Oliver and Little Dick
Sol Eytinge, Jr.
1867
Dickens's The Adventures of Oliver Twist, also, Pictures from Italy, and American Notes for General Circulation Diamond Edition)
Although other illustrators have depicted Oliver as an underfed, sensitive child in the workhouse, Eytinge's treatment includes Oliver's only friend, a fellow sufferer of the parish charity system at Mrs, Mann;s baby-farm (the stage which precedes the workhouse). Here, Oliver stops to say good-bye to his friend and admirer as Oliver runs off to London to escape from the Sowerberries. Leaving behind Little Dick is Oliver's only regret.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Passage Illustrated
He reached the house. There was no appearance of its inmates stirring at that early hour. Oliver stopped, and peeped into the garden. A child was weeding one of the little beds; as he stopped, he raised his pale face and disclosed the features of one of his former companions. Oliver felt glad to see him, before he went; for, though younger than himself, he had been his little friend and playmate. They had been beaten, and starved, and shut up together, many and many a time.
"Hush, Dick!" said Oliver, as the boy ran to the gate, and thrust his thin arm between the rails to greet him. "Is any one up?"
"Nobody but me," replied the child.
"You musn't say you saw me, Dick," said Oliver. "I am running away. They beat and ill-use me, Dick; and I am going to seek my fortune, some long way off. I don't know where. How pale you are!"
"I heard the doctor tell them I was dying," replied the child with a faint smile. 'I am very glad to see you, dear; but don't stop, don't stop!"
"Yes, yes, I will, to say good b'ye to you," replied Oliver. "I shall see you again, Dick. I know I shall! You will be well and happy!'
"I hope so," replied the child. "After I am dead, but not before. I know the doctor must be right, Oliver, because I dream so much of Heaven, and Angels, and kind faces that I never see when I am awake. Kiss me," said the child, climbing up the low gate, and flinging his little arms round Oliver's neck. "Good-b'ye, dear! God bless you!" [Chapter 7, "Oliver Continues Refractory," p. 34-35]
Relevant Illustrations from the serial edition (1838), Household Edition (1871), and Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910)
Left: George Cruikshank's Oliver asking for more (1838). Center: James Mahoney's title-page vignette (1871). Right: Harry Furniss's Charles Dickens Library Edition illustration Oliver's Flight to London (1910). [Click on images to enlarge them.]
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Cohen, Jane Rabb. "George Cruikshank." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980. Pp. 15-38.
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr. Character Sketches from Dickens. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1888.
Davies, Philip. "Warren of Sunless Courts." Lost London, 1870-1945. Croxley Green, Hertfordshire: Transatlantic, 2009. Pp. 258- 260.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress. Il. George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans; Chapman and Hall, 1846.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Il. F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1865.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Il. Sol Eytinge, Jr. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. . Household Edition. Il. James Mahoney. London: Chapman and Hall, 1871.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. The Annotated Dickens. Ed. Edward Guiliano and Philip Collins. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1986. Vol. 1. Pp. 534-823.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens Library Edition. Il. Harry Furniss. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. 3.
Forster, John. "Oliver Twist 1838." The Life of Charles Dickens. Ed. B. W. Matz. The Memorial Edition. 2 vols. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1911. Vol. 1, book 2, chapter 3. Pp. 91-99.
Kitton, Frederic G. "George Cruikshank." Dickens and His Illustrators: Cruikshank, Seymour, Buss, "Phiz," Cattermole, Leech, Doyle, Stanfield, Maclise, Tenniel, Frank Stone, Topham, Marcus Stone, and Luke Fildes. 1899. Rpt. Honolulu: U. Press of the Pacific, 2004. Pp. 1-28.
Last modified 2 October 2014