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"Horatio Sparkins"
George Cruikshank
1839
Copper engraving
10.5 by 8.9 vignetted
"Horatio Sparkins" — the fifth chapter in "Tales," by Charles Dickens in Sketches by Boz, facing p. 267.
[Click on image to enlarge it and mouse over text for links.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
At twelve o'clock on the following morning, the "fly" was at the door of Oak Lodge, to convey Mrs. Malderton and her daughters on their expedition for the day. They were to dine and dress for the play at a friend's house. First, driving thither with their band-boxes, they departed on their first errand to make some purchases at Messrs. Jones, Spruggins, and Smith's, of Tottenham Court Road; after which, they were to go to Redmayne's in Bond Street; thence, to innumerable places that no one ever heard of. The young ladies beguiled the tediousness of the ride by eulogising Mr. Horatio Sparkins, scolding their mamma for taking them so far to save a shilling, and wondering whether they should ever reach their destination. At length, the vehicle stopped before a dirty-looking ticketed linen-draper's shop, with goods of all kinds, and labels of all sorts and sizes, in the window. There were dropsical figures of seven with a little three-farthings in the corner; "perfectly invisible to the naked eye;" three hundred and fifty thousand ladies' boas, from one shilling and a penny halfpenny; real French kid shoes, at two and ninepence per pair; green parasols, at an equally cheap rate; and "every description of goods," as the proprietors said — and they must know best — "fifty per cent. under cost price."
"Lor! ma, what a place you have brought us to!" said Miss Teresa; "what would Mr. Sparkins say if he could see us!"
"Ah! what, indeed!" said Miss Marianne, horrified at the idea.
"Pray be seated, ladies. What is the first article?" inquired the obsequious master of the ceremonies of the establishment, who, in his large white neckcloth and formal tie, looked like a bad "portrait of a gentleman" in the Somerset House exhibition.
"I want to see some silks,"answered Mrs. Malderton.
"Directly, ma'am. — Mr. Smith! Where is Mr. Smith?"
"Here, sir," cried a voice at the back of the shop.
"Pray make haste, Mr. Smith," said the M. C. "You never are to be found when you're wanted, sir."
Mr. Smith, thus enjoined to use all possible despatch, leaped over the counter with great agility, and placed himself before the newly-arrived customers. Mrs. Malderton uttered a faint scream; Miss Teresa, who had been stooping down to talk to her sister, raised her head, and beheld — Horatio Sparkins! — "Tales," Chapter 5, "Horatio Sparkins," pp. 278-79.
"Horatio Sparkins," fifth of the stories in the 'Tales' section of the collected edition of Sketches buy Boz. Originally published in The Monthly Magazine, Feb. 1834. Describes how Sparkins, posing in society as a fashionable young gentleman, imposes on the snobbish Malderton family, who are horrified to discover by accident that he is, in fact, merely as draper's assistant. — The Dickens Index, p. 123.
As with "The Tuggses at Ramsgate", Fred Barnard would later depict an earlier stage of the "confidence game" with the sophisticated Horatio the node of all orbits in the assembly-room scene, whereas the original Cruikshank illustration, Horatio Sparkins prepares the alert reader at the very outset for the "discovery scene" in which the noveau-riche Malderton ladies, visiting the cut-rate, somewhat dingy draper's shop where Horatio works as "Mr. Smith," are shocked to discover his true, "un-Byronic," plebeian identity. As Paul Schlicke remarks,
Formally, the sketches and tales are organized in fundamentally different ways. The sketches generally lack plot and proceed wherever Boz's enquiring eye happens to alight. Their tone is genial, compassionate, and urbane. The tales, in contrast, are generally sardonic, moving boldly towards narrative climax, which often exposes vain or foolish characters to ridicule. . . . — The Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens, p. 534.
Since in the short story cloth and clothing take on an emblematic meaning of superficial and spurious (as opposed to genuine) identity, both illustrators have chosen thematically significant scenes. Barnard takes us to opening scene, the assembly, a pseudo-aristocratic world of glittering appearances and superficial sentiments in which "Horatio Sparkins," the draper's assistant, is able to pull the wool over the fashion-conscious eyes of the Maldertons precisely because they trust so much to appearances and "very fine words" (269). Dickens's initial description of the family at the ball emphasizes fashion and appearance over character and achievement:
The night succeeding the conversation we have just recorded, was "assembly night." The double-fly was ordered to be at the door of Oak Lodge at nine o'clock precisely. The Miss Maldertons were dressed in sky-blue satin trimmed with artificial flowers; and Mrs. M. (who was a little fat woman), in ditto ditto, looked like her eldest daughter multiplied by two. Mr. Frederick Malderton, the eldest son, in full-dress costume, was the very beau idéal of a smart waiter; and Mr. Thomas Malderton, the youngest, with his white dress-stock, blue coat, bright buttons, and red watch-ribbon, strongly resembled the portrait of that interesting, but rash young gentleman, George Barnwell [the callow apprentice who murders his master in George Lillo's domestic tragedy The London Merchant; Or, The History of George Barnwell (1731)]. — "Tales," Ch. 5, "Horatio Sparkins," p. 269.
The gestures of the three female Maldertons at the draper's counter suggest their shock and disbelief as they discover that Horatio Sparkins is a fraud — and are caught out buying inferior silks at "a dirty-looking ticketed linendraper's shop" (278) in order "save a shilling." The elegantly dressed young man with the slender waist and perfectly fitting tailcoat, waistcoat, and cravat is a very "fashion-plate," with Byronic curls and a shocked expression that betokens a mutual recognition between himself and Miss Malderton, centre. Although, as Schlicke, points out, what distinguishes this little tale from the previous London sketches in "Our Parish," "Scenes," and "Characters" is the contribution of all elements of setting, character, and costume to the plot, what connects this "tale" to the earlier, non-fiction pieces is the detailed description that George Cruikshank provides of a commercial establishment, with pricing prominently displayed. The very curtains in this prose-farce, suggestive of a theatrical performance, are priced to go.
Left: George Cruikshank'scaricatural rendering of the reunion of the separated lovers, Sentiment [Theodosius Introduced to the New Pupil]. Centre: The discovery of the unfortunate Cymon hiding in Belinda Waters' room, The Tuggses at Ramsgate. Right: Fred Barnard's depiction of the devious Mr. Smith disguised as "Horatio Sparkins" in society, "How delightful, how refreshing it is, to retire from the cloudy storms, the vicissitudes, and the troubles of life, even if it be but for a few short fleeting moments!". [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens: A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990.
Bentley, Nicholas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens: Index. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z. The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. "Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Chapman and Hall, 1839; rpt., 1890. Pp. 267-79.
Dickens, Charles. ""Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Christmas Books and Sketches by Boz, Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: James R. Osgood, 1875 [rpt. of 1867 Ticknor & Fields edition]. Pp. 422-30.
Dickens, Charles. "Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876. Pp. 168-76.
Dickens, Charles. "Horatio Sparkins," Chapter 5 in "Tales," Sketches by Boz. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. 1. Pp. 342-58.
Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book: A Record of the Dickens Illustrators. The Charles Dickens Library Edition, vol. 17. London: Educational Book, 1910.
Hawksley, Lucinda Dickens. Chapter 3, "Sketches by Boz." Dickens Bicentenary 1812-2012: Charles Dickens. San Rafael, California: Insight, 2011. Pp. 12-15.
Schlicke, Paul. "Sketches by Boz." Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens. Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1999. Pp. 530-535.
Slater, Michael. Charles Dickens: A Life Defined by Writing. New Haven and London: Yale U. P., 2009.
Last modified 22 May 2017