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David encounters Aunt Betsey Trotwood
Harold Copping
1924
Photographic reproduction of line drawing
13.9 x 12.8 cm (5 ½ by 5 ⅛ inches), vignetted
An illustration for "Little David Copperfield," p. 69.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
The man directed him towards some houses on the heights, and thither David toiled; a forlorn little creature, without a jacket or waistcoat, his white hat crushed out of shape, his shoes worn out, his shirt and trousers torn and stained, his pretty curly hair tangled, his face and hands sunburnt, and covered with dust. Lifting his big, wistful eyes to one of the windows above, he saw a pleasant faced gentleman with grey hair, who nodded at him several times, then shook his head and went away. David was just turning away to think what he should do, when a tall, erect, elderly lady, with a gardening apron on and a knife in her hand, came out of the house, and began to dig up a root in the garden.
"Go away," she cried. "Go away. No boys here."
But David felt desperate. Going in softly, he stood beside her, and touched her with his finger, and said timidly, "If you please, ma'am ——" and when she looked up, he went on ——
"Please, aunt, I am your nephew."
"Oh, Lord!" she exclaimed in astonishment, and sat flat down on the path, staring at him, while he went on ——
"I am David Copperfield, of Blunderstone, in Suffolk, where you came the night I was born, and saw my dear mamma. I have been very unhappy since she died. [Character Sketches from Dickens, pp. 66-67]
Copping has effectively captured Aunt Betsey's utter astonishment at the announcement by the ragged waif in the precincts of her garden off the heath. The crotchety aunt, so long removed from David's life after she discovered that the latest Copperfield was not a girl, now providentially becomes the boy's guardian and surrogate mother, moved by his appearance, his description of his life under the Murdstones, and the news of his mother's death.
Left: David appears in rags before his astounded aunt in Phiz's original serial illustration, I make myself known to my Aunt (September 1849). Centre: Harry Furniss's study of Mr. Dick's puzzlement as to how he and Miss Betsey should look after the waif in the tenth volume Charles Dickens Library Edition: Mr. Dick suggests treatment for David (1910). Right: Kyd's Player's Cigarette Card No. 36depicting Aunt Betsey in her apron: Betsey Trotwood (1910).
Left: Fred Barnard's Household Edition depiction of Aunt Bestey's driving away the boys and the donkeys from her garden: The Battle on the Green (1872). Right: The elegant frontispiece by F. O. C. Darley illustrating the same incident in Chapter 13, "The Sequel of My Resolution": "Janet! Donkeys!" (1863).
Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman & Hall, May 1849 to April 1850.
Dickens, Mary Angela [Charles Dickens' grand-daughter]. Dickens' Dream Children. London, Paris New, York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., 1924.
Dickens, Mary Angela et al. Children's Stories from Dickens. Introduction by Percy Fitzgerald. Illustrated by Harold Copping. London, Paris New, York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., 1893.
Matz, B. W., and Kate Perugini; illustrated by Harold Copping. Character Sketches from Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1924. Copy in the Paterson Library, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Created 29 September 2023