"Well, aged parent." said Wemmick, "how am you?"
H. M. Brock
Photographic reproduction of pen and ink drawing (?)
1903
13.8 cm high by 9 cm wide (5 and ⅜ by 3 ½ inches), framed, p. 150.
Fifth illustration for Dickens's Great Expectations
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Passage Illustrated: Sentimental John Wemmick introduces Pip to The Aged P
“I am my own engineer, and my own carpenter, and my own plumber, and my own gardener, and my own Jack of all Trades,” said Wemmick, in acknowledging my compliments. “Well; it’s a good thing, you know. It brushes the Newgate cobwebs away, and pleases the Aged. You wouldn’t mind being at once introduced to the Aged, would you? It wouldn’t put you out?”
I expressed the readiness I felt, and we went into the castle. There we found, sitting by a fire, a very old man in a flannel coat: clean, cheerful, comfortable, and well cared for, but intensely deaf.
“Well aged parent,” said Wemmick, shaking hands with him in a cordial and jocose way, “how am you?”
“All right, John; all right!” replied the old man.
“Here’s Mr. Pip, aged parent,” said Wemmick, “and I wish you could hear his name. Nod away at him, Mr. Pip; that’s what he likes. Nod away at him, if you please, like winking!”
“This is a fine place of my son’s, sir,” cried the old man, while I nodded as hard as I possibly could. “This is a pretty pleasure-ground, sir. This spot and these beautiful works upon it ought to be kept together by the Nation, after my son’s time, for the people’s enjoyment.” [Chapter XXV, pp. 151-152]
Comparable Images of Wemmich and The Aged P from Other Editions
Left: Sol Eytinge, Junior's 1867 portrait of the criminal attorney's deputy: Wemmick and the Aged P, in the Diamond Edition. Left of centre: In the first American serialisation, periodical illustrator John McLenan realizes Wemmick's introduction of his father to Pip: The responsible duty of making the toast was delegated to the Aged (27 April 1861). Right of centre: Frederic W. Pailthorpe's 1885 revision of the same scene: The Aged P, in the Garnett Edition. Right: Harry Furniss's realisation of the introduction of the Aged P: Pip Shares The Treat of Mr. Wemmick, Senior (1910).
Other Artists’ Illustrations for Dickens's Great Expectations
- A Comparison of Fraser's Illustrations in the original 1870s Household Edition plates and those in the Collier New York edition of 1900
- J. Clayton Clarke or "Kyd"
(2 coloured lithographs) - Felix O. C. Darley (2 plates)
- A. A. Dixon (8 lithographs)
- Sol Eytinge, Jr. (8 wood-engravings)
- F. A. Fraser (30 wood-engravings)
- Harry Furniss (28 plates)
- Charles Green (10 lithographs)
- Frederic W. Pailthorpe (21 lithographs)
- John McLenan (40 plates)
- Marcus Stone (8 plates)
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. Great Expectations. Imperial Edition. 16 vols. London: Gresham Publishing Company [34 Southampton Street, The Strand, London], 1901-3.
Created 19 January 2002 Last updated 29 April 2026