"Pretty, indeed! I never saw such a face!" — eighth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

"Pretty, indeed! I never saw such a face!" by W. L. Sheppard. Eighth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter VI, "Paul's Second Deprivation," p. 39. 9.3 x 13.4 cm (3 ¾ by 5 ¼ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Walter and Captain Cuttle entertain Florenc

Here, wait a minute, Uncle,” he continued, catching up a candle, “till I run upstairs, and get another jacket on, and then I’ll be off. I say, Uncle, isn’t this an adventure?”“My dear boy,” said Solomon, who, with his spectacles on his forehead and the great chronometer in his pocket, was incessantly oscillating between Florence on the sofa, and his nephew in all parts of the parlour, “it’s the most extraordinary —”

“No, but do, Uncle, please — do, Miss Florence — dinner, you know, Uncle.”

“Yes, yes, yes,” cried Solomon, cutting instantly into a leg of mutton, as if he were catering for a giant. “I’ll take care of her, Wally! I understand. Pretty dear! Famished, of course. You go and get ready. Lord bless me! Sir Richard Whittington thrice Lord Mayor of London.”Walter was not very long in mounting to his lofty garret and descending from it, but in the meantime Florence, overcome by fatigue, had sunk into a doze before the fire. The short interval of quiet, though only a few minutes in duration, enabled Solomon Gills so far to collect his wits as to make some little arrangements for her comfort, and to darken the room, and to screen her from the blaze. Thus, when the boy returned, she was sleeping peacefully.“That’s capital!” he whispered, giving Solomon such a hug that it squeezed a new expression into his face.

“Now I’m off. I’ll just take a crust of bread with me, for I’m very hungry — and don’t wake her, Uncle Sol.”

“No, no,” said Solomon. “Pretty child.”

“Pretty, indeed!” cried Walter. “I never saw such a face, Uncle Sol. Now I’m off.” [Chapter VI, "Paul’s Second Deprivation," p. 38-39]

Commentary: Walter and his uncle entertain Florence after her harrowing adventure

Sheppard was likely aware of Fred Barnard's 1877 British Household Edition illustrations, which begin with a large-scale frontispiece of Florence down at the London docks, searching for her father's offices after her terrifying encounter with the witch-like Mrs. Brown, "Why, what can you want with Dombey and Son's?", which also graphs Florence's misadventures in the sixth chapter. For this second illustration for the same chapter, A Bunch of Pippins. Instead of showing Florence separated from Polly in the uproarious street scene depicted by Phiz in the November 1846 instalment, or Florence's abduction by the malignant crone Mrs. Brown, Sheppard still had much to choose from after depicting Florence and her maid at Polly Toodle's cottage at Staggs's Gardens. He makes Florence the focal point of the scene in Uncle Sol's parlour, where Walter has brought her from the London docks. There, by Providence, she had happened on one of her father's ships, and met Walter Bray, a young employee of the firm. Realising that the company's offices are now shut, he resolves to take her back to his uncle's house, and arrange for her to be transported home safely. After her ordeal, Florence sits comfortably in the parlour, admired for her beauty by Uncle Sol and for her fortitude by his nephew after her abduction by the used-clothing crone and two hours of wandering the streets of the metropolis.

And so readers find themselves in yet another working-class parlour in this second illustration for the sixth chapter, behind the instrument-maker's shop at the sign of the little midshipman. And again Sheppard contrasts the sterile nature of Florence's home-life with the solidarity and conviviality of the less affluent. In a few words, Walter Gray explains Florence's situation to his uncle, and the pair prepare to restore her spirits while they await the result of Walter's having despatched Mr. Carker Junior to Dombey's mansion. Dickens describes Walter as "a blithe-looking boy" (37) and the situation as "the little sofa near the fire" (38). The old bonnet given her by Mrs. Brown lies beside her, and the worn-out shoes, kicked off, lie on the floor as Florence dozes before Sol Gillis's fire. As in the text, Gilis has his spectacles on his forehead as he and his nephew study the sleeping child on what Sheppard describes as a capacious sofa which seems to fill up the parlour, as if the illustrator is emphasizing the safety and comfort in which Florence Dombey now finds herself at the end of a tumultuous day.

Phiz's original illustration for this chapter: Polly Rescues the Charitable Grinder, Ch. VI (November 1846)
Household Edition illustrator Fred Barnard's convivial grouping of uncle Sol, Walter, and Captain Cuttle in the fourth chapter: "So, here's to Dombey — and Son — and Daughter." (1877)

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1924)

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Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. L. Sheppard. The Household Edition. 18 vols. New York: Harper & Co., 1873.

_______. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

_______. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard [62 composite wood-block engravings]. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. Vol. II.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son> Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow, 1900, rpt. 1934. 2 vols. in one.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 9.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). The Clarendon Edition, ed. Alan Horsman. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.

"Dombey and Son — Sixty-two Illustrations by Fred Barnard." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, Being Eight Hundred and Sixty-six Drawings by Fred Barnard, Gordon Thomson, Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz), J. McL. Ralston, J. Mahoney, H. French, Charles Green, E. G. Dalziel, A. B. Frost, F. A. Fraser, and Sir Luke Fildes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1907.

Created 18 January 2022