John Tenniel's "Redlaw on the landing of the staircase" — detail of "Illustrated Double-Page to Chap. II" from "The Haunted Man" (1848)

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Redlaw on the landing of the staircase

Illustrated Double-Page to Chap. II

John Tenniel

1848

12 x 7.1 cm, vignetted (irregular)

Dickens's The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain. A Fancy for Christmas Time, Three-quarter-page vignette, embedded in the text, 53.

[Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Context of the Illustration

In the quickness of his expression of this desire, and in taking the candle from the newsman, he touched him on the breast. Withdrawing his hand hastily, almost as though he had wounded him by accident (for he did not know in what part of himself his new power resided, or how it was communicated, or how the manner of its reception varied in different persons), he turned and ascended the stair.

But when he reached the top, he stopped and looked down. The wife was standing in the same place, twisting her ring round and round upon her finger. The husband, with his head bent forward on his breast, was musing heavily and sullenly. The children, still clustering about the mother, gazed timidly after the visitor, and nestled together when they saw him looking down. [Chapter Two: "The Gift Bestowed," pp. 82-83]

Details

Commentary

With Redlaw's gesture (right) Tenniel ushers the reader into the complication of the narrative. Redlaw, on the landing of the staircase, protects the flame of the candle he has just borrowed. The shadows in both plates are significant in that they suggest the doubt and despair connected to Redlaw's double. Redlaw's shadow, suggestive of his double, points us back, while Redlaw himself seems to point forward, towards the student's room and the textual version of the plates.

Bibliography

Cohen, Jane Rabb. "John Tenniel." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio U. P., 1980.

Dickens, Charles. The Haunted Man and The Ghost's Bargain. Illustrated by John Leech, John Tenniel, Frank Stone, and Clarkson Stanfield. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1848.

Dickens, Charles. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1878.

Dickens, Charles. The Christmas Books. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. VIII.

Dickens, Charles. The Christmas Books. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 16 vols. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.

Dickens, Charles. Christmas Stories. Illustrated by E. A. Abbey. The Household Edition. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876.

Patten, Robert L. Dickens, Death, and Christmas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. 344 pages. ISBN 978-0-19-286266-2.

Thomas, Deborah A. Dickens and The Short Story. Philadelphia: U. Pennsylvania Press, 1982.

Created 29 December 2004

15 February 2024