"Well, sir!" said the Captain, putting his hat a little more on one side, for it was rather tight in the crown: "You're quite a public man I calc'late." (1872). — Fred Barnard's twenty-eighth regular wood-engraving for Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit, (Chapter XXII), page 185. [In Ch. XXXII, in their room at the National Hotel in Watertoast, Martin Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley are visited at The National Hotel by their landlord, the affable Captain Kedgick, who is vastly amused that Martin has been asked by the Watertoast Society's Secretary, the oxymoronic La Fayette Kettle, to deliver a lecture on the Tower of London, and that the leading citizens insist upon attending a "le—vee" for him. This whole episode reflects young writer Charles Dickens's own reception in America as a literary lion.] 9.6 cm by 13.9 cm, or 3 ¾ high by 5 ½ inches, framed, engraved by the Dalziels. Running head: "Indignation of The Watertoast Sympathisers," 185. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated
Both of which letters, together with Martin’s reply to each, were, according to a laudable custom, much tending to the promotion of gentlemanly feeling and social confidence, published in the next number of the Watertoast Gazette.
He had scarcely got through this correspondence when Captain Kedgick, the landlord, kindly came upstairs to see how he was getting on. The Captain sat down upon the bed before he spoke; and finding it rather hard, moved to the pillow.
"Well, sir!" said the Captain, putting his hat a little more on one side, for it was rather tight in the crown: "You’re quite a public man I calc’late."
"So it seems," retorted Martin, who was very tired.
"Our citizens, sir," pursued the Captain, "intend to pay their respects to you. You will have to hold a sort of le-vee, sir, while you’re here."
"Powers above!" cried Martin, "I couldn’t do that, my good fellow!"
"I reckon you must then," said the Captain. [Chapter XXII, "From Which It Will Be Seen That Martin Became a Lion on his Own Account. Together With the Reason Why," pp. 186-187. Running head: "Penalties of Popularity," 187]
Relevant Images of the Young Englishmen among the Americans, 1843-1910
Left: Hablot Knight Browne's initial view of Eden — on the wall of the land agent's office, The Thriving City of Eden as it Appeared on Paper (Chapter 21, September 1843). Right: Phiz's support of Dickens's satire of the actual appearance of the mosquito-infested wilderness, The Thriving City of Eden as it Appeared in Fact (September 1843). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s study of the effect of the place on Martin, Martin Chuzzlewit and Mark Tapley outside their plague-infested cabin in the mournful wilderness of the Mississippi valley (1867). Right: Harry Furniss's contrasting visions of the ebullient Mark Tapley and the dilapidated cabins that constitute the ironically-named Eden, "Eden!" (1910).[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Above: Fred Barnard's realisation of the scene in which Martin is besieged by fellow-travellers on the train west to clarify where Queen Victoria resides, "I was merely remarking, gentlemen — though it's a point of very little import — that the Queen of England does not happen to live in the Tower of London."(1872). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned them and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Dickens, Charles. The Dickens Souvenir Book. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1871-1880. The copy of The Dickens Souvenir Book from which these pictures were scanned is in the collection of the Main Library of The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B. C.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.
_____. Martin Chuzzlewit. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1863. Vol. 2 of 4.
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. 2.
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated Sterling Edition. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne and Frederick Barnard. Boston: Dana Estes, n. d. [1890s]
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 7.
Steig, Michael. "From Caricature to Progress: Master Humphrey's Clock and Martin Chuzzlewit." Ch. 3, Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978. Pp. 51-85. [See e-text in Victorian Web.]
Steig, Michael. "Martin Chuzzlewit's Progress by Dickens and Phiz." Dickens Studies Annual 2 (1972): 119-149.
31 January 2008
Last modified 21 November 2024