The Child Wife — David Copperfield
Felix O. C. Darley
Annin-Loomis
1855
9.1 x 8.5 cm (6.5 x 5 inches) vignetted
Steel engraving
Frontispiece for Dickens' Little Folks, Vol. 3, Series One: published by Redfield.
[Click on illustration to enlarge it.]
Image courtesy of Prof. Meg Cronin, from the Rare Book Collection, St. Anselm College, Manchester, New Hampshire. Text, and image scans below, by Philip V. Allingham.
Passage illustrated: David encounters Dora in Mr. Spenlow's Garden
The garden was cool and solitary. I walked about, wondering what my feelings of happiness would be, if I could ever become engaged to this dear wonder. As to marriage, and fortune, and all that, I believe I was almost as innocently undesigning then, as when I loved little Em’ly. To be allowed to call her ‘Dora’, to write to her, to dote upon and worship her, to have reason to think that when she was with other people she was yet mindful of me, seemed to me the summit of human ambition — I am sure it was the summit of mine. There is no doubt whatever that I was a lackadaisical young spooney; but there was a purity of heart in all this, that prevents my having quite a contemptuous recollection of it, let me laugh as I may.
I had not been walking long, when I turned a corner, and met her. I tingle again from head to foot as my recollection turns that corner, and my pen shakes in my hand.
"You — are — out early, Miss Spenlow," said I.
"It’s so stupid at home," she replied, "and Miss Murdstone is so absurd! She talks such nonsense about its being necessary for the day to be aired, before I come out. Aired!" (She laughed, here, in the most melodious manner.) ‘On a Sunday morning, when I don’t practise, I must do something. So I told papa last night I must come out. Besides, it’s the brightest time of the whole day. Don’t you think so?"
I hazarded a bold flight, and said (not without stammering) that it was very bright to me then, though it had been very dark to me a minute before.
"Do you mean a compliment?" said Dora, "or that the weather has really changed?" [Chapter XXVI, "I Fall into Captivity," 196 in the Household Edition]
Preface: Dora, The Child-Wife
The character of Dora in this little volume, although so lovable in its simplicity and childishness, teaches the great truth that a character so unformed, fails to satisfy the companion who has higher views of the duties and trials of life.
It is seen that Agnes, with her strong and yet gentle spirit, meets a want that the sweetest and most winning ways of Dora could not satisfy. We must unite a child-like spirit with a high purpose in life, or we shall fall far short of our desire to be useful, and to be best-loved.
Commentary: Adjusting Dora
To begin with, David is fascinated by Dora Spenlow, who though somewhat childish is hardly a child in the Phiz illustrations for David Copperfield. Darley, therefore, has to adjust the adolescent daughter of the wealthy London lawyer to the image of the child-wife: delicate, charming, vacuous, and shallow. Thus, instead of addressing David as in the original garden scene of the January 1850 instalment, Dora fondles her pet dog and seems to be addressing him rather than fashionably dressed young man who has suddenly accosted her in her father's suburban garden. Her large hat implies concern about her complexion, and her diaphanous dress imparts an ethereal quality to her diminutive form. The girl regards her dog rather than her interlocutor, and holds him up as if he were an inanimate doll, making him the focus of her discourse, and compelling David to interact with her King Charles Spaniel rather than her inane discussion of her relationship with her companion, Miss Murdstone.
Dora, The Child-wife, in the original serial edition, 1850
Above: Phiz's original depictions of Dora Spenlow, I fall into Captivity (Chapter XXVI, January 1850). Our Housekeeping (Chapter LXIV, July 1850). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
The First Appearance of Dora and Jip in the Household Edition (1872)
Above: Fred Barnard's depiction of the first meeting of Dora and David, in the garden at Mr. Spenlow's, Dora (Chapter XXVI,"I Fall into Captivity"). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Other Studies of Dora Spenlow and Jip (1867-1907)
Left: George Arents' Cigarette Card No. 22, from Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, a series of 40: Dora Spenlow (c. 1880-1890). Centre: Sol Eyting, Jr.'s Diamond
Edition portrait of Dora, her companion, and her annoying dog, with the pagoda doghouse:
Left: Harry Furniss's Charles Dickens Library Edition study of David's meeting Dora for the first time: David meets Dora and — Miss Murdstone (1910). Right: W. H. C. Groome's Collins Pocket-edition illustration of the same scene: "I turned a corner, and met her." (1907).
First Series for Dickens' Little Folk (1855)
- Five Vignettes from Dickens' Little Folk
- Little Nell from the “Old Curiosity Shop”
- Smike from “Nicholas Nickleby”
- The Child Wife from “David Copperfield”
- Oliver and the Jew Fagin from “Oliver Twist”
- Little Paul from “Dombey and Son”
- Florence Dombey from “Dombey and Son”
Second Series for Dickens' Little Folk (1856)
- The Boy Joe and Sam Weller from the “Pickwick Papers”
- Sissy Jupe from “Hard Times”
- The Two Daughters from “Martin Chuzzlewit”
- Tiny Tim and Dot, and the Fairy Cricket from the “Christmas Stories”
- Dame Durden, Little Woman from “The Bleak House”
- Dolly Varden, the Little Coquette from “Barnaby Rudge”
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Canton: Ohio U. P., 1980.
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr. Dora — The Child Wife from “David Copperfield.” Dickens' Little Folks, Vol. 3: David Copperfield. Series 1. New York: Redfield, 1855; rpt., John R. Anderson, 1878.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. David Copperfield. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Centenary Edition. 2 vols. London and New York: Chapman & Hall, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911.
_______. The Personal History of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. V.
_______. David Copperfield, with 61 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. III.
_______. The Personal History and Experiences of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. X.
Created 15 November 2023
Last modified 29 May 2025