"I don't forget you, my soul, and never shall, and never can," said Mantalini, kissing his wife's hand, and grimacing aside to Miss Nickleby, who turned away — Chap. XVII, p. 108, from the Household Edition of Charles Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, illustrated by Fred Barnard with fifty-nine composite woodblock engravings (1875). 10.7 cm high by 13.7 cm wide (4 ⅛ by 5 ½ inches). Running head: "An Agreeable Understanding" (123). [Click on the illustrations to enlarge them.]
Passage Illustrated: Mantalini Ingratiates Himself with his Wife
‘Dear me, child!" exclaimed Madame Mantalini, recoiling in surprise. "How came you here?"
"Child!" cried Mantalini, hurrying in. "How came — eh! — oh — demmit, how d’ye do?"
"I have been waiting, here some time, ma’am," said Kate, addressing Madame Mantalini. "The servant must have forgotten to let you know that I was here, I think."
"You really must see to that man," said Madame, turning to her husband. "He forgets everything."
"I will twist his demd nose off his countenance for leaving such a very pretty creature all alone by herself," said her husband.
"Mantalini," cried Madame, ‘you forget yourself."
"I don’t forget you, my soul, and never shall, and never can," said Mantalini, kissing his wife’s hand, and grimacing aside, to Miss Nickleby, who turned away. [Chapter XVII, "Follows the Fortunes of Miss, Nickleby," 105]
Other Editions' Versions of Mrs. Mantalini's Shop (1875-1910)
Above: The scene in Madame Mantaklin's shop that precedes the otherwise astute businesswoman's introducing her new assistant to her profligate husband: "Oh, Miss Knag," said Madame Mantalini, "this is the young person I spoke to you about.'" , — Chapter 17 in the 1875 American Household Edition, illustrated by Charles Stanley Reinhart in New York for Harper and Brothers.
Left: Phiz introduces the seamstress's cutting-room director, Miss Knag, to Kate and readers in Madame Mantalin's establishment: Madame Mantalini introduces Kate to Miss Knag (August 1838, instalment 5). Centre: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s American Diamond Edition composite woodblock portrait of the diligent dressmaker-milliner and her shiftless husband: Mr. and Madame Mantalini (1867). Right: Harry Furniss's 1910 lithograph representing the fashionable West End dressmaker, What Ralph Nickleby saw at Mrs. Mantalini's, in the Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910).
Related material, including front matter and sketches, by other illustrators
- Nicholas Nickleby (homepage)
- Phiz's 38 monthly illustrations for the novel, April 1838-October 1839.
- Cover for monthly parts
- Charles Dickens by Daniel Maclise, engraved by Finden
- "Hush!" said Nicholas, laying his hand upon his shoulder. (Vol. 1, 1861)
- The Rehearsal (Vol. 2, 1861)
- "My son, sir, little Wackford. What do you think of him, sir?" (Vol. 3, 1861)
- Newman had caught up by the nozzle an old pair of bellows . . . (Vol. 4, 1861).
- Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s 18 Illustrations for the Diamond Edition (1867)
- C. S. Reinhart's 52 Illustrations for the American Household Edition (1875)
- Harry Furniss's 29 illustrations for Nicholas Nickleby in the Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910)
- Kyd's four Player's Cigarette Cards (1910).
Scanned image, colour correction, sizing, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Barnard, J. "Fred" (il.). Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, with fifty-eight illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Volume 15. Rpt. 1890.
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.
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 Nicholas Nickleby. With fifty-two illustrations by C. S. Reinhart. The Household Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1872. I.
__________. Nicholas Nickleby. With 39 illustrations by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman & Hall, 1839.
__________. Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 4.
__________. "Nicholas Nickleby." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, being eight hundred and sixty-six drawings by Fred Barnard et al.. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.
Created 4 August 2021