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"If you please, I was born here, sir."
Harold Copping
1924
Photographic reproduction of line drawing
12 x 9 cm (4 ¾ by 3 ½ inches), vignetted
An illustration for "Little Dorrit of the Marshalsea," p. 129.
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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
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Once, amongst the debtors, a dancing-master came in, and as Fanny had a great desire to learn dancing, little Amy went timidly to the new prisoner, and said,
"If you please, I was born here, sir."
"Oh! You are the young lady, are you?" said he.
"Yes, sir."
"And what can I do for you?"
"Nothing for me, sir, thank you; but if, while you stay here, you could be so kind as to teach my sister cheap."
"My child, I'll teach her for nothing," said the dancing-master.
Fanny was a very apt pupil, and the good-natured dancing-master went on giving her lessons even after his release, and Amy was so emboldened with the success of her attempt that, when a milliner came in, she went to her on her own behalf, and begged her to teach her. ["Little Dorrit of the Marshalsea," Character Sketches from Dickens, pp. 128-129]
Dickens, Charles. Little Dorrit. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Authentic Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1901 [rpt. 30 May 1857 volume].
Dickens, Mary Angela [Charles Dickens' grand-daughter]. Dickens' Dream Children. London, Paris New, York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., 1924.
Dickens, Mary Angela et al. Children's Stories from Dickens. Introduction by Percy Fitzgerald. Illustrated by Harold Copping. London, Paris New, York: Raphael Tuck & Sons, Ltd., 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 3 October 2023