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Sir Mulberry Hawk insults Kate Nickleby
Harry Furniss
1910
5 ¼ by 3 ¾ inches (13.3 cm high x 9.5 cm wide), vignetted
Kate hastily rose; but Sir Mulberry caught her dress, and forcibly detained her. "Let me go, sir," she cried. "Instantly — this moment." As Kate sprang forward, Mr. Ralph Nickleby appeared in the doorway. (246)
Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing IV, 257.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
"I wish you to understand, sir," said Kate, trembling in spite of herself, but speaking with great indignation,"‘that your behaviour offends and disgusts me. If you have a spark of gentlemanly feeling remaining, you will leave me."
"Now why," said Sir Mulberry, "why will you keep up this appearance of excessive rigour, my sweet creature? Now, be more natural — my dear Miss Nickleby, be more natural — do."
Kate hastily rose; but as she rose, Sir Mulberry caught her dress, and forcibly detained her.
"Let me go, sir," she cried, her heart swelling with anger. "Do you hear? Instantly — this moment."
"Sit down, sit down," said Sir Mulberry; "I want to talk to you."
"Unhand me, sir, this instant," cried Kate.
"Not for the world," rejoined Sir Mulberry. Thus speaking, he leaned over, as if to replace her in her chair; but the young lady, making a violent effort to disengage herself, he lost his balance, and measured his length upon the ground. As Kate sprung forward to leave the room, Mr. Ralph Nickleby appeared in the doorway, and confronted her.
"What is this?" said Ralph. [Chapter XIX, "Descriptive of a Dinner at Mr. Ralph Nickleby’s, and of the Manner in which the Company entertained themselves, before Dinner, at Dinner, and after Dinner," 246]
Left: Miss Nickleby Introduced to her Uncle's Friends (September 1838), in which Phiz pursues the subplot of Kate's fortunes while her brother is absent. Centre: Fred Barnard's British Household Edition realisation of the same scene: But the young lady making a violent effort to disengage herself, he lost his balance, and measured his length upon the ground (1875). Right: Fred Barnard's British Household Editioncomposite woodblock engraving of Sir Mulberry and his protege, Lord Frederick Verisopht: Sir Mulberry Hawk and his friend exchanged glances over the top of the bonnet. (1875)
Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s portrait of Sir Mulberry and his followers: Hawk, Verisopht, Pyke, and Pluck (1867). Right: C. S. Reimhart's version of Kate's indignation for the American Household Edition: "Unhand me, sir, this instant!" cried Kate (1875).
Barnard, J. "Fred" (illustrator). Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, with fifty-eight illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Volume 15. Rpt. 1890.
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. With fifty-two illustrations by C. S. Reinhart. The Household Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1872. I.
__________. Nicholas Nickleby. With 39 illustrations by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman & Hall, 1839.
__________. Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. IV.
__________. "Nicholas Nickleby." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, being eight hundred and sixty-six drawings by Fred Barnard et al.. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.
Created 19 April 2021