Mr. P. Toots
J. Clayton Clarke ("Kyd")
Watercolour
The editor or Kyd himself has not provided a cover page with a relevant quotation, such as all the other illustrations have, despite the fact that he is the first in the series. Toots, the Head Boy in Doctor Blimber's Academy (loosely based on Wellington house Academy, which Dickens himself attended), is a comic character in Dombey and Son. Although more than a little odd in his habit of falling in love with nursemaids when out walking with the pupils, Toots is a good companion to the fragile, little Paul Dombey. Dombey and Son.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham