"Barkis is Willin'" — Furniss's eighth illustration for Dickens's "David Copperfield" (Charles Dickens Library Edition, vol. X, 1910)

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"Barkis is Willin'"

Harry Furniss

1910

13.6 x 9.1 mm (5 ⅜ by 3 ⅝ inches), vignetted

Away we went on our holiday excursion; and the first thing we did was to stop at a church, where Mr. Barkis tied the horse to some rails, and went in with Peggotty, leaving little Em’ly and me alone in the chaise. I took that occasion to put my arm round Em’ly’s waist, — and kiss her. — Copperfield, p. 147.

Dickens's The Personal History and Experience of David Copperfield, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing X, 144.

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Passage Illustrated: David attends Peggotty's wedding after his Mother's funeral

But here Peggotty, who had been going about from one to another in a hurried way, kissing everybody, called out from the cart, in which we all were by this time (Em’ly and I on two little chairs, side by side), that Mrs. Gummidge must do it. So Mrs. Gummidge did it; and, I am sorry to relate, cast a damp upon the festive character of our departure, by immediately bursting into tears, and sinking subdued into the arms of Ham, with the declaration that she knowed she was a burden, and had better be carried to the House at once. Which I really thought was a sensible idea, that Ham might have acted on.

Away we went, however, on our holiday excursion; and the first thing we did was to stop at a church, where Mr. Barkis tied the horse to some rails, and went in with Peggotty, leaving little Em’ly and me alone in the chaise. I took that occasion to put my arm round Em’ly’s waist, and propose that as I was going away so very soon now, we should determine to be very affectionate to one another, and very happy, all day. Little Em’ly consenting, and allowing me to kiss her, I became desperate; informing her, I recollect, that I never could love another, and that I was prepared to shed the blood of anybody who should aspire to her affections. [Chapter X, "I Become Neglected, and am Provided for," 146]

Commentary: David Experiences Romance first- and Second-Hand

Furniss had a single precedent for how to illustrate Peggotty's wedding and honeymoon in this chapter. Instead of showing the couple and the children departing from the picturesque houseboat, as Phiz does, Furniss has elected to foreground the middle-aged couple approaching the church, which must be positioned off-frame, immediately behind the viewer. Therefore, he shows David and Em'ly becoming mutually affectionate in a miniature framed by the supporting beams of the porte cochere which marks the boundary between the highway and the precincts of the country churchyard.

Furniss's focus, however, is the foregrounded bride and groom. David is once again a mere observer, incidental to the main action of the scene. The points of interest in the plate generally are the details derived from the text, particularly the usually parsimonious Barkis's fashionable attire: drab pantaloons, buff waistcoat covering a substantial stomach, and new blue coat with commodious cuffs and a splendid boutoniere. In the background, the horse from one-horse chaise-cart reminds us of his vocation. But, unlike Phiz in his honeymoon illustration, Furniss develops the blithe Clara Peggotty in her capacious bridal veil, curiously abstracted, in contrast the smiling groom who gives her a knowing look, anticipating the wink with which he surprises David when he announces that Clara has changed her surname.

From the First Edition: David finds a second family in the Peggottys

Phiz's August 1849 steel engraving of Barkis and the Peggotty clan, and his nurse's new husband, the local carrier: Mrs. Gummidge casts a damp on our departure.

Relevant Illustrated Editions of this Novel (1849 through 1910)

Hablot Knight Browne's Forty steel engravings for the Chapman and Hall Edition (May 1849 through November 1850)
O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 1, 1863)
O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 2, 1863)
Sir John Gilbert's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 3, 1863)
O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 4, 1863)
Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 wood engravings for the Diamond Edition (1867)
Fred Barnard's 62 Composite Woodblock Engravings for the Household Edition (1872)
Clayton J. Clarke (Kyd): David Copperfield (1910)

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: Facts On File, 1998.

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. 2 vols.

_______. 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.

Hammerton, J. A., ed. The Dickens Picture-Book: A Record of the the Dickens Illustrations. London: Educational Book, 1910.

Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978.

Created 6 March 2022