I am hospitably received by Mr. Peggotty by Phiz (Hablot K. Browne). May 1849. Steel etching. Illustration for Charles Dickens's The Personal History and Experience of David Copperfield (1849-50). Source: Centenary Edition (1911), volume one; Chapter III, "I Have A Change," facing page 38. 9.5 x 13.5 mm (3 ¾ by 5¼ inches) vignetted. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Commentary: A Welcoming Working-class Family
Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Diamond Edition study of the Peggotty trio: Mr. Peggotty, Ham, and Mrs. Gummidge (1867.
Michael Steig notes that the underlying structure of the first and second illustrations is a gothic arch, the organizing principle behind the village church and the upside-down Peggotty boathouse. The focus of both plates on the figures, however, obscures the arches in the vertical and horizontal illustrations in the initial instalment. The plates may be taken as complementary in that David is an observer rather than an active participant. In the former, he studies key figures in the little community; in the latter, he studies the members of the "blended" Peggotty family organized around a surrogate father, Daniel Peggotty, as good-hearted and generous as Murdstone, who studies how to become David's stepfather in the former plate, is hard-hearted and controlling.
The figures in the illustration from left to right are Ham Peggotty, Dan'l Peggotty (centre left), David (seated), Clara Peggotty (identifiable by her elaborate bonnet from the previous illustration), Mrs. Gummidge, and Little Em'ly. The details in the background are consistent with the letterpress: a table (right), chest of drawers surmounted by a painted tea-tray and a bible (left), sundry pictures on the walls (subjects indistinguishable, a little mantel-shelf (rear), boxes, seats, and chairs, and "hooks in the beams of the ceiling" (36). According to Hammerton (343) the moment realized is this:
"I'm much obliged to her [David's mother], I'm sure," said Mr. Peggotty. "Well, sir, if you can make out here, for a fortnut, 'long wi' her," nodding to his sister, "and Ham, and little Em'ly, we shall be proud of your company." (37)
However, the pot and kettle which Mr. Peggotty holds points towards the moment following this salutation:
Having done the honours of his house in this hospitable manner. Mr. Peggotty went out to wash himself in a kettleful of hot water, remarking that "cold would never get his muck off."
The companion plates for the inaugural (May 1849) instalment establish the child David as an observer rather than an actor on the stage of his own life; he will continue to play the role of informed observer and critical filtering consciousness throughout the novel, both as child and adult. His own respectable, middle-class home seems devoid of the kind of camaraderie and jollity that fills the unconventional dwelling of the "blended" Peggotty clan presided over by a bachelor. David implicitly contrasts his dour stepfather-to-be with the companionable, working class surrogate father, Dani' Peggotty. Certainly the Peggottys will prove to be significant characters throughout the novel, giving the narrator-protagonist a proper sense of family life. The false scent upon which the novelist and illustrator set the reader is the suggested importance of Little Em'ly (implied by her peeking out from behind Mrs. Gummidge at David), who does not turn out to be the great love of David Copperfield's life, but merely a kind of stepsister, a young woman led astray.
Other Studies of David at the Peggottys' Houseboat from Other Editions (1872 & 1910)
Left: Fred Barnard's Household Edition study of the same incident:
Relevant Illustrated Editions of this Novel (1849 through 1910)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 1, 1863)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 2, 1863)
- Sir John Gilbert's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 3, 1863)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 4, 1863)
- Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 wood engravings for the Diamond Edition (1867)
- Fred Barnard's 62 Composite Woodblock Engravings for the Household Edition (1872)
- Clayton J. Clarke (Kyd): Dan'l Peggotty (1910)
- Harry Furniss: The Charles Dickens Library Edition, Vol. X (1910)
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.
Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Personal History of David Copperfield, illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Centenary Edition. London & New York: Chapman & Hall, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911. 2 vols.
_______. The Personal History of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. V.
_______. David Copperfield, with 61 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. III.
_______. The Personal History and Experiences of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. X.
Hammerton, J. A., ed. The Dickens Picture-Book: A Record of the the Dickens Illustrations. London: Educational Book, 1910.
Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978.
Created 14 November 2009 Last modified 4 March 2022