Darting in, covered Smike's mouth with his huge hand before he could utter a sound, for Chap. XXXIX; thirty-sixth illustration for the British Household Edition, illustrated by Fred Barnard with fifty-nine composite woodblock engravings (1875). The framed illustration is 9.4 cm high by 13.8 cm wide (3 ¾ by 5 ⅜ inches), p. 257. Running head: "Smike Makes Off" (257). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Passage Illustrated: Ralph Nickleby commiserates with the wounded Sir Mulberry Hawk
Now, the fact was, that at that particular moment, John Browdie was sitting on the bed with the reddest face ever seen, cramming the corner of the pillow into his mouth, to prevent his roaring out loud with laughter. He had no sooner succeeded in suppressing this emotion, than he slipped off his shoes, and creeping to the adjoining room where the prisoner was confined, turned the key, which was on the outside, and darting in, covered Smike’s mouth with his huge hand before he could utter a sound.
"Ods-bobs, dost thee not know me, mun?" whispered the Yorkshireman to the bewildered lad. "Browdie. Chap as met thee efther schoolmeasther was banged?"
"Yes, yes," cried Smike. "Oh! help me."
"Help thee!" replied John, stopping his mouth again, the instant he had said this much. "Thee didn’t need help, if thee warn’t as silly yoongster as ever draw’d breath. Wa’at did ‘ee come here for, then?"
"He brought me; oh! he brought me," cried Smike.
"Brout thee!" replied John. "Why didn’t ‘ee punch his head, or lay theeself doon and kick, and squeal out for the pollis? I’d ha’ licked a doozen such as him when I was yoong as thee. But thee be’est a poor broken-doon chap," said John, sadly, "and God forgi’ me for bragging ower yan o’ his weakest creeturs!"
Smike opened his mouth to speak, but John Browdie stopped him.
"Stan’ still," said the Yorkshireman, "and doant’ee speak a morsel o’ talk till I tell’ee."
With this caution, John Browdie shook his head significantly, and drawing a screwdriver from his pocket, took off the box of the lock in a very deliberate and workmanlike manner, and laid it, together with the implement, on the floor. [Chapter XXXIX, "In which another old Friend encounters Smike, very opportunely and to some Purpose," 256]
Commentary: Squeers outmanoeuvred by the Yorkshireman
Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Diamond Edition study of the jolly Yorkshireman, his wife, and her best friend: John and Mrs. Browdie and Fanny Squeers (1867).
John Browdie pulls off a North Country ruse to help Smike escape from the locked room in Squeers’s lodgings. John’s pretended indisposition has enabled him to climb into Squeers’s bed. Now he can barely contain his joy at outsmarting the schoolmaster, and must stuff the corner of the pillow into his mouth to stifle his laughter, the scene that C. S. Reinhart realizes in the American Household Edition. Barnard here takes a wholly different approach from that of his transAtlantic co-worker, by offering not a character study of the jovial dialectal character, but rather on his stiffling Smike's cry of surprise as he dashes through the door.
The Other Edition's Handling of the Jovial John's effecting the escape (1875)
Above: C. S. Reinhart's American Household Edition interpretation of John's facilitating Smike's escape: John was sitting on the bed, with the reddest face ever seen.
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 29 August 20211