Clara Miller Burd's "Caleb and his daughter were hard at work in the toyshop (See page 83.)" (1929)

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Caleb and his daughter were hard at work in the toyshop.

Clara M. Burd

1929

Chromolithograph

16.6 cm by 11.5 cm (6 ½ by 4 ½ inches) framed

Elizabeth Lodor Merchant's Dickens' Stories About Children, facing p. 148 but realising p. 83 in Chapter 6, "The Toy Maker and His Blind Daughter."

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Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: The Toy-makers' Crowded Workroom

Caleb Plummer and his blind daughter lived alone in a little cracked nutshell of a house. They were toy makers, and their house, which was so small that it might have knockd to pieces with a hammer and carried away in a cart, was stuck like a toadstool on to the premises of Messrs. Gruff & Tackleton, the toy merchants for whom they worked — the latter of whom was himself both Gruff and Tackleton in one.

I am saying that Caleb and his blind daughter lived here. I should say Caleb did; his daughter lived in an enchanted palace, which her father's love had created for her. [Chapter 6, "The Toy Maker and His Blind Daughter," 83]

Related Materials and Details

The Christmas Books of Charles Dickens
Felix O. C. Darley's character study "Father," said the Blind Girl, drawing close to his side (1861)
Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s single illustration for The Cricket on the Hearth (1867)
Felix O. C. Darley's character study Bertha, the Blind Girl, May Fielding, and Caleb Plummer (1888)
A. E. Abbey's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1876)
Fred Barnard's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1878)

Similar Illustrations in Earlier Editions: 1845, 1867, 1876, and 1878

Left: Richard Doyle's Chirpthe Second. Centre: John Leech's Caleb at Work (1845). Right: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Caleb Plummer and Bertha (1867).

Left: E. A. Abbey's "Halloo! Hallo!" Said Caleb. "I shall be vain presently!" (1876); right, Fred Barnard's After dinner, Caleb sang the song about the Sparkling Bowl (1878).

Bibliography

Bolton, H. Philip. "The Cricket on the Hearth."Dickens Dramatized. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1987, 273-95.

Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio U. P., 1980.

Dickens, Charles. The Chimes: A Goblin Story of Some Bells That Rang an Old Year Out and a New Year In. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise, and Clarkson Stanfield. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1844 [dated 1845].

__________. The Christmas Books. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book Company, 1910, VIII, 79-157.

__________. The Christmas Books. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 16 vols. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.

__________. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1878.

__________. Christmas Stories. Illustrated by E. A. Abbey. The Household Edition. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876.

Merchant, Elizabeth Lodor. Dickens's Stories About Children. Illustrated by Clara M. Burd. London and New York: John C. Winston. Encyclopedia Americana, 1929.

Thomas, Deborah A. Chapter 4, "The Chord of the Christmas Season." Dickens and The Short Story. Philadelphia: U. Pennsylvania Press, 1982, 62-93.

Created 28 May 2025