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Miss Fanny meets an Acquaintance in Venice
Harry Furniss
1910
14.3 cm high x 9.5 cm wide, partially vignetted
Dickens's Little Dorrit, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, Book the Second, "Poverty," Chapter 6, "Something Right Somewhere," facing XII, 513.
[Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
In effect, the swain was standing up in his gondola, card-case in hand, affecting to put the question to a servant. This conjunction of circumstances led to his immediately afterwards presenting himself before the young ladies in a posture, which in ancient times would not have been considered one of favourable augury for his suit; since the gondoliers of the young ladies, having been put to some inconvenience by the chase, so neatly brought their own boat in the gentlest collision with the bark of Mr. Sparkler, as to tip that gentleman over like a larger species of ninepin, and cause him to exhibit the soles of his shoes to the object of his dearest wishes: while the nobler portions of his anatomy struggled at thebottom of his boat in the arms of one of his men.
However, as Miss Fanny called out with much concern, Was the gentleman hurt, Mr. Sparkler rose more restored than might have been expected, and stammered for himself with blushes, "Not at all so."
Miss Fanny had no recollection of having ever seen him before, and was passing on, with a distant inclination of her head, when he announced himself by name. Even then she was in a difficulty from being unable to call it to mind, until he explained that he had had the honour of seeing her at Martigny. Then she remembered him, and hoped his lady-mother was well.
"In Venice?" said Miss Fanny.
"In Rome," Mr. Sparkler answered. "I am here by myself, myself. I came to call upon Mr. Edward Dorrit myself. Indeed, upon Mr. Dorrit likewise. In fact, upon the family."
Turning graciously to the attendants, Miss Fanny inquired whether her papa or brother was within? The reply being that they were both within, Mr. Sparkler humbly offered his arm. [Book the Second, "Riches," Chapter 6, "Something Right Somewhere," 516-17: the wording of picture's original caption has been emphasized]
Fin-de-siécle illustrator Harry Furniss's interpretation of the chapter in which Amy Dorrit has a disturbing experience with painter Henry Gowan and his model, who is none other than Blandois. However, here Furniss focuses on the comedic (Fanny's putting Edmund Sparkler in his place) rather than the melodramatic.
Whereas Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz), the original serial illustrator, in Instinct Stronger than Learning (see below) had complemented the chapter set in Venice by portraying Gowan's studio above a bank on an islet, providing little local colour but describing well the characters of the artist and the murderer, Blandois, the later illustrators of the novel at this point have been sure to include a gondola to underscore the exotic Italian setting. However, whereas James Mahoney's using the text of the closing of the chapter as his subject in allows him to re-work the original serial illustration by focussing on Blandois' comment that somebody has poisoned Gowan's dog, Furniss dwells upon Fanny's taking subtle revenge on Sparkler for his mother's refusal to recognize days before at the inn in Switzerland. Furniss thoroughlyenjoys his exotic material and the lively gondoliers, an interpretation that may even owe something to The Gondoliers a light-hearted 1889 comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan. It is easy, however, to lose track of the fatuous Sparkler, the designing Fanny, and Little Dorrit (centre) amidst the Renaissance architecture on the Grand Canal.
Left: Eytinge, Junior's dual study of the delicate, tentative bride and the boorish artist-husband, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Gowan (1867). Right: James Mahoney's lantern-lit Venetian scene of Blandois' handing Little Dorrit into a gondola after dinner, On the brink of the quay, they all came together (1873).
Above: Phiz's dramatic rendering of Henry Gowan's trying to restrain his dog from attacking his model, Blabdois, Instinct Stronger than Training (November 1856).
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Created 7 May 2016
Last modified 28 January 2020