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Barnaby in Newgate
Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)
4 September 1841
11.2 x 8.9 cm (4 ½ x 3 ¼ inches), vignetted
Dickens's Barnaby Rudge, tailpiece for Chapter 58, 276.
Image scan and text by Philip V. Allingham.
[Click on image to enlarge it and mouse over text for links.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
A smith was speedily in attendance, who riveted upon him a set of heavy irons. Stumbling on as well as he could, beneath the unusual burden of these fetters, he was conducted to a strong stone cell, where, fastening the door with locks, and bolts, and chains, they left him, well secured; having first, unseen by him, thrust in Grip, who, with his head drooping and his deep black plumes rough and rumpled, appeared to comprehend and to partake, his master’s fallen fortunes. [Chapter LVIII, 276]
Barnaby is temporarily incarcerated in a secure military compound, but appears before the celebrated blind magistrate of Bow Street, Sir John Fielding (1721-80), younger half-brother of novelist and magistrate Henry. While Barnaby is awaiting his court appearance, he overhears a vigorous conversation between two soldiers outside his cell. The voice of the younger man, who has apparently lost an arm in battle abroad, seems familiar to the prisoner and the reader alike, for it is the voice of Joe Willet, recently returned to London.
Phiz gives Barnaby, consigned as a felon to Newgate, something of a benign and even saintly nature, suggesting perhaps St. John the Baptist. Despite his trials and harsh treatment, he maintains his composure, except when the older soldier, a recruiting sergeant, threatens to strangle Grip. By the time he finds himself in a Newgate cell, he seems to have resigned himself to his fate.
Left: Harry Furniss's psychological handling of Barnaby's hopes for a
better life for his mother, despite his imprisonment:
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ('Phiz') and George Cattermole. London: Chapman and Hall, 1841; rpt., Bradbury & Evans, 1849.
Hammerton, J. A. "Ch. XIV. Barnaby Rudge." The Dickens Picture-Book. The Charles Dickens Library Edition, illustrated by Harry Furniss. London: Educational Book Co., 1910. 213-55.
Vann, J. Don. "Charles Dickens. Barnaby Rudge in Master Humphrey's Clock, 13 February-27 November 1841." New York: MLA, 1985. 65-66.
Created 5 July 2002
25 December 2020