"Falling about in all directions, now to the right, now to the left." — Chapter 43. C. S. Reinhart's forty-first illustration for Dickens's "Nicholas Nickleby" (1875)

Falling about in all directions, now to the right, now to the left [Page 233] by Charles Stanley Reinhart (1875), in Charles Dickens's The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Harper & Bros. New York Household Edition, for Chapter XLIII. 10.5 x 13.4 cm (4 ⅛ by 5 ¼ inches), framed. Running head: "The Young Gentleman Explains" (223). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Passage Illustrated: John Browdie and Nicholas to the Rescue

Disregarding these sallies, which were uncommonly well received, as sallies at the expense of the best-dressed persons in a crowd usually are, Nicholas glanced carelessly round, and addressing the young gentleman, who had by this time picked up his slippers and thrust his feet into them, repeated his inquiries with a courteous air.

"A mere nothing!" he replied.

At this a murmur was raised by the lookers-on, and some of the boldest cried, "Oh, indeed! — Wasn’t it though? — Nothing, eh? — He called that nothing, did he? Lucky for him if he found it nothing." These and many other expressions of ironical disapprobation having been exhausted, two or three of the out-of-door fellows began to hustle Nicholas and the young gentleman who had made the noise: stumbling against them by accident, and treading on their toes, and so forth. But this being a round game, and one not necessarily limited to three or four players, was open to John Browdie too, who, bursting into the little crowd — to the great terror of his wife — and falling about in all directions, now to the right, now to the left, now forwards, now backwards, and accidentally driving his elbow through the hat of the tallest helper, who had been particularly active, speedily caused the odds to wear a very different appearance; while more than one stout fellow limped away to a respectful distance, anathematising with tears in his eyes the heavy tread and ponderous feet of the burly Yorkshireman.

"Let me see him do it again," said he who had been kicked into the corner, rising as he spoke, apparently more from the fear of John Browdie’s inadvertently treading upon him, than from any desire to place himself on equal terms with his late adversary. "Let me see him do it again. That’s all." [Chapter XLIII, "Officiates as a kind of Gentleman Usher, in bringing various People together," 232]

Commentary

Reinhart employs the incident at the inn in which John Browdie intervenes on behalf of a youth under attack and verbal assault to introduce the Cheerybles' young nephew, Frank, who will eventually inherit his uncles' business, marry Kate Nickleby, and run the Cheerybles' firm with Nicholas as his partner. Although Nicholas (right) rolls up his sleeves, as if he is prepared to assist John, Frank (next to him) merely looks sternly at his detractors, leaving the fisticuffs to the Yorkshireman.

The mistress of the coffee-room (the barmaid) looks on curiously at the bar (far right), but soon intervenes to have the passageway cleared for her regular customers. With considerable vigour, John comes to Frank's rescue by punching a surly waiter with one hand while he pushes back another of Frank's attackers with the other. Presumably the mildly upset woman just beyond John is his wife.

Parallel Scene of Nicholas and John Browdie from the British Household Edition (Ch. 42)

Above: Fred Barnard's comic breakfast scene at the inn in Chapter 42 which reunites Nicholas, John Browdie, and his wide: "I say," said John, rather astounded for the moment, "mak' theself quite at whoam, will 'ee?" (1875).

Related material by other illustrators (1838 through 1910)

Scanned image, colour correction, sizing, caption, and commentary 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

Barnard, J. "Fred" (il.). Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, with fifty-nine illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Volume 15. Rpt. 1890.

Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. With fifty-two illustrations by C. S. Reinhart. The Household Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1875.

__________. "Nicholas Nickleby." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, being eight hundred and sixty-six drawings by Fred Barnard et al.. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.

Schweitzer, Maria. "Jean Margaret Davenport." Ambassadors of Empire: Child Performers and Anglo-American Audiences, 1800s-1880s. Accessed 19 April 2021. Posted 7 January 2015.

Created 6 September 2021