A. A. Dixon's third lithograph for Dickens's "American Notes" — “The mother drew her close to her side.” (1906)

“The mother drew her close to her side.”

Arthur A. Dixon

1906

lithograph

4 ¾ inches high by 3 ⅛ inches wide (12.2 cm by 8.1 cm)

Second regular illustration for the Collins Pocket edition, facing p. 28.

The woman from New Hampshire and her handicapped daughter are the subjects of New England Charity. See Ch. 3, “Boston,” p. 64.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite it in a print one.]

Passage Realised: A Pathetic Scene in The Perkins Institution, Boston

“After a while, on the mother taking hold of her again, a vague idea seemed to flit across Laura’s mind, that this could not be a stranger; she therefore felt her hands very eagerly, while her countenance assumed an expression of intense interest; she became very pale; and then suddenly red; hope seemed struggling with doubt and anxiety, and never were contending emotions more strongly painted upon the human face: at this moment of painful uncertainty, the mother drew her close to her side, and kissed her fondly, when at once the truth flashed upon the child, and all mistrust and anxiety disappeared from her face, as with an expression of exceeding joy she eagerly nestled to the bosom of her parent, and yielded herself to her fond embraces. [Ch. III, “Boston,” pp. 63-64]

Commentary: An Appeal to Victorian and Edwardian Sensibilities: A Handicapped Child

Here as elsewhere in the Collins Pocket Edition the reader requires some context to make sense of the lithograph, which again focuses on a few figures but offers little supporting detail in the background. The plate faces p. 28 in Chapter 2, "The Passage Out," but references p. 64, in Chapter 3, "Boston." The illustration clarifies the relationship between the suffering mother and her blind child, but the reader must flick ahead to clarify the impression that the child is blind and that the scene probably occurs in some sort of charitable institution, clinic, or hospital, if one is to judge by the desk and bench seat in the background of what proves to be the "Perkins Institution and Massachusetts Asylum for the Blind, at Boston" (49). Dickens a few pages on identifies the blind and deaf child as "Laura Bridgman. . . . born in Hanover, New Hampshire on the 21st of December, 1829" (54). Thus, merely flicking ahead to page 64 is not sufficient for the reader of the 1906 volume to acquire the information necessary to decode fully Dixon's pathetic scene. Rather, the picture creates an anticipatory set in the reader's mind, but merely reading page 64 would have proved insufficient. The reader must bear this scene in mind from page 28 to page 64.

Related Materials

"Philadelphia, and its Solitary Prison," Chapter 7 in American Notes (1842)
Introduction to "Philadelphia, and its Solitary Prison"
Reading and Discussion Questions
Charles Dickens, the traveler — places he visited
Charles Dickens and American Slavery

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. American Notes and Pictures from Italy, Volume XX, in the New York: P. F. Collier & Son edition, n. d.

Dickens, Charles. American Notes. Illustrated by A. A. Dixon. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-Type Press, 1906.

Dickens, Charles. American Notes for General Circulation and Pictures from Italy. Illustrated by Marcus Stone. Illustrated Library Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.

Dickens, Charles. American Notes. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. XIII.

Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist with American Notes for General Circulation and Pictures from Italy. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge. Diamond Edition. 14 volumes. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867. Vol. XI.

Dickens, Charles. Pictures from Italy, Sketches by Boz and American Notes. Illustrated by Thomas Nast and Arthur B. Frost. American Household Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1877 (copyrighted in 1876). Vol VII.

Dickens, Charles. American Notes for General Circulation and Pictures from Italy. Illustrated by J. Gordon Thomson and A. B. Frost. Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1880. Vol. XIX.

Created 31 August 2026