Mr. Jaggers And His Clients by Harry Furniss. 1910. 4.3 x 6.7 inches (9 cm by 13.9 cm). Dickens's Great Expectations, Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing p. 161. Original caption: Mr. Jaggers suddenly stopped, and turning on the two women with shawls, said, "Oh! Amelia, is it?" "Yes, Mr. Jaggers." "But for me," he retorted, "you wouldn't be here. Say another word — and Wemmick shall give you your money back." The excitable Jew had already raised the skirts of Mr. Jaggers' coat to his lips several times. — p. 157.
Commentary: A Favourite Scene for Illustrators
Sol Eytinge, Junior's portrait of the stern criminal attorney: Jaggers, in the Diamond Edition (1867).
Although Marcus Stone in the Illustrated Library Edition does not depict the criminal attorney and legal mastermind with some of his dodgier clients in the streets of Little Britain near his offices, the novel's other illustrators have used this incident to showcase both Jaggers' legal acumen and his ability to control and manipulate his unruly "clients," all exemplars of London's criminal underclass. The females of indeterminate age have visages distorted by alcohol consumption. Jaggers' theatrical gesture of denial echoes the extravagant toadiness of the stereotypical Jew behind him. Furniss, above all, positions and composes attorney Jaggers, carrying legal papers under his arm, so that his well-dressed figure dominates the entire scene, a kind of street theatre viewed avidly by the urban proletariate in the background.
Images of the Formidable Jaggers from Other Editions
Left: A Rubber at Miss Havisham's (1862), from the Illustrated Library Edition by Marcus Stone. Right: In the first American serialisation, periodical illustrator John McLenan realizes Jaggers's candour with his criminal clients: "You infernal scoundrel, how dare you tell me that?" (23 February 1861).
Left: F. W. Pailthorpe's caricatural Mr. Jaggers and his Clients (Robson & Kerslake, 1885). Right: F. A. Fraser's more realistic Household Edition wood-engraving Mr. Jaggers and his Clients (1876).
Other Artists’ Illustrations for Dickens's Great Expectations
- Edward Ardizzone (2 plates selected)
- H. M. Brock (8 lithographs)
- J. Clayton Clarke ("Kyd") (2 lithographs from watercolours)
- Felix O. C. Darley (2 plates)
- Sol Eytinge, Jr. (8 wood engravings)
- Marcus Stone (8 wood engravings)
- John McLenan (40 wood engravings)
- F. A. Fraser in the Household Edition (1876) (30 wood-engravings)
- Frederic W. Pailthorpe (21 lithographs)
- Charles Green (10 lithographs)
Scanned image, colour correction, sizing, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Allingham, Philip V. "The Illustrations for Great Expectations in Harper's Weekly (1860-61) and in the Illustrated Library Edition (1862) — 'Reading by the Light of Illustration'." Dickens Studies Annual, Vol. 40 (2009): 113-169.
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Illustrated by John McLenan. [The First American Edition]. Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, Vols. IV: 740 through V: 495 (24 November 1860-3 August 1861).
______. ("Boz."). Great Expectations. With thirty-four illustrations from original designs by John McLenan. Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson (by agreement with Harper & Bros., New York), 1861.
______. Great Expectations. Illustrated by Marcus Stone. The Illustrated Library Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1862. Rpt. in The Nonesuch Dickens, Great Expectations and Hard Times. London: Nonesuch, 1937; Overlook and Worth Presses, 2005.
______. A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 16 vols. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
______. Great Expectations. Volume 6 of the Household Edition. Illustrated by F. A. Fraser. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876.
______. Great Expectations. The Gadshill Edition. Illustrated by Charles Green. London: Chapman and Hall, 1898.
______. Great Expectations. The Grande Luxe Edition, ed. Richard Garnett. Illustrated by Clayton J. Clarke ('Kyd'). London: Merrill and Baker, 1900.
______. Great Expectations. Illustrated by H. M. Brock. Imperial Edition. 16 vols. London: Gresham Publishing Company [34 Southampton Street, The Strand, London], 1901-3.
______. Great Expectations. "With 28 Original Plates by Harry Furniss." Volume 14 of the Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Co., 1910.
Paroissien, David. The Companion to "Great Expectations." Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 2000.
Created 7 March 2004 last updated 10 October 2021