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Bill Sikes abandons the wounded Oliver
Harold Copping
1893, rpt. 1924
Photographic reproduction of a line drawing
15.8 cm by 11 cm (6 ⅛ by 4 ⅛ inches), vignetted
From Children's Stories from Dickens, p. 27.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
. . . Sikes was in no mood to be played with.
"Bear a hand with the boy," roared Sikes, beckoning furiously to his confederate. "Come back!"
Toby made a show of returning, but ventured in a low voice, broken for ant of breath to intimate considerable reluctance as he came slowly along.
"Quicker!" cried Sikes, laying the boy in a dry ditch at his feet, and drawing a pistol from his pocket. "Don't play the booby with me."
At this moment the noise grew louder, and Sikes again looking around could discern that the men who had given chase were already climbing the gate of the field in which he stood, and that a couple of dogs were some paces in advance of them.
"It's all up, Bill," cried Toby; "drop the kid and show 'em your heels."
With this parting advice Mr. Crackit, preferring the chance of being shot by his friend to the certainty of being taken by his enemies, fairly turned tail, and darted off at full speed.
Sikes clenched his teeth . . . . [Children's Stories from Dickens, 36]
Since Bill Sikes was among the novel's most frequently illustrated characters, Copping had both to synthesize previous images of the daring ruffian and offer a fresh perspective of the notorious murderer of Nancy. This version is no gorilla in working-class garb, or a Darwinian throw-back, but a realistic, modelled portrait of a physically powerful, determined lawbreaker. By the time that readers reach this scene, they are not yet aware from the letterpress of the role that the gang has Oliver play in the burglary that the housebreakers Toby Crackit and Bill Sikes have organized. Thus, the illustration anticipates rather than complements a passage in the story of Oliver's underworld experiences.
And what we observe in Copping's portrait is supported by the letterpress only insofar as we have some sense of Sikes's rough and daring personality: "Among these thieves there was one more desperate and wicked than the others" (34). He is a villain capable of determined action and great rage. Thus, Copping must give us a sense of the physical reality of the burglar. His rough hat and rugged features bespeak something of his character, and his solid body and stout legs imply strength and fortitude. And, finally, his weapons (a cudgel and a flint-lock pistol) suggest that he is prepared to defend himself against all comers during and after the robbery at Chertsey.
Left: Sol Eytinge, Junior's Bill Sikes and Nancy in the Diamond Edition (1867). Centre: George Cruikshank's Bentley's illustration The Burglary (January 1838). Right: Harry Furniss's scene of his abandoning the unconscious Oliver: The wounded Oliver thrown into the Ditch (1910). F. W. Pailthorpe's depiction of Sikes's downward trajectory after the failed burglary and the murder of Nancy: The antic fellow and Sikes (1886). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Left: Harry Furniss's portrait of a dangerous criminal: Bill Sikes (1910). Centre: James Mahoney's Household Edition illustration of Oliver's being directed by Sikes; in "Directly I leave go of you, do your work. Hark!" (1871) Oliver is already inside the brewing room of the house. Right: Octavius Carr Darley's group illustration from Character Sketches from Dickens (1888): Sikes, Nancy, and Oliver Twist. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans; Chapman and Hall, 1846.
Dickens, Mary Angela, Percy Fitzgerald, Captain Edric Vredenburg, and Others. Illustrated by Harold Copping with eleven coloured lithographs. Children's Stories from Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1893.
Matz, B. W., and Kate Perugini; illustrated by Harold Copping. Character Sketches from Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1924. Copy in the Paterson Library, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Created 23 September 2023