"Tetterby Taking Down the Shutters" — Charles Green's twenty-fourth illustration for "The Haunted Man" (1895, 1912)

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Tetterby Taking Down the Shutters

Charles Green

1895

12 x 6.5 cm, exclusive of frame

Dickens's The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain. A Fancy for Christmas Time, The Pears' Centenary Edition, V, 126.

Passage Illustrated: “The Tetterbys were up, and doing. Mr. Tetterby took down the shutters of the shop, and, strip by strip, revealed the treasures of the window to the eyes, so proof against their seductions, of Jerusalem Buildings. Adolphus had been out so long already, that he was halfway on to "Morning Pepper." Five small Tetterbys, whose ten round eyes were much inflamed by soap and friction, were in the tortures of a cool wash in the back kitchen; Mrs. Tetterby presiding.” [Chapter Three: "The Gift Reversed," 125]

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Commentary

The caption immediately below the illustration points directly towards the moment depicted: "And, strip by strip, revealed the treasures of the window" (126, adapted from the bottom of 125). The bare caption does not reveal, however, the full situation, namely that, in contrast to Mr. Tetterbys' calmly putting up the shutters of his newsagent's shop in the morning, Johnny is staggering about in the street behind his father under the weight of his baby sister and her wrappings. Green, who departs the practice of both John Leech and Harry Furniss, abandons a humorous strain in this scene. Whereas Leech depicts this initial situation with cartoon-like humour and some detail, showing both the shop front and Johnny as well as Mr. Tetterby, Furniss's The Tetterbys' Baby (see below), depicts the child abuse that results from Mrs. Tetterby's loss of compassion. She has lost her innate, motherly sense when the insidious Phantom caused her to lose her tender memories of her young family. Redlaw's Phantom has struck again. As a realist Green has opted for a prosaic scene which is neither, in the Leech manner, amusing, nor, in the Furniss manner, dramatic. Green accurately conveys the newspapers pasted into the panes of the shop window, showing once again a tranquil surface that is about to be disrupted by the baleful influence of the doppelganger.

Relevant illustrations from the 1848 and 1910 Editions

Left: Leech's cartoon-like study of Augustus Tetterby, Johnny, and"Moloch" in the street, Johnny and Moloch (1848). Right: Furniss's realisation of Mrs. Tetterby's harsh treatment of Johnny, The Tetterbys' Baby (1910).

Illustrations for the Other Volumes of the Pears' Centenary Christmas Books of Charles Dickens (1912)

Each contains about thirty illustrations from original drawings by Charles Green, R. I. — Clement Shorter [1912]

A Christmas Carol (28 plates) Vol. I (1892)
The Chimes (31 plates) Vol. II (1894)
L. Rossi's The Cricket on the Hearth (22 plates) Vol. III (1912)
The Battle of Life (28 plates) Vol. IV (1893)

Bibliography

Cohen, Jane Rabb. "The Illustrators of the Christmas Books, John Leech." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: University of Ohio Press, 1981. 141-151.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. The Haunted Man; or, The Ghost's Bargain. Illustrated by John Leech, Frank Stone, John Tenniel, and Clarkson Stanfield. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1848.

_____. The Haunted Man. Illustrated by John Leech, Frank Stone, John Tenniel, and Clarkson Stanfield. (1848). Rpt. in Charles Dickens's Christmas Books, ed. Michael Slater. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1971, rpt. 1978. II, 235-362, and 365-366.

_____. The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain. A Fancy for Christmas Time. Illustrated by Charles Green, R. I. (1895). London: A & F Pears, 1912.

_____. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.

_____. Christmas Books, illustrated by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1878.

_____. Christmas Books, illustrated by A. A. Dixon. London & Glasgow: Collins' Clear-Type Press, 1906.

_____. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book, 1910.

_____. Christmas Stories. Illustrated by E. A. Abbey. The Household Edition. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876.

_____. The Haunted Man. Christmas Stories. Illustrated by Felix Octavius Carr Darley. The Household Edition. New York: James G. Gregory, 1861. II, 155-300.

Created 7 September 2015

Last modified 10 April 2020