Dickens's "Mrs. Jarley taking tea in her caravan" by Harold Copping (1893)

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Mrs. Jarley taking tea in her caravan

Harold Copping

1893

Photographic reproduction of line drawing, p. 139

18 x 12.6 cm (7 by 5 inches), vignetted

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

Here the illustrator gives us the likeness of one of the novel's less sentimental characters whose commercial acumen plays a role in Little Nell's story, for the kindly businesswoman recognizes in Nell a talent for presentation. Copping emphasizes not only her "stoutness," but also her self-assurance. [Commentary continued below.]

Scanned image, caption, and commentary below by Philip V. Allingham

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Passage Illustrated: Mrs. Jarley Takes a Moment for Herself

The afternoon had worn away into a beautiful evening, when they came to a caravan drawn up by the road. It was a smart little house upon wheels, and at the door sat a stout and comfortable lady, taking tea. The tea-things were set out upon a drum, covered with a white napkin. And there, as if at the most convenient table in the world, sat this roving lady, taking her tea and enjoying the prospect. Of this stout lady Nell ventured to ask how far it was to the neighbouring town. [Mary Angela Dickens et al., "Little Nell and Her Grandfather," 138]

Earlier Illustrations of the Waxworks Proprietor (1840-1910)

Above: The style of the second member of the team of illustrators, Phiz, was ideally to the depiction of the tea-swilling, overdressed, flamboyant Mrs. Jarley, taking tea: The Lady of the Caravan (Part 15: 15 August 1840).

Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Diamond Edition woodblock engraving Mrs. Jarley (1867). Right: Phiz's woodblock engraving of Nell's practising her patter as Mrs. Jarley's docent: "Mrs. Jarley's Waxworks Part 16 (22 August 1840).

Charles Green's less cartoonish Household Edition illustration focuses on the proprietress and her docent rather than on the wax effigies in "That, Ladies and Gentlemen," said Mrs. Jarley, "is Jasper Packlemerton of atrocious memory." (1876).

Left: Furniss's original drawing of Nell assisting Mrs. Jarley with the exhibition, in the Charles Dickens Library edition, Mrs. Jarley's Waxworks (1910). Right: Thomas Worth's American Household Edition illustration focuses on the waxworks' proprietress, but fails to make her either interesting or animated: "That's me. I am Mrs. Jarley." (1872).

Various Artists' Illustrations for Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop (1841-1924)

The Old Curiosity Shop Illustrated: A Team Effort by "The Clock Works."
George Cattermole (13 plates selected)
Hablot Knight Browne (61 wood-engravings)
Felix O. C. Darley (4 photogravure plates)
Sol Eytinge, Jr. (12 wood engravings)
Thomas Worth (54 wood engravings)
Charles Green (39 wood engravings)
W. H. C. Groome (8 lithographs plus engraved title)
J. Clayton Clarke ("Kyd") (13 lithographs from watercolours)
Harry Furniss (31 lithographs plus engraved title)

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman and Hall, 1841. Rpt., 1849 by Bradbury and Evans (3 vols. in 2).

_____. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Thomas Worth. The Household Edition. New York: Harper & Bros., 1872. I.

_____. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Charles Green. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876.

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.

Created 26 September 2023