Dickens's "Bertha's anguish," by Harold Copping (1924)

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Bertha's anguish

Harold Copping

1924

Line drawing

5 inches high by 2 ¾ inches wide (12.6 x 7 cm), vignetted

Fourth illustration for "The Blind Toy-Maker" from Children's Stories from Dickens, p. 74.

The editors of The Dickens Index describe Bertha as "a paragon of fortitude and cheerfulness" (202). In the original 1845 novella, Bertha is purely a secondary character who has unfortunately fallen in love with the story's villain, "Gruff and Tackleton," who intends to marry May Fielding.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Realised: Portrait of the Self-tormented Blind-girl

Now a very sad and curious thing had happened. Caleb, in his love for Bertha, had so successfully deceived her as to the real character of Mr. Tackleton, that she had fallen in love, not with her master, but with what she imagined him to be, and was happy in an innocent belief in his affection for her; but one day she accidently heard he was going to be married, and could not hide from her father the pain and bewilderment she felt at the news. ["The Blind Toy-Maker," Character Sketches from Dickens, 74]

Commentary: Bertha's Anguish — Loving Tackleton in Vain

All too well has Caleb done his job of convincing Bertha that they are well-off, and that their callous employer is kind and generous. He has even made Bertha believe that, when Tackleton sounds unpleasant and critical, he is merely joking. What distinguishes Copping's treatment of the blind girl is the way he treats her romantic anguish seriously, and makes her frustrated relationship with the toy-marchant the focus of his narrative-pictorial sequence.

Relevant illustrations from the 1876 — 1912 Editions

Three illustrations of the blind toy-maker, Bertha: Left: Richard Doyle's Chirp the Second (1845). Right: Harry Furniss's Caleb's Daughter, the Dolls' Dressmaker (1910). Fred Barnard's Household Edition title-page plate for the novella, Caleb, Bertha, and Tackleton (1878).

Two later illustrations of Bertha Plummer, the toy-maker. Left: Luigi Rossi's's The Blind Girl's Illusion (1912). Right: E. A. Abbey's American Household Edition plate for The Christmas Books: "Halloo! Halloo!" said Caleb. "I shall be vain presently!"

Left: C. E. Brock's "I see you, father," she said. (1905) Right: E. A. Abbey's American Household Edition plate for The Christmas Books: "Halloo! Halloo!" said Caleb. "I shall be vain presently!" (1876)

Other Illustrations for The Cricket on the Hearth (1845-1910)

Bibliography

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1990.

Dickens, Charles. The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield, and Daniel Maclise. London: Chapman & Hall, 1845.

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.

Dickens, Mary Angela [Charles Dickens' grand-daughter]. Dickens' Dream Children. London, Paris New, York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., 1924.

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 28 September 2023