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The Stranger
L. Rossi after Charles Green
1912
Lithograph
11 cm high x 6.3 cm wide, exclusive of frame
Thumbnail for Dickens's The Cricket on the Hearth, The Pears' Centenary Edition, III, 32.
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
The Stranger, who had long white hair, good features, singularly bold and well defined for an old man, and dark, bright, penetrating eyes, looked round with a smile, and saluted the Carrier’s wife by gravely inclining his head.
His garb was very quaint and odd — a long, long way behind the time. Its hue was brown, all over. In his hand he held a great brown club or walking-stick; and striking this upon the floor, it fell asunder, and became a chair. On which he sat down, quite composedly. ["Chirp the First," Pears Centenary Edition, 31-32]
Although presumably acting upon the advice of the editor, Clement Shorter, the illustrator has provided both a title for the diminutive illustration of John's showing the elderly traveller will be spending the night (The Stranger, 11) and a suitable caption: "The Stranger, who had long white hair . . . looked round with a smile, and saluted the Carriers wife" on page 32. Although this enigmatic figure is supposed to be hard-of-hearing and of advanced age, neither Dot nor John recognizes him as the long-lost sailor, Edward Plummer, in disguise, even when the Stranger bates the carrier about being married to a woman so young that she could be his daughter or his niece.
John, now without his extensive travelling coat, ushers the old man dressed in hat and great-coat, into the room, although the text suggests that this should be the parlour rather than a guest-room. And, in fact, Rossi appears to have ignored that portion of the accompanying text in which the narrator describes the Stranger as "bareheaded" (31). A curious aspect of the first edition is that, although the young sailor disguised as an elderly traveller excites considerable anxiety in John when he suspects his young wife of having been in love with the youth, none of the original illustrators depicts him, not even in the concluding Dance, embedded into the second-to-the-last page. In contrast, both Household Editions offer illustrations that either highlight Edward Plummer's true appearance, or point to the adultery plot. Fred Barnard in Suffering him to clasp her round the waist, as they moved slowly down the dim wooden gallery (see below) shows Edward beside Dot, and apparently on intimate terms, as John and Tackleton observe them from hiding. Barnard has dressed Edward (wig in hand) in an elegant Regency costume that is inconsistent with what one would expect an elderly traveller to be wearing; however, it shows his physique to great advantage. In the American edition (1876), E. A. Abbey depicts the quarrel between Tackleton and John that ensues in "Listen to me" he said. "And take care that you hear me right" (see below). The only concession to the putative adultery plot in the original series is John Leech's John's Reverie, in which the anguished husband wrestles all night with the notion that he should shot the adulterous young man (who, is, in fact, not having such a relationship with Dot, who is merely a childhood friend).
Rossi invests John in shadow, perhaps to foreshadow his intense emotional conflict when he uncovers what he thinks is the truth about his guest. The illustrator gives the Stranger a mop of white hair, but in no way suggests at this point that he is not what he appears to be.
Barnard emphasizes the close relationship between Dot and the young stranger, as the figures at window (Tackleton and John) look on, aghast, in Suffering him to clasp her round the waist, as they moved slowly down the dim wooden gallery (1878).
Abbey's vigorous drawing involves John pushing the sardonic toymaker backwards, overturning a table as Dot watches in great apprehension, in "Listen to me" he said. "And take care that you hear me right" (1876).
Each contains about thirty illustrations from original drawings by Charles Green, R. I. — Clement Shorter [1912]
Dickens, Charles. The Cricket on the Hearth. A Fairy Tale of Home. Illustrated by John Leech, Daniel Maclise, Richard Doyle, Clarkson Stanfield, and Edwin Landseer. Engraved by George Dalziel, Edward Dalziel, T. Williams, J. Thompson, R. Graves, and Joseph Swain. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846 [December 1845].
_____. The Cricket on the Hearth. Illustrated by L. Rossi. London: A & F Pears, 1912.
Last modified 3 April 2020