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Evidence for the Defence
Frederick Walker
Wood engraving by Joseph Swain
6 inches by 4.25 inches (15 cm high by 10.5 cm wide), vignetted.
W. M. Thackeray, Denis Duval, serialized in The Cornhill Magazine Vol. IX, No. 53 (May 1864), page 513.
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Scanned image by Simon Cooke and text by Philip V. Allingham
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And now, once more it happened that my little pistol helped to confound my enemies, and was to me, indeed, a gute Wehr und Waffen. I was forever popping at marks with this little piece of artillery. I polished, oiled, and covered it with the utmost care, and kept it in my little room in a box of which I had the key. One day, by a most fortunate chance I took my schoolfellow Tom Parrot, who became a great crony of mine, ainto the room. We went upstairs, by the private door of Rudge's house, not through the shop, where Mademoiselle Figs and Monsieur the apprentice were serving their customers; and arrived in my room, we boys opened my box, and examined the precious pistol, screw, barrel, flints, powder-horn, &c., locked the box, and went away to school, promising ourselves a good half-holiday. [Instalment Three, p. 521]
Fred Walker had an affinity for boyhood sports and past-times, as many of his illustrations such as Summer Days in A Round of Days demonstrates. Here, Denis and his classmate and former rival, Tom Parrot, examine Denis's prized possession, his small pistol. As is the case with Walker's boys, both are handsome, well-made, and slightly impish. That Tom has been there to inspect Denis's pistol-case proves providential as the is able to testify in court that the case contained no stolen coins before they both returned to their lessons that afternoon. Accordingly, Tom's testimony exonerates Denis, leaving the reader and the court to deduce that Miss Sukey Rudge had tried to frame Denis for theft out of sheer spite. Thus, only a reading of the chapter provides the reader with the meaning of the pun with which Walker has entitled the illustration.
Marks, John George. Life and Letters of Frederick Walker, A. R. A.. London and New York: Macmillan, 1896.
Phillips, Claude. Denis Duval's Valet by Walker. Frederick Walker and His Works. London: Seeley & Co., 1905 [re-issue of the 1894 edition], facing page 21.
Reid, Forrest. Illustrators of the Eighteen Sixties: An Illustrated Survey of the Work of 58 British Artists. New York: Dover, 1975. Originally published by Faber and Gwyer in London, 1928, as Illustrators of the Sixties.
Sutherland, John. "The Genesis of Thackeray's Denis Duval." The Review of English Studies, Volume XXXVII, Issue 146 (1 May 1986): Pp. 226–233.
Thackeray, W. M. Denis Duval, serialized in The Cornhill Magazine. London: Smith Elder, March-June 1864.
Vann, J. Don. "Denis Duval in the Cornhill Magazine, March–June 1864." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. P. 140.
Last modified 1 August 2018