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The bowyer's daughter would look timidly back
W. H. C. Groome
1907
12.2 x 7.9 cm, (4 ¾ by 3 ⅛ inches), framed
Lithograph
Dickens's Master Humphrey's Clock (frontispiece), referencing page 31.
[Click on image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Sometimes the Bowyer and his daughter would go out to supper with a worthy citizen at the fashionable hour of six o’clock, and on such occasions Hugh, wearing his blue ’prentice cloak as gallantly as ’prentice might, would attend with a lantern and his trusty club to escort them home. These were the brightest moments of his life. To hold the light while Mistress Alice picked her steps, to touch her hand as he helped her over broken ways, to have her leaning on his arm,—it sometimes even came to that, — this was happiness indeed!
When the nights were fair, Hugh followed in the rear, his eyes riveted on the graceful figure of the Bowyer’s daughter as she and the old man moved on before him. So they threaded the narrow winding streets of the city, now passing beneath the overhanging gables of old wooden houses whence creaking signs projected into the street, and now emerging from some dark and frowning gateway into the clear moonlight. At such times, or when the shouts of straggling brawlers met her ear, the Bowyer’s daughter would look timidly back at Hugh, beseeching him to draw nearer; and then how he grasped his club and longed to do battle with a dozen rufflers, for the love of Mistress Alice! ["First Night of the Giant Chronicles," pp. 30-31]
Groome focuses on the character experiencing the greatest degree of conflict, Mistress Alice, the daughter of the Cheapside artisan, the wealthy bowyer. The illustrator takes his cue for Tudor costumes and the half-timbered urban buildings from the opening lines of the Giant Magog's narrative: "In the sixteenth century and in the reign of Queen Elizabeth of glorious memory (albeit her golden days are sadly rusted with blood), there lived in the city of London a bold young ’prentice who loved his master’s daughter. There were no doubt within the walls a great many ’prentices in this condition, but I speak of only one, and his name was Hugh Graham" (28).
Rather than depicting the badinage between the London Guildhall Giants Gog and Magog, the illustrator realizes the opening scene of Magog's first story about characters and events he and his brother have witnessed in the storied history of the city. He has begun the tale shortly after the bell of St. Paul's Cathedral has struck midnight, and must conclude before the first rays of the morning sun touch the city's rooftops.
Left: Harry Furniss's focus is on the bowyer's daughter, not the devoted apprentice: The Penitent's Return (1910). Centre: George Cattermole's headpiece alerts reader's to the outcome of Master Graham's devotion: Death of Master Graham (4 April 1840). Fred Barnard in the Household Edition leads off with an early scene from the story: At such times, . . . the Bowyer’s daughter would look timidly back at Hugh (1879).
Davis, Paul. "Master Humphrey's Clock." Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to his Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998. P. 238.
Dickens, Charles. Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by George Cattermole and Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). London: Chapman and Hall, 4 April 1840 — 4 December 1841.
_______. Master Humphrey's Clock. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Reprinted Pieces, and Other Stories. With thirty illustrations by L. Fildes, E. G. Dalziel, and F. Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. XX. Pp. 253-306.
_______. Master Humphrey's Clock and Pictures from Italy. With eight illustrations by W. H. C. Groome. Collins Pocket Editions. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-type Press, 1907. Vol. XLIX. Pp. 1-168.
_______. Barnaby Rudge and Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. Charles Dickens Library Edition. Volume VI. London: Educational Book, 1910.
Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture Book: A Record of the Dickens Illustrators. "Ch. XIV. Master Humphrey's Clock ." The Charles Dickens Library. London: Educational Book Co., 1910. Pp. 259-265.
Created 6 August 2022