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Miss Mowcher
Sol Eytinge
Wood engraving
10 high x 7.6 cm wide (4 by 3 inches), vignetted, facing p. 185.
Tenth full-page Illustration for Dickens's David Copperfield in the Ticknor and Fields (Boston), 1867, Diamond Edition. See below for commentary. [Mouse over the text for links.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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The tenth illustration — taking its cue from Dickens's text — establishes Miss Mowcher's diminutive stature by placing her next to an adult-sized chair, on which she has placed two hairbrushes from her capacious purse. Eytinge establishes her character economically by depicting in detail her extravagant hat and sidelong, knowing glance. No other details of the setting or even the presence of Steerforth and Littimer help us establish the moment realized, but the presence of the chair points to David's initial impressions of her:
Her chin, which was what is called a double chin, was so fat that it entirely swallowed up the strings of her bonnet, bow and all. Throat she had none; waist she had none; legs she had none, worth mentioning; for though she was more than full-sized down to where her waist would have been, if she had any, and though she terminated, as human beings generally do, in a pair of feet, she was so short that she stood at a common-sized chair as at a table, resting a bag she carried on the seat. [Ch. XXII, "Some Old Scenes, and Some New People," 184]
Already, she seems to have broken out in a "torrent of words" directed at Steerforth, addressing the aristocratic youth jocosely as "My flower" (185), and upbraiding him as a "naughty boy" who is far from home and undoubtedly "Up to mischief." Eytinge seems to have been inspired by Steerforth's description of her as "one of the seven wonders of the world" (184) to exhibit her as a carnival side-show personality. Eytinge has included the hairbrushes to signify her trade, even though she has not abstracted them from her bag at this point.
Dickens, Charles. The Personal History of David Copperfield, illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Centenary Edition. London & New York: Chapman & Hall, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911 [rpt. from 1850]. 2 vols.
_______. The Personal History of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. V.
Created 21 January 2011 Last modified 11 July 2022