"He drew Ralph Nickleby to the further end of the room, and pointed towards Gride, who sat huddled together in a corner, fumbling nervously with the buttons of his coat, and exhibiting a face, of which every skulking and base expression was sharpened and aggravated to the utmost by his anxiety and trepidation." — Fred Barnard's fifty-first illustration for Dickens's "Nicholas Nickleby" (1875)

He drew Ralph Nickleby to the further end of the room, and pointed towards Gride, who sat huddled together in a corner, fumbling nervously with the buttons of his coat, and exhibiting a face, of which every skulking and base expression was sharpened and aggravated to the utmost by his anxiety and trepidation., for Chap. LIV; fifty-first illustration for the British Household Edition, illustrated by Fred Barnard with fifty-nine composite woodblock engravings (1875). The framed illustration is 9.4 x 13.8 cm (3 ¾ by 5 ½ inches), framed, p. 361. Running head: "Reassuring the Bride's Father" (361). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Passage Illustrated: Ralph reassures Walter Bray in his apartments

"She is ready, is she?" said Ralph.

"Quite ready," returned the father.

"And not likely to delay us by any young-lady weaknesses — fainting, or so forth?" said Ralph.‘She may be safely trusted now," returned Bray. "I have been talking to her this morning. Here! Come a little this way."

"Look at that man," whispered Bray, emphatically. "This seems a cruel thing, after all."

"What seems a cruel thing?" inquired Ralph, with as much stolidity of face, as if he really were in utter ignorance of the other’s meaning.

"This marriage," answered Bray. "Don’t ask me what. You know as well as I do."

Ralph shrugged his shoulders, in silent deprecation of Bray’s impatience, and elevated his eyebrows, and pursed his lips, as men do when they are prepared with a sufficient answer to some remark, but wait for a more favourable opportunity of advancing it, or think it scarcely worth while to answer their adversary at all. [Chapter LIV, "Of Family Matters, Cares, Hopes, Disappointments, and Sorrows," 361]

Commentary

Although Barnard has staged two previous scenes in this upstairs parlour of Walter Bray's apartments near the King's Bench Prison, this is really the first time that he has offered a comprehensive view of the room, which Dickens describes in some detail when Nicholas first visits the Brays on behalf of his employers, the Cheerybles. Gride, in a cramped posture, with his hand to his mouth, seems overwrought, in contrast to Walter Bray (who points at the bridegroom with his cane), and the stoical Ralph Nickleby (right). Barnard emphasizes the material comforts and possessions that Madeline's have produced: a harp, a piano, and an elegant table in front of the window.

Relevant Illustrations from Other Editions (1839-1875)

Left: Phiz shows how Nicholas outwits Gride and his uncle Ralph in Nicholas Congratulates Arthur Gride on His Wedding Morning (August 1839). Centre: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Diamond Edition study of the novel's miserly villains: Ralph Nickleby and Arthur Gride (1867). Right: Fred Barnard's Household Edition illustration for the previous chapter involves Nicholas's attempting to dissuade Madeline from going through with the wedding: "I must beseech you to contemplate again the fearful curse to which you have been impelled."

Above: C. S. Reinhart's 1875 woodblock engraving of Walter Bray's parlour is consistent in its layout and furnishings (particular the harp) with Barnard's: And then, taking the beautiful burden in his arms, rushed out in Chapter 46 of the American Household Edition.

Related material, including front matter and sketches, by other illustrators

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 23 September 2021