But the young lady making a violent effort to disengage herself, he lost his balance, and measured his length upon the ground. — Chap. xix, p. 124, 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). 10.6 cm high by 13.7 cm wide (4 ¼ by 5 ½ inches). Running head: "An Agreeable Understanding" (123). [Click on the illustrations to enlarge them.]
Passage Illustrated: The lecherous Sir Mulberry Hawk thrown off-balance
"I wish you to understand, sir," said Kate, trembling in spite of herself, but speaking with great indignation, ‘that your behaviour offends and disgusts me. If you have a spark of gentlemanly feeling remaining, you will leave me."
"Now why," said Sir Mulberry, "why will you keep up this appearance of excessive rigour, my sweet creature? Now, be more natural — my dear Miss Nickleby, be more natural — do."
Kate hastily rose; but as she rose, Sir Mulberry caught her dress, and forcibly detained her.
"Let me go, sir," she cried, her heart swelling with anger. "Do you hear? Instantly — this moment."
"Sit down, sit down," said Sir Mulberry; "I want to talk to you."
"Unhand me, sir, this instant," cried Kate.
"Not for the world," rejoined Sir Mulberry. Thus speaking, he leaned over, as if to replace her in her chair; but the young lady, making a violent effort to disengage herself, he lost his balance, and measured his length upon the ground. As Kate sprung forward to leave the room, Mr. Ralph Nickleby appeared in the doorway, and confronted her.
"What is this?" said Ralph.
"It is this, sir," replied Kate, violently agitated: "that beneath the roof where I, a helpless girl, your dead brother’s child, should most have found protection, I have been exposed to insult which should make you shrink to look upon me. Let me pass you." [Chapter XIX, "Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr. Ralph Nickleby’s, and of the Manner in which the Company entertained themselves, before Dinner, at Dinner, and after Dinner," 122]
Other Artists' Renderrings of Ralph's Dissolute Aristocrats: 1838-1910
Left: Miss Nickleby Introduced to her Uncle's Friends (September 1838), in which Phiz pursues the subplot of Kate's fortunes while her brother is absent. Centre: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s portrait of Sir Mulberry and his followers: Hawk, Verisopht, Pyke, and Pluck (1867). Right: Fred Barnard's British Household Editioncomposite woodblock engraving of Sir Mulberry and his protege, Lord Frederick Verisopht: Sir Mulberry Hawk and his friend exchanged glances over the top of the bonnet. (1875)
Left: Harry Furniss's 1910 lithograph representing the same scene, Sir Mulberry Hawk insults Kate Nickleby, in the Charles Dickens Library Edition. Right: C. S. Reimhart's version of Kate's indignation for the American Household Edition: "Unhand me, sir, this instant!" cried Kate (1875).
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 24 April 2021