"Mr. Dombey at Paul's sick-bed" by Harry Furniss — eleventh illustration for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (1910)

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> Henry Furniss —> Dombey and Son —> Next]

Mr. Dombey at Paul's sick-bed

Harry Furniss

1910

13.4 x 8.5 cm, vignetted

Dickens's Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation, the Charles Dickens Library Edition, IX, facing 225.

"Floy!" he said. "What is that?" "Where, dearest?" "There! at the bottom of the bed." "There’s nothing there, except Papa!"

[Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

[You may use these images 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 the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: Paul goes into a decline

The people round him changed as unaccountably as on that first night at Doctor Blimber’s — except Florence; Florence never changed—and what had been Sir Parker Peps, was now his father, sitting with his head upon his hand. Old Mrs. Pipchin dozing in an easy chair, often changed to Miss Tox, or his aunt; and Paul was quite content to shut his eyes again, and see what happened next, without emotion. But this figure with its head upon its hand returned so often, and remained so long, and sat so still and solemn, never speaking, never being spoken to, and rarely lifting up its face, that Paul began to wonder languidly, if it were real; and in the night-time saw it sitting there, with fear.

"Floy!" he said. "What is that?"

"Where, dearest?"

"There! at the bottom of the bed."

"There’s nothing there, except Papa!"

The figure lifted up its head, and rose, and coming to the bedside, said: "My own boy! Don’t you know me?"

Paul looked it in the face, and thought, was this his father? But the face so altered to his thinking, thrilled while he gazed, as if it were in pain; and before he could reach out both his hands to take it between them, and draw it towards him, the figure turned away quickly from the little bed, and went out at the door. [Chapter XVI, "What the Waves were always Saying," 230-31]

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son

Dombey and Son (homepage)
Phiz's Illustrations for Dombey and Son, Wholesale Retail & for Exportation (Oct. 1846 - April 1848)
O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 1, 1862)
O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 2, 1862)
O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 3, 1862)
Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 Diamond Edition Illustrations (1867)
Fred Barnard's 61 illustrations for the Household Edition (1872)
Kyd's five Player's Cigarette Cards, 1910

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

_______. Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail, and for Exportation. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. IX.

Last modified 30 December 2019