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Frontispiece: "He had been at pains of consulting Mr. Perry, the apothecary, on the subject." (Page 22)
Charles Edmund Brock
1906
12.7 by 8.3 cm (5 by 3 ¼ inches), framed, facing title-page.
Austens's Emma, Part I.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Her situation was altogether the subject of hours of gratitude to Mrs. Weston, and of moments only of regret; and her satisfaction — her more than satisfaction — her cheerful enjoyment, was so just and so apparent, that Emma, well as she knew her father, was sometimes taken by surprize at his being still able to pity ‘poor Miss Taylor,’ when they left her at Randalls in the centre of every domestic comfort, or saw her go away in the evening attended by her pleasant husband to a carriage of her own. But never did she go without Mr. Woodhouse’s giving a gentle sigh, and saying, “Ah, poor Miss Taylor! She would be very glad to stay.”
There was no recovering Miss Taylor — nor much likelihood of ceasing to pity her; but a few weeks brought some alleviation to Mr. Woodhouse. The compliments of his neighbours were over; he was no longer teased by being wished joy of so sorrowful an event; and the wedding-cake, which had been a great distress to him, was all eat up. His own stomach could bear nothing rich, and he could never believe other people to be different from himself. What was unwholesome to him he regarded as unfit for any body; and he had, therefore, earnestly tried to dissuade them from having any wedding-cake at all, and when that proved vain, as earnestly tried to prevent any body’s eating it. He had been at the pains of consulting Mr. Perry, the apothecary, on the subject. Mr. Perry was an intelligent, gentlemanlike man, whose frequent visits were one of the comforts of Mr. Woodhouse’s life; and upon being applied to, he could not but acknowledge (though it seemed rather against the bias of inclination) that wedding-cake might certainly disagree with many — perhaps with most people, unless taken moderately. With such an opinion, in confirmation of his own, Mr. Woodhouse hoped to influence every visitor of the newly married pair; but still the cake was eaten; and there was no rest for his benevolent nerves till it was all gone. [Chapter 2, pp. 21-22]
His own stomach could bear nothing rich, and he could never believe other people to be different from himself. What was unwholesome to him he regarded as unfit for any body; and he had, therefore, earnestly tried to dissuade them from having any wedding-cake at all, and when that proved vain, as earnestly tried to prevent any body’s eating it.
The scene occurs early in the novel; here, Brock uses the frontispiece to draw the reader's attention to Emma’s father valetudenarianism, in this case, his anxiety about consuming "rich" food. The wealthy landowner is shown consulting Mr. Perry, an "intelligent, gentlemanlike man," who listens earnestly to him as he worries about the consumption of the leftover wedding-cake from the Westons' recent wedding reception. Perry’s "frequent visits were one of the comforts of Mr. Woodhouse’s life" (22), since he is a chronic invalid, cautious and obsessive. He cannot see beyond his own dietary anxieties to feel any happiness for his daughter's former governess who has married well. In pitying her he is in fact pitying himself for having to endure a disruptive change in his own household.
Mr Woodhouse is seen in similar dismay in Brock's final illustration for the second volume of the novel, this time when faced with an even greater domestic upheaval: Emma's marriage to Mr Knightley ("Poor man! — it was at first a considerable shock to him"). The choice of these scenes is far from arbitrary: the fact that her father's needs are taken into consideration at the end is a mark of his daughter's essential kindness, and that of Knightley too. Between them, the two illustrations foreground not simply an older man who cannot think beyond his own comfort, but the fundamental good nature of the principal protagonists.
Austen, Jane. Emma. Ed. R. Brimley Johnson. With coloured illustrations by C. E. and H. M. Brock. 2 vols. The Novels and Letters of Jane Austen. New York & Philadelphia: Frank S. Holby, 1906.
Created 4 April 2026