Charles Allston Collins's monthly wrapper for The Mystery of Edwin Drood (No. II, May 1870). Source: Lehmann-Haup. Wood engraving, 22.2 cm high by 14.6 cm wide (8 ¾ by 5 ¾ inches). Colour version (right) kindly supplied by Dennis T. Lanigan. [Click on the images for larger pictures.]
Commentary: The Wrapper as the Key to the Principal Figures in the Mystery
In Chapter 17 of Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators (1980), Jane Rabb Cohen has reproduced the original draft (now in the Dickens House Museum, London) that Collins prepared for Dickens early in 1870. There are only a few discrepancies between this provisional design and the final version of the design for the monthly wrapper (April through September 1870): in the Collins pencil draft, the allegorical figure of Murder (upper right) is either androgynous or masculine; the figures climbing the winding staircase (right) are uniformed police; the figure whom Jasper encounters (bottom centre) has a moustache; the clergyman in the extreme upper left is behind Rosa rather than Edwin; and the opium-smoker in the lower right with feminine hair and clad in a nightgown but of masculine proportions is not specifically Chinese (whereas in the final version he fits the Western stereotype of a Chinese opium-smoker); and Durdles' key, dinner bundle, and shovel and the words "with illustrations" are not present in the draft. It is logical to assume that these differences reflect authorial intention — that is, Dickens was responsible for each of these changes to the design. Otherwise, the elements of the wrapper — including the "Wheel of Life" organization of the eight scenes — re much the same except for small particulars (such as Jasper's hair being darkened and Edwin's losing his moustache) in draft and in the finished production:
The sparseness of detail in Collins's much discussed sketch for the wrapper design, together with the angularity of its lines, suggests his hesitation as well as his ill health. He lacked the further knowledge of the plot, as well as self-confidence, to supply additional details. The artist drew two figures holding back the curtains at the upper corners of his design quite tentatively, although their allegorical significance seems clear enough. The female figure overlooking the romantic scenes, involving women on the left-hand side of the wrapper, represents Love. Her male counterpart, clasping a dagger [or stiletto] as he soberly overlooks scenes of suspicion or retribution involving only male characters, represents Hate or Revenge. Surrounding the crudely lettered title, the artist has placed bare branches. One extended branch, however, bears roses — some in bud, others in bloom — interspersed with thorns and wilted petals, suggesting the general love and death themes of the narrative as well as playing on two specifics: the name of the heroine, Rosa Bud, and the name of Bazzard's play, The Thorn of Anxiety. [Cohen 213]
Related Material
- Unravelling The Collins-Fildes Wrapper for The Mystery of Edwin Drood: The Solution to Dickens's Conundrum?
- Illustrations by Sir Samuel Luke Fildes for The Mystery of Edwin Drood and Other Stories (1870, 1879)
- Some Early Dramatic Solutions to Dickens's Unfinished Mystery
- "Taking The Wrappers Off" — A Brief Overview of the Covers for the Monthly Serials Published by Charles Dickens, April 1836 to September 1870
Scanned image (left) and text by Philip V. Allingham. Scanned image (right) by Dennis T. Lanigan, as mentioned above. [You may use the images 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
Cohen, Jane Rabb. "Charles Collins." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1980. Pp. 210-220.
Dickens, Charles. The Letters of Charles Dickens, ed. Graham Storey. Oxford: Clarendon, 2002. Vol. 12 (1868-70).
Dickens, Charles. The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Illustrated by Charles Allston Collins (wrapper) and Luke Fildes, R. A. London: Chapman and Hall, 1870.
Lehmann-Hauptmann, C.F. “New Facts Concerning 'Edwin Drood'.” The Dickensian. (1929): 165-175.
Paroissien, David (ed.). "Appendix 3: The Illustrations." Charles Dickens's The Mystery of Edwin Drood. London: Penguin, 2003. Pp. 294-299.
Walters, J. Cuming. The Complete Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens: The History, Continuations, and Solutions (1870-1912). Illustrated by Luke Fildes and Frederic G. Kitton. London: Chapman and Hall, 1912.
Created 22 June 2013
Last modified 3 October 2024