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Ornate initial capital "B"
Phiz (Hablot K. Browne)
6 March 1841
2.6 x 2.5 cm. vignetted
Dickens's Barnaby Rudge, The Bradbury & Evans single-volume edition of December 1849, Chapter Six, 265.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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BEYOND all measure astonished by the strange occurrences which had passed with so much violence and rapidity, the locksmith gazed upon the shuddering figure in the chair like one half stupefied, and would have gazed much longer, had not his tongue been loosened by compassion and humanity. "You are ill," said Gabriel. "Let me call some neighbour in." [Initial-letter for the second monthly number: Chapter the Sixth, 265]
Complementing Phiz's design of Edward Chester Relates His Adventures (6 March 1841) in Master Humphrey's Clock, the ornamental initial letter "B" featuring masked dancers seems to have little to do with Edward's discussion of what befell him. However, the third word in that opening paragraph, "measure," seems to have suggested a masked ball. The half-page illustration and vignette introduce the second monthly instalment of forty-one pages (265-306). The miniature illustration may be alluding to the circumstances under which the locksmith, Gabriel Varden, broke the news to Miss Emma Haredale about the recent attack on Edward Chester (in the previous week's instalment). The setting, then, of the masked ball would be Carlisle House, Soho, which from 1764 through 1780 (under the ownership of John Delaval, later first Baron Delaval) was leased for a riding school run by the Italian fencing-master Domenico Angelo, who made the house into London's pre-eminent school of arms and manners.
"Miss Emma was with her uncle at the masquerade at Carlisle House, where she had gone, as the people at the Warren told me, sorely against her will. What does your blockhead father when he and Mrs Rudge have laid their heads together, but goes there when he ought to be abed, makes interest with his friend the doorkeeper, slips him on a mask and domino, and mixes with the masquers."
"And like himself to do so!" cried the girl, putting her fair arm round his neck, and giving him a most enthusiastic kiss.
"Like himself!" repeated Gabriel, affecting to grumble, but evidently delighted with the part he had taken, and with her praise. "Very like himself —so your mother said. However, he mingled with the crowd, and prettily worried and badgered he was, I warrant you, with people squeaking, "'Don’t you know me?' and 'I’ve found you out,' and all that kind of nonsense in his ears. He might have wandered on till now, but in a little room there was a young lady who had taken off her mask, on account of the place being very warm, and was sitting there alone."
"And that was she?" said his daughter hastily. [Chapter the Fourth, 258]
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ('Phiz') and George Cattermole.London: Bradbury & Evans, 1849.
_______. Barnaby Rudge. Illustrated by A. H. Buckland. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-type Press. 1900.
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 1 August 2015
Last modified 15 December 2020
