Mr. Haredale

Sol Eytinge

Wood engraving, approximately 10 cm high by 7.5 cm wide (framed), facing p. 255.

Ninth illustration for Dickens's Barnaby Rudge in the single volume Barnaby Rudge and Hard Times in the Ticknor & Fields (Boston, 1867) Diamond Edition.

In this ninth illustration, Eytinge attempts to capture a highly suspenseful moment in chapter 56 which falls between two scenes in the same chapter in the original serial, Phiz's "Old John at a Disadvantage" and Cattermole's "The Murderer Arrested." [Commentary continues below.]

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Eytinge's interest lies not in the details of the setting, but in sustaining the suspense generated by the text.Although undoubtedly a character study, this ninth illustration (almost a "dark plate" since the only source of illumination is the moon)> strongly suggests the following passage, which occurs on the facing page of chapter 56:

Mr. Haredale tied his horse to the trunk of a tree, and grasping his companion's arm, stole softly along the footpath, and into what had been the garden of his house. He stopped for an instant to look upon its smoking walls, and at the stars that shone through roof and floor upon the heap of crumbling ashes. Solomon glanced timidly in his face, but his lips were tightly pressed together, a resolute and stern expression sat upon his brow, and not a tear, a look, or gesture indicating grief, escaped him.

He drew his sword; felt for a moment in his breast, as though he carried other arms about him; then grasping Solomon by the wrist again, went with a cautious step all round the house. He looked into every doorway and gap in the wall; retraced his steps at every rustling of the air among the leaves; and searched in every shadowed nook with outstretched hands. Thus they made the circuit of the building: but they returned to the spot from which they had set out, without encountering any human being, or finding the least trace of any concealed straggler. [ch. 56, p. 255]

Mr. Haredale, owner of The Warren, returns to his estate near the Maypole after liberating John Willet, whom the Gordon rioters have trussed up. As he investigates the smoking ruins, he detects a noise in the old tower (the precise moment that the American illustrator chose to realise). While Cattermole, determined to deal with the architectural setting of the action, undermines the chapter's suspense by depicting Haredale confronting the murderer of his brother, Old Rudge, at the top of the tower, Eytinge imbues the night scene with a suitable sense of mystery and does not spoil the suspense. His depiction of Haredale as a lean, thoughtful aristocrat carrying a rapier is consistent with the original illustrators' images of the Catholic-sympathiser in the 1841 Chapman and Hall series, including Phiz's "To The Rescue" (ch. 67), "Mr. Haredale Bestows His Niece's Hand" (ch. 79), and Cattermole's "Sir John Chester's End." (ch. 81)

Bibliography

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: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge and Hard Times. Il. Sol Eytinge, Jr. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.

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Last modified 20 November 2011