Mr. Caudle a Widower. —; Initial "I" — initial-letter vignette for "The Last Lecture" in Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures, first published in Punch; or, The London Charivari on 8 November 1845, "Mrs. Caudle has taken cold; the Tragedy of Thin Soles." Wood-engraving, 6.3 cm high by 5.1 cm wide, framed, p. 185. Fifty-sixth illustration in the third edition. Although the text suggests that Margaret Caudle is expiring from pneumonia, she is by no means dead yet; her distinctive voice is very much alive. However, Keene shows Caudle in widower's weeds attending a wake on behalf of his dead wife.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image 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.]
Passage Suggested
"Good-night. Yes, —; this cold does tear me to pieces; but for all that, it isn't the shoes. God bless you, Caudle; no, —; it's not the shoes. I won't say it's the key-hole; but again I say, it's not the shoes. God bless you once more —; But never say it's the shoes." [pp. 187-188]
Related Resources
- "Well, Oliver, how do you like it?": Dickens, Funerals, and Undertakers
- Funerals and Undertakers in Dickens's novels
- Death Becomes Her: A Century of Mourning Attire
- "Come Sir! Remove me to my vile dungeon. Where is my mouldy straw?"
Bibliography
Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures, as Suffered by the late Job Caudle.Edited from the Original MSS. by Douglas Jerrold. With a frontispiece by Leech, and as motto on the title-page, "Then, Pistol, lay thy head in Fury's lap. —; Shakespeare." London: Punch Office; Bradbury and Evans, 1846.
Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures. Illustrated by John Leach and Richard Doyle. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1856.
Jerrold, Douglas. Mrs. Caudle's Curtain Lectures. Illustrated by Charles Keene. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1866.
Last modified 29 December 2017