Dickens's "Little Paul and his Sister," by Harold Copping (1893)

Little Paul and his Sister by Harold Copping. Tailpiece illustration for "Dickens' Dream Children" in Mary Angela Dickens's Children's Stories from Dickens in the Raphael Tuck edition (1893), p. 10. 9.3 x 13 cm (4 by 5 inches) vignetted. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passages Illustrated: Little Paul dies, tended by Florence (1846 and 1893)

Harry Furniss's study of Paul's death incorporates his prostrate father: Mr. Dombey at Paul's sick-bed (1910).

He felt his father’s breath upon his cheek, before the words had parted from his lips.

“Remember Walter, dear Papa,” he whispered, looking in his face. “Remember Walter. I was fond of Walter!” The feeble hand waved in the air, as if it cried “good-bye!” to Walter once again.

“Now lay me down,” he said, “and, Floy, come close to me, and let me see you!”

Sister and brother wound their arms around each other, and the golden light came streaming in, and fell upon them, locked together.

“How fast the river runs, between its green banks and the rushes, Floy! But it’s very near the sea. I hear the waves! They always said so!”

Presently he told her the motion of the boat upon the stream was lulling him to rest. [Chapter XVI, "What the Waves were always saying"]

Commentary by Percy Fitzgerald: "Dickens' Dream Children"

The premier children — the "super-children," as Mr. Shaw would have it — in whose case Boz exercised all his power, and which rank in the very first place, were, of course, Little Nell and Little Dombey, and also the pathetic, little, lame Tiny Tim. These portraits are of the most affecting kind, the reason perhaps being that they were drawn out of his own soul. Not only was Boz the introducer of these children, but he was also the creator of the most popular type — that is, of the heroic, tender-hearted, self-sacrificing affectionate child, whom others, now that the way was shown, found it easy to make one of their characters — that is the advanced child, who was to a degree grown up. Nay, we go a little further still, and claim for him that he so elevated and purified the type that he brought this attractive form of child into real life and taught us how to love and appreciate it, which we did not before. And yet these are, all the time, in Elia's [essayist Charles Lamb's] happy words, Dream Children, lent from the beyond: spiritualised and yet accepted; imperfect, as real as living. Alas, we do not meet, nor are we likely to meet, Little Nells or Paul Dombeys or Tiny Tims. They are the true Dream Children. [Fitzgerald, pp. 9-10]

Related Material

Illustrations of scenes related to Paul's death in Other Editions

Left: Phiz's February 1847 illustration for the fourteenth chapter, Poor Paul's Friend, in which Florence finds solace in the company of the dog devoted to her brother. Centre: W. L. Sheppard's moving study of the the death-bed scene Sister and brother wound their arms around each other (American Household Edition, 1873). Right: Fred Barnard's study in grief: It was repeated, often — very often, in the shadowy solitude; and broken murmurs of the strain still trembled on the keys . . . (British Household Edition, 1877).

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1910)

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. Formatting, color correction, and linking by George P. Landow. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). [1846-48] The Clarendon Edition, ed. Alan Horsman. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. L. Sheppard. The Household Edition. 18 vols. New York: Harper & Co., 1873.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard [62 composite wood-block engravings]. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. II.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow, 1900, rpt. 1934. 2 vols. in one.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. IX.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

Fitzgerald, Percy. "Dickens' Dream Children." Illustrated by Harold Copping. Tailpiece. Children's Stories from Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1893. Pp. 6-10.

Created 25 January 2022