The young man still replied: "Come to the Pollis!" and was dragging me against the donkey in a violent manner, as if there were any affinity between that animal and a magistrate." 1872. Fourteenth illustration by Fred Barnard (engraved by the Dalziels) for Household Edition of David Copperfield (Chapter XII, "Liking Life on My Own Account No Better, I Form a Great Resolution," but situated in the previous chapter, p. 81). 10.5 cm high by 13.6 cm wide (4 ⅛ by 5 ⅜ inches), framed. Headline on p. 81: "I Suffer in Secret." [Click on image to enlarge it. Mouse over text for links.]
Passage Illustrated: A Peculiar Street Character Steals David's Trunk
Being much flushed and excited, I tumbled my half-guinea out of my pocket in pulling the card out. I put it in my mouth for safety, and though my hands trembled a good deal, had just tied the card on very much to my satisfaction, when I felt myself violently chucked under the chin by the long-legged young man, and saw my half-guinea fly out of my mouth into his hand.
‘Wot!’ said the young man, seizing me by my jacket collar, with a frightful grin. ‘This is a pollis case, is it? You’re a-going to bolt, are you? Come to the pollis, you young warmin, come to the pollis!’
‘You give me my money back, if you please,’ said I, very much frightened; ‘and leave me alone.’
‘Come to the pollis!’ said the young man. ‘You shall prove it yourn to the pollis.’
‘Give me my box and money, will you,’ I cried, bursting into tears.
The young man still replied: ‘Come to the pollis!’ and was dragging me against the donkey in a violent manner, as if there were any affinity between that animal and a magistrate, when he changed his mind, jumped into the cart, sat upon my box, and, exclaiming that he would drive to the pollis straight, rattled away harder than ever. [Chapter XII, "Liking Life on My Own Account No Better, I Form a Great Resolution," 89]
Commentary: Not Waiting for "Something to turn up"
Barnard's title-page vignette of the forlorn David, making his way to Aunt Betsey's on the highroad from London to Dover on foot, friendless, and penniless.
Although the incident with the East End street hustler who steals both David's trunk and his travel money (the sovereign given him by Peggotty) reveals David's lack of experience and sheltered upper middle class background, the reader applauds his determination. The catalyst for making the dramatic decision to throw himself upon Aunt Betsey's mercy in Dover appears to have been the departure of the Micawbers for Portsmouth. But the loss of the travel money and the theft of his trunk only intensify David's determination to depart from the drudgery of London for a chance at a better life.
Related Material
- David Copperfield (homepage)
- Phiz's 40 serial illustrations for David Copperfield (May 1849 - November 1850)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 1, 1862)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 2, 1862)
- O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 3, 1862)
- Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 Diamond Edition Illustrations (1867)
- W. H. C. Groome's 7 illustrations for the Collins Clear-type Pocket Edition, Vol. I (1907)
- Kyd's five Player's Cigarette Cards, 1910
- Harry Furniss's 29 Illustrations for Dickens's The Personal Experience and History of David Copperfield in the Charles Dickens Library Edition (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
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 [rpt. from 1850]. 2 vols.
_______. 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.
The copy of the Household Edition from which this picture was scanned was the gift of George Gorniak, Editor of The Dickens Magazine, whose subject for the fifth series, beginning in January 2010, is this novel.
Created 13 June 2009 Last modified 15 July 2022