When he did sit down, he tucked up his sleeves and squared his elbows and put his face close to the copy-book — Chap. III by Charles Green. 1876. 9.5 cm high by 13.7 cm wide (3 ⅝ by 4 ⅞ inches), framed. Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop, in the 1876 British Household Edition, IV: 16. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Recalled: Kit Nubbles' Literacy Lesson
The opinion was not the result of hasty consideration, for which indeed there was no opportunity at that time, as the child came directly, and soon occupied herself in preparations for giving Kit a writing lesson, of which it seemed he had a couple every week, and one regularly on that evening, to the great mirth and enjoyment both of himself and his instructress. To relate how it was a long time before his modesty could be so far prevailed upon as it admit of his sitting down in the parlour, in the presence of an unknown gentleman — how, when he did set down, he tucked up his sleeves and squared his elbows and put his face close to the copy-book and squinted horribly at the lines — how, from the very first moment of having the pen in his hand, he began to wallow in blots, and to daub himself with ink up to the very roots of his hair — how, if he did by accident form a letter properly, he immediately smeared it out again with his arm in his preparations to make another — how, at every fresh mistake, there was a fresh burst of merriment from the child and louder and not less hearty laugh from poor Kit himself — and how there was all the way through, notwithstanding, a gentle wish on her part to teach, and an anxious desire on his to learn — to relate all these particulars would no doubt occupy more space and time than they deserve. It will be sufficient to say that the lesson was given — that evening passed and night came on — that the old man again grew restless and impatient — that he quitted the house secretly at the same hour as before — and that the child was once more left alone within its gloomy walls. [Chapter III, 13: emphasis added to show the original caption]
Commentary: Christopher "Kit" Nubbles, Secondary Protagonist
Green, born in 1840, had probably read the story of The Old Curiosity Shop long before he received the Chapman and Hall commission to illustrate it as the twelfth volume of the Household Edition in 1875. Indeed, his acquaintance with the 1841 novel may go all the way back to boyhood. Because he knew the relative importance of each of the main characters in the loose, picaresque narrative, Green knew the part that Kit Nubbles would play as a secondary protagonist, behind Little Nell, but roughly on a parr with the plucky Dick Swiveller, as opposition to the menacing dwarf Daniel Quilp. Green signals his appreciation of Kit's significance by introducing him early in the narrative-pictorial sequence, which will include only two further illustrations featuring the well-meaning male ingenue of working-class origins and middle-class aspirations which begin with his laboriously acquiring literacy skills in this scene. Whereas Grandfather Trent looks for a shortcut to riches for Little Nell through gambling (with disastrous results), Kit cheerfully applies himself to a course of self-improvement and diligent service, first to Grandfather Trent and then to the Garlands. Unlike Harry Furniss in the 1910 series, who introduces Kit as an embarrassed booby (see below right), Green treats him with serious appreciation.
Kit unwittingly enables Grandfather Trent's nocturnal gambling expeditions by standing guard all night to protect Nell. As Little Nell's devoted friend and her grandfather's loyal servant Kit acts in loco parentis, vowing “never [to] come home to his bed until he thinks she's safe in hers.” Although he is discharged and framed for theft by Quilp, who envies the boy's height and handsome features and hopes to eliminate him as Nell's protector, Kit thrives at the end of the novel, which completes his upward social trajectory following the death of his beloved mistress, Little Nell. Kit receives both the friendship of his kindly employers, Mr. and Mrs. Garland and their son Abel, is also reunited with his pet pony, the naughty but entertaining Whiskers, and at the close of the novel finally marries Barbara, his fellow servant at the Garlands'.
Relevant illustrations from the original and Diamond editions
Left: Hablot Knight Browne's amusing caricature of the comical Kit in Master Humphrey's Clock: Kit at Home (Chapter 10). Right: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s Diamond Edition study of the faithful shop-boy and his hard-working mother, Kit, His Mother, Jacob, and the Baby (1867).
Left: Hablot Knight Browne's amusing caricature of the comical Kit in Mr. Garland and Kit (Chapter 40). Right: Furniss's early introduction of the poor boy who makes good, Kit (1910).
Related Material
- Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop — Some Discussions
- The Old Curiosity Shop Illustrated: A Team Effort by "The Clock Works."
- Kyd's Characters from Dickens (1889)
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use the images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the images and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. The Old Curiosity Shop in Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by Phiz, George Cattermole, Samuel Williams, and Daniel Maclise. 3 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1841; rpt., Bradbury and Evans, 1849.
_______. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867. XII.
_______. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Thomas Worth. The Household Edition. VI. 7 vols. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1872.
_______. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Charles Green. The Household Edition. XII. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1876.
_______. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. V. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910.
Created 17 June 2020
Last modified 14 April 2026