearty manner and his sparing no expense to entertain Tom.
Relevant Illustrations, 1844-1910: John Westlock as Ruth Pinch's Suitor
Left: Hablot Knight Browne's Mr. Pinch and Ruth Unconscious of a Visitor (March 1844). Centre: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s John West;ock and Ruth Pinch (1867). Right: Harry Furniss's Ruth and Westlock in Fountain Court (1910). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned them and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne). London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.
_____. Martin Chuzzlewit. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1863. Vol. 2 of 4.
_____. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Junior. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. 2.
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated Sterling Edition. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne and Frederick Barnard. Boston: Dana Estes, n. d. [1890s]
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 7.
_____. Scenes and Characters from Dickens by Fred Barnard, Phiz, Charles Green, and Others. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.
Kyd [Clayton J. Clarke]. Characters from Dickens. Nottingham: John Player & Sons, 1910.
Matz, B. W., and Kate Perugini; illustrated by Harold Copping. Character Sketches from Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1924.
Steig, Michael. "From Caricature to Progress: Master Humphrey's Clock and Martin Chuzzlewit." Ch. 3, Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978. Pp. 51-85. [See e-text in Victorian Web.]
Steig, Michael. "Martin Chuzzlewit's Progress by Dickens and Phiz. Dickens Studies Annual 2 (1972): 119-149.
Last modified 21 July 2016
Last updated 18 November 2024