"I’m not coming an hour later in the morning, you know," said Tim, breaking out all at once, and looking very resolute. "I’m not going to sleep in the fresh air; no, nor I’m not going into the country either," etc., for Chap. XXXV; thirty-third for the Household Edition, illustrated by Fred Barnard with fifty-nine composite woodblock engravings (1875). The framed illustration is 10.8 cm high by 13.8 cm wide (4 ¼ by 5 ⅜ inches), p. 232. Running head: "Established with Cheeryble Brothers" (231). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Passage Illustrated: Tim Linkinwater's Replacement Introduced
"Tim," said brother Charles, "you understand that we have an intention of taking this young gentleman into the counting-house?"
Brother Ned remarked that Tim was aware of that intention, and quite approved of it; and Tim having nodded, and said he did, drew himself up and looked particularly fat, and very important. After which, there was a profound silence.
"I’m not coming an hour later in the morning, you know," said Tim, breaking out all at once, and looking very resolute. ‘I’m not going to sleep in the fresh air; no, nor I’m not going into the country either. A pretty thing at this time of day, certainly. Pho!"
"Damn your obstinacy, Tim Linkinwater," said brother Charles, looking at him without the faintest spark of anger, and with a countenance radiant with attachment to the old clerk. "Damn your obstinacy, Tim Linkinwater, what do you mean, sir?"
"It’s forty-four year," said Tim, making a calculation in the air with his pen, and drawing an imaginary line before he cast it up, "forty-four year, next May, since I first kept the books of Cheeryble, Brothers. I’ve opened the safe every morning all that time (Sundays excepted) as the clock struck nine, and gone over the house every night at half-past ten (except on Foreign Post nights, and then twenty minutes before twelve) to see the doors fastened, and the fires out. I’ve never slept out of the back-attic one single night. There’s the same mignonette box in the middle of the window, and the same four flower-pots, two on each side, that I brought with me when I first came. There an’t — I’ve said it again and again, and I’ll maintain it — there an’t such a square as this in the world. I know there an’t," said Tim, with sudden energy, and looking sternly about him. ‘Not one. For business or pleasure, in summer-time or winter — I don’t care which — there’s nothing like it. There’s not such a spring in England as the pump under the archway. There’s not such a view in England as the view out of my window; I’ve seen it every morning before I shaved, and I ought to know something about it. I have slept in that room," added Tim, sinking his voice a little, "for four-and-forty year; and if it wasn’t inconvenient, and didn’t interfere with business, I should request leave to die there." [Chapter XXXV, "Smike becomes known to Mrs. Nickleby and Kate. Nicholas also meets with new Acquaintances. Brighter Days seem to dawn upon the Family," 230]
Commentary: Nicholas acquires a Pair of Fairy Godfathers
Independent of Reinhart in the American Household Edition, but following the precedent set by Phiz in the original monthly serial illustrations, Barnard realizes Nicholas's visit to the counting-house of the Brothers Cheeryble. Through introducing these benevolent businessman at this late stage of the narrative Dickens tidily resolved Nicholas's fate after his failures as a schoolmaster, actor, and playwright. With the security of a business income and enlightened employers Nicholas will be able to look after his mother and sister. Nicholas, back in London once again, is prosecuting a job search at the Register Office, which in turn leads him to an entirely new field of employment.
While perusing the advertisements for vacancies at the Register Office, Nicholas exchanges glances with a jolly-looking, older gentleman who has been clearly studying him as he prosecutes his job search. As the pair strike up a conversation, Nicholas reveals that his father has recently died and that he as the only son must look after his mother and sister. He reveals Kate's recent difficulties in London while he has been out of town. The fellow offers to take Nicholas to a situation at a warehouse bearing the signage "“The Cheeryble Brothers.” It soon becomes apparent that the twins, Charles and Edwin, are trying to entice their old clerk, Tim Linkinwater, into some form of staged retirement after forty-four years of faithful service. The logical solution is to hire Nicholas to become Tim's assistant so that he can eventually take over Tim's responsibilities entirely. Thus, Chales Cheeryble combines benevolence (offering remunerative employment to an educated young man who has recently lost his father) and good business, taking the workload off the shoulders of the elderly clerk, whom they plan to make a partner in their business.
Other Editions' Versions of the Benevolent Brothers (1839-1910)
Left: Phiz brings in the fairy-godfather businessmen to resolve the Nicklebys' problems: Mr. Linkinwater Intimates His Approval of Nicholas (March 1839). Right: C. S. Reinhart's 1875 American Household Edition composite woodblock engraving of business meeting in the counting-house: His conductor advanced, and exchanged a warm greeting with another old gentleman, the very type and model of himself.
Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Diamond Edition study of the benevolent businessmen and their elderly clerk: Cheeryble Brothers and Tim Linkinwater (1867). Right: Harry Furniss's version of the benevolent twins in the Charles Dickens Library Edition: Nicholas in the Counting House (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 Edution (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-nine illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. XV. 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 26 April 2021 Last modified 7 August 2021