Title page by Daniel Maclise from Dickens's "The Battle of Life" (1846)

Engraved Title-page

Daniel Maclise; engraver, J. Thompson

1846

Wood engraving

12.8 high by 7.5 cm wide (5 by 2 ⅞ inches), vignetted

Full-page illustration for Dickens's The Battle of Life: A Love Story: "Part the First."

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Suggested by the Engraved Title

Once upon a time, it matters little when, and in stalwart England, it matters little where, a fierce battle was fought. It was fought upon a long summer day when the waving grass was green. Many a wild flower formed by the Almighty Hand to be a perfumed goblet for the dew, felt its enamelled cup filled high with blood that day, and shrinking dropped. Many an insect deriving its delicate colour from harmless leaves and herbs, was stained anew that day by dying men, and marked its frightened way with an unnatural track. The painted butterfly took blood into the air upon the edges of its wings. The stream ran red. The trodden ground became a quagmire, whence, from sullen pools collected in the prints of human feet and horses’ hoofs, the one prevailing hue still lowered and glimmered at the sun. ["Part the First," pp. 3-4]

Commentary: Allegory, Not Reality

On the illustrated title page . . . a butterfly-winged warrior stands on a naked makle corpse (Maclise tweaking his nose at his Puritan critics again?) holding a spear that carries a bannered title, while three other nudes draw bows on the right and one on the left holds up a shield in defense. Scattered field-plants create flowery arrangements atop disused swords: Nature is already covering over the implements of war. A question about Maclise's motivation arises because he was irritated at being asked by Forster rather than by Dickens to design these plates. He chafed at criticism of his previous illustrations for others and for Dickens of nudes in fantasy and fairy land. [Patten, 206]

Related Materials

The Dedication, Illustrations, and Illustrators for The Battle of Life (1846)
Pears' Centenary Edition of The Battle of Life (1912)
The Christmas Books of Charles Dickens
Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s single illustration for The Battle of Life (1867)
A. E. Abbey's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1876)
Fred Barnard's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1878)
Harry Furniss's illustrations for Dickens's The Battle of Life (1910)

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. The Battle of Life: A Love Story. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise, and Clarkson Stanfield. Engraved by J. Thompson, Dalziel, T. Williams, and Green. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846 [December 1845].

Patten, Robert L. Chapter 9, "Battling for his Life." Dickens, Death, and Christmas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. 200-233. [Review]

Created 20 February 2001

Last updated 19 October 2026