"Speak out!" said Martin, "and speak the truth." (1872). Fifty-third illustration by Fred Barnard for the Household Edition of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (Chapter XLVIII), page 377. [The three young men uncovering the secret that cost Mr. Montague his life are John Westlock, Martin Chuzzlewit, and the dissipated surgeon Dr. Lewsome, who unwittingly assisted Jonas in poisoning his father, Anthony Chuzzlewit.] 9.5 x 13.8 cm, or 4 ¼ high by 5 ½ inches, framed, engraved by the Dalziels. Running head: “John Westlock Assists Mr. Pecksniff to Justice." [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Realized: Developing a Strategy to Unmask a Murderer
"What relation was Mr. Anthony Chuzzlewit, who —"
— Who died — to me?" said Martin. "He was my grandfather’s brother."
I fear he was made away with. Murdered!"
"My God!" said Martin. "By whom?"
The young man, Lewsome, looked up in his face, and casting down his eyes again, replied:
"I fear, by me."
By you?" cried Martin.
"Not by my act, but I fear by my means."
"Speak out!" said Martin, "and speak the truth."
"I fear this is the truth."
Martin was about to interrupt him again, but John Westlock saying softly, "Let him tell his story in his own way," Lewsome went on . . . . [Chapter XLVIII, "Bears Tidings of Martin, and of Mark, as Well as if a Third Person Not Quite Unknown to the Reader. Exhibits Filial Piety in an Ugly Aspect; and Casts a Doubtful Ray of Light upon a Very Dark Place," 374. Running Head: "Chuffey Not So Very Mad," 375]
A Note on the Setting: The Bachelor's Suite at Furnival's Inn, Holborn
Left: Dickens's earliest London home, where he had chambers as a reporter; here he wrote both Pickwick Papers and Sketches by Boz: The House in Furnival's Inn (1833-'36).
Even when Barnard was preparing his program of illustration for the 1844 novel, Furnival's Inn, Holborn, was still standing. Rebuilt in 1817, it ceased to be one of the Inns of Court, and no longer housed lawyers. Here young parliamentary shorthand reporter Charles Dickens lived in rented rooms from 1834 through 1837. The modern reader can no longer testify to the verisimilitude of the Barnard plate, for the building was demolished in 1895. Knowing it intimately, Dickens employed it as a setting for three works: Martin Chuzzlewit (John Westlock's rooms), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Grewgious's select spot for dining, at Wood's Hotel in the archway; the temporary residence of Rosa Bud), and Sketches by Boz (the offices of Samuel Briggs, solicitor; mentioned in both "The Bloomsbury Christening" of April, 1834, and "The Steam Excursion" of October, 1834). Barnard makes the interior of Westlock's bachelor suite look most convivial, with books on the secretary desk to the left and a roaring fire.
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the images and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Barnard, Fred. Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by 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.
_____. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, with 59 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition, 22 volumes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. 2. [The copy of the Household Edition from which these pictures were scanned was the gift of George Gorniak, proprietor of The Dickens Magazine, whose subject for the fifth series, beginning in January 2008, was this 1843-44 novel.
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 7.
Hammerton, J. A. "Chapter 15: Martin Chuzzlewit." The Dickens Picture-Book. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 17. Pp. 267-294.
Kyd [Clayton J. Clarke]. Characters from Dickens. Nottingham: John Player & Sons, 1910.
"The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit: Fifty-nine Illustrations by Fred Barnard." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, Being Eight Hundred and Sixty-Six Drawings by Fred Barnard, Hablot Knight 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." London: Chapman and Hall, 1908. Pp. 185-216.
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.
4 February 2008
Last modified 27 November 2024