John McLenan's Sixty-three Plates for Wilkie Collins’s No Name as Serialised in Harper’s Weekly (1862-63)

Philip V. Allingham, Contributing Editor, Victorian Web; Professor Emeritus, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> John McLenan —> Harper’s Weekly —> Wilkie Collins]

• Frontispiece: “I can twist any man alive around my finger!” on page 461 of Harper’s Weekly, Part 19. [19 July 1862, Vol. VI.— No. 290]. The plate occurs on p. 123 within Chapter IV in “The Third Scene — Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth” in the first Harper’s volume edition, and serves as the frontispiece of the 1978 Dover volume.
• Title-page: No Name. A Novel [Harper and Brothers, Franklin Square, 1873]

Note: Initial numbers indicate the order of the paired illustrations.

• 1. No. 1, Ch. 1-2 [Vol. VI. — No. 272], p. 173: Magdalen, an uncaptioned vignette, 11.7 cm high by 9.2 cm wide, 10.7 cm high by 5.5 cm wide, or 4 ¼ inches high by 2 ⅛ inches wide, vignetted, plus regular plate of Miss Garth and Captain Wragge at the gates of Combe-Raven: Captain Wragge. Post-Office, Bristol, 11.7 cm high by 9.2 cm wide, bottom right, or 4 ½ inches square, framed; p. 16 in volume. Part 1 ends on page 175 [15 March 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 272]

• 2. No. 2, Ch. 3-4, p. 189: half-page portrait of Wilkie Collins, The Author of “No Name,” “The Woman in White,” &c. Faithfully yours, Wilkie Collins plus an uncaptioned plate and a regular composite woodblock engraving, “Come, Frank!” p. 23 in volume. Part 2 ends on page 192 [22 March 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 273]
• 3. No. 3, Ch. 5-6, p. 205 in serial: uncaptioned vignette plus regular plate of Magdalen and her maid: There sat Magdalen, in an arm-chair before the long looking-glass, etc. (bottom right), p. 26 in volume. Part 3 ends on p. 207 [29 March 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 274]
• 4. No. 4, Ch. 7-8, p. 221: “Come,” she said, “give me a kiss, Norah, and make it up.” (bottom right), p. 33 in volume. Part 4 ends on p. 223. [5 April 1862, Harper's Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 275]
• 5. No. 5, Chapter IX, page 237: uncaptioned vignette plus regular illustration bottom right, “He might marry me.” p. 39 in volume. Part 5 ends on p. 239 [12 April 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 276]
• 6. No. 6, Chapter X, page 253: uncaptioned plate and a regular composite woodblock engraving, “Consider me for the future, if you please, as an obstacle removed.” p. 43 in volume. Part 6 ends on p. 254. [19 April 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 277]
• 7. No. 7, Ch. 11-12, p. 269: uncaptioned plate and a regular composite woodblock engraving. There doubt stayed her feet at the threshold, and she waited for a moment before going in. p. 48 in volume. Part 7 ends at the top of p. 271. [26 April 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 278]
• 8. No. 8, Ch. 12 [Continued from the previous number in serial] and 13, p. 282: uncaptioned plate of Pendril, examining Vanstone's will in the study, and a regular composite woodblock engraving: Her eyes, dim with watching, weary with grief, searched the lawyer’s unfathomable face. “His unhappy daughters?” she repeated to herself, vacantly. p. 53 in volume. Part 8 ends on p. 283, 3 May 1862, in Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 279]. These plates face each other in the volume, pp. 52-53, both in the twelfth chapter.
• 9. No. 9, Ch. 13 [continued] and 14, p. 301: uncaptioned plate and a regular composite woodblock engraving. “We know it already,” she repeated, in clear, measured tones. (volume edition, p. 61). Part 9 ends at the top of p. 303. [10 May 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 280]
• 10. No. 10, Chapter XV, page 316: uncaptioned vignette (three women in mourning) and a regular composite woodblock engraving, “Ready,” he asked, stopping short after a while. (volume edition, p. 70). Part 10 ends on page 319. [17 May 1862, Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 281]*
• 11. No. 11, not illustrated in the serial *: [Vol. VI. — No. 282]: “Between the Scenes. I.” [24 May 1862] pages 334-336. However, the volume edition contains an uncaptioned vignette of the sisters in mourning (p. 74) plus regular plate: “I instantly ran into the room, and found Magdalen on the sofa in violent hysterics, and Frank standing staring at her with a lowering, angry face, biting his nails.” (volume edition, p. 73) in “Between the Scenes. I. From Norah Vanstone to Mr. Pendril.”
• 12. No. 12, “The Second Scene. Skeldergate, York.” Chapter I, page 349: an uncaptioned vignette (Captain Wragge reading “Fifty Ponds Reward”), plus a regular plate: He tucked his umbrella under his arm, and jocosely spelled his name for her further enlightenment. (volume edition, p. 81). Part 12 ends on page 351. 31 May 1862 [Vol. VI. — No. 283]
• 13. No. 13, Chapter II, page 365: an uncaptioned vignette of Mrs. Wragge, sleeping over a book (p. 90 in volume) plus a regular plate for Chapter II: “I say — you won't be angry with me? — I should so like to try your bonnet on.” (volume edition, p. 85). Part 13 ends at the top of page 367. [7 June 1862, Vol. VI. — No. 284] The 7 June 1862 instalment in All the Year Round contained only the second chapter in this sequence; next week’s number was just Chapter III.
• 14. No. 14, Chapter III, page 381: an uncaptioned vignette of Captain Wragge, (p. 96 in volume) plus a regular plate: “Who the devil would have thought it? She can act, after all!” (p. 94 in volume). Part 14 ends on page 383. [14 June 1862, Vol. VI. — No. 285] Note: Number 15 in serial (21 June 1862) has no illustrations, and occupies less than two full folio pages: pp. 398-399.
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• 15. No. 16, “Chronicle of Events: Preserved in Captain Wragge's Despatch Box. IX. (Chronicle for June).” page 413: an uncaptioned vignette of Captain Wragge, examining a costume (p. 109 in volume), plus a regular plate for “The Third Scene — Vauxhall Walk, Lambeth. Chapter I”: “No buzzing in my head! No Captain to shave tomorrow!” (p. 106 in volume). Part 16 ends on page 415. [28 June 1862]
• 16. No. 17, Chapter II, page 422: uncaptioned vignette of Magdalen in disguise, plus a regular plate: “The youngest — a girl of eight or nine years old — flew into a child's vehement passion, cried, screamed, and even kicked at the governess.” (p. 110 in volume). Part 17 ends on page 423. [5 July 1862]
• 17. No. 18, Chapter III, page 445: uncaptioned vignette of Magdalen and Mrs. Lecount, plus regular plate: Noel Vanstone (p. 114 in volume). Part 18 ends on page 446. [12 July 1862]
• 18. No. 19, Chapter IV, page 461: uncaptioned vignette of Mrs. Wragge, dropping an armload of parcels (p. 121 in volume), plus regular plate: “I can twist any man alive around my finger!” Part 19 ends on page 462 [19 July 1862], page 124 in volume. (Frontispiece for the 1978 Dover volume.)
• 19. No. 20, “Between the Scenes. I [Extract from the Advertising Columns of The Times.]” — XII, page 477: uncaptioned vignette of Captain Wragge, bowing (p. 478, p. 125 in volume), plus a regular plate: “Pray allow me to take your order for the tea, and to bring it with my own parcels.” (p. 479, p. 130 in volume). Part 20 ends on page 478. [26 July 1862]

• 20. No. 21: “The Fourth Scene. Aldborough, Suffolk.” Chapter I, page 493: uncaptioned vignette of Magdalen sitting on the wall of The North Shingles Villa (p. 132 in volume), plus regular plate: Captain Wragge started up on his knees, and stopped on them, petrified by astonishment. (p. 136 in volume). Part 21 ends on page 495. [2 August 1862]
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• 21. No. 24: Chapter V, page 538: uncaptioned vignette of Mrs. Lecount and Captain Wragge by the seashore, plus the regular plate involving the housekeeper: She looked every year of her age as she mixed the spirit with water, etc. (volume, p. 149). Part 24 ends on page 539. [23 August 1862]
• 22. No. 25: Chapter VI, page 554: uncaptioned vignette of Captain Wragge, plus a regular plate: “A mystery in his own house, under his own nose! What did it mean!” (volume, p. 159). Part 25 ends on page 555. [30 August 1862]
• 23. No. 26: Chapter VII, page 573: uncaptioned vignette of Wragge, hiding behind a fishing vessel (p. 165 in volume), plus regular plate: “My colour will.” (p. 162 in volume). Part 26 ends on page 575. [6 September 1862]
• 24. No. 27: Chapter VIII, page 590: uncaptioned vignette of Mrs. Wragge’s receiving Magdalen’s note, plus a regular plate: “Give me your hand, Sir.” (p. 169 in volume). Part 27 ends on page 591. [13 September 1862]
• 25. No. 28: Chapter IX, page 605: uncaptioned vignette of Mrs. Lecount with opera glasses, plus a regular plate: “Do you hear, you villain!” (p. 173 in volume). Part 28 ends on page 607. [20 September 1862]
• 26. No. 29: Chapter X, page 622: The number has no vignette, but a regular plate: “Lord bless us and save us!” — Mrs. Lecount and Mrs. Wragge (“Mrs. Bygrave”), page 181 in volume). Part 29 ends on page 623. [Vol. VI. — No. 300: 27 September 1862]
• 27. No. 30: Chapter XI, page 638: uncaptioned vignette of a “weather-beaten old man-servant” with a model boat (Chapter XII), plus a regular plate: “Noel Vanstone, Esq., did you say!” asked the Postmaster. (page 186 in volume). Part 30 ends on page 639. [4 October 1862]
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• 28. No. 34, The Fifth Scene, “Baliol Cottage, Dumfries.” Chapter I, page 702: uncaptioned vignette of Noel Vanstone at the garden gate (p. 207 in volume), plus a regular plate: “If you ever let him faint, you let him die.” (p. 211 in volume). Part 34 ends on page 703. [Vol. VI. — No. 305, 1 Nov. 1862]
• 29. No. 35, Chapter II, page 714: uncaptioned vignette Mrs. Lecount and Noel Vanstone, plus regular plate: Mrs. Lecount moved with impenetrable dignity from the table to the door. (p. 217 in volume). Part 35 ends on page 715. [[Vol. VI. — No. 306, 8 Nov. 1862]
• 30. No. 36: Chapter III, page 730: uncaptioned vignette of Mrs. Lecount and the coachman, plus regular plate: He was dead. (p. 224 in volume). Part 36 ends on page 731. [15 Nov. 1862]
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• 31. No. 39: “Between the Scenes. I. Miss Garth to Mr. Pendril” (Page 796) and “The Seventh Scene. I. St. Crux-in-the-Marsh.” Page 797: captioned vignette,Brutus and Cassius (Magdalen and the Admiral’s dogs, p. 797 in serial, p. 240 in volume), plus a regular plate: “West and by noathe, your honor.” (p. 239 in volume). Number 39 ends on page 799. [13 Dec. 1862]. This instalment with just “The Seventh Scene. I and II” was run in All the Year Round on 6 December 1862 as number 39. The British serial did not wrap up until 17 January 1863 with “The Last Scene,” Chapters 3 and 4.
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• 32. No. 44 [Vol. VII. — No. 316]: “The Last Scene,” Chapter I (Continued), page 37 in the serial: an uncaptioned vignette set in a toy-shop (p. 266 in volume), plus a regular plate: “Don't distress mamma about me,” she said. “Send for Norah.” (p. 264 in volume). Part 44 ends on page 38. [17 Jan. 1863]

* These Fourteen Weekly Parts Originally Appeared without Any Illustrations.

• No. 11 [Vol. VI. — No. 282]: “Between the Scenes. 1” [24 May 1862] is unillustrated: Ch. 16-17, pp. 334-335.
• No. 15: “Between the Scenes. Chronicle of Events: Preserved in Captain Wragge’s Despatch Box.” I. [Chronicle for October 1846.] I-VIII. Part 15 in Harper’s Weekly [21 June 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 398-399.
• No. 22: Chapter II. [9 August 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 509-511.
• No. 23: Chapter IV. [16 August 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 522-523.
• No. 31, Chapter XIII. [11 October 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 646-647.
• No. 32, Chapter XIII. Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI.-No. 303 [18 October 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 670-671.
• No. 33: “Between the Scenes. From George Bartram to Noel Vanstone. I-XIV.” [25 October 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 682-683.
• No. 37: “Between the Scenes. I. From Mrs. Noel Vanstone to Mr. Loscombe.” I-IX. [22 November 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 750-751. *N. B. No 29 November 1862 number, which ran in All the Year Round as the opening of Part 38. (Vann, 47)
• No. 38: “The Sixth Scene. St. John's Wood. Chapter I.” I-II. [6 December 1862] is unillustrated: pp. 778-779. This ran as part of no. 38 on 29 November 1862 in All the Year Round. (Vann, 47)
• No. 40: Chapter II. [Vol. VI.—No. 312]: [20 December 1862] II-III. Number is unillustrated: pp. 806-807.
• No. 41 [Vol. VI.—No. 313]: Chapter IV. [27 December 1862] Number is unillustrated: pp. 822-823.
• No. 42 [Vol. VII.—No. 314]: Chapter IV (Continued). [3 January 1863] Number is unillustrated: pp. 10-11.
• No. 43 [Vol. VII.—No. 315]: “Between the Scenes. I.-X. [10 January 1863] Number is unillustrated: pp. 26-27.
• No. 45: Chapter III. [24 January 1863] is unillustrated: pp. 54-55 (pp. 272-278 in volume). *N. B. This concludes the serial run, which in All the Year Round had concluded on 17 January 1863 as Part 45. (See Vann, 47)

Victorian and Modern Editions (1862-1978)

No Name was first published as a three-volume set in December, 1862, by Sampson Low in London, with later editions including a one-volume version in 1864 by Sampson Low, an 1873 one-volume illustrated edition by Harper and Bros., New York, a 1978 Dover paperback, and numerous modern editions by such publishers as Penguin Classics and Oxford University Press. There is also a 1998 Oxford World's Classics edition, a 1964 single-volume edition from Low's Favourite Library, and a 1978 Dover edition, based on the 1873 Harper's edition that utilizes sixteen of Mclenan's original engravings from Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization.

Fully one-third of the weekly instalments were not accompanied by illustrations: the disruption in transAtlantic shipping schedules occasioned by the Civil War may have been partially responsible. It is also entirely possible that illustrations of battles, military actions, and commanding officers often required Mclenan's talents. Another possible explanation is that Dickens himself received the copy for these aberrant instalments too late from Collins in order to provide Harper's with the proofsheets in a timely fashion.

Related Material

• Wilkie Collins's No Name (1862): Charles Dickens, Sheridan’s The Rivals, and the Lost Franklin Expedition

Bibliography

Blain, Virginia. “Introduction” and “Explanatory Notes” to Wilkie Collins’s No Name. Oxford World's Classics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1986.

Collins, William Wilkie. No Name . Illustrated by John McLenan. Harper’s Weekly, Vol. VI. 15 March 1862-17 January 1863.

Collins, Wilkie. No Name [3 vols.]. London: Sampson & Low, 1862.

Collins, Wilkie. No Name [single-volume cheap edition]. With a frontispiece by John Everett Millais. London: Sampson & Low, 1864.

Collins, William Wilkie. No Name. Illustrated by John McLenan. [First American volume edition] New York: Harper & Bros., 1873.

Collins, William Wilkie. No Name. Illustrated by John McLenan. New York: Dover Publications, 1978.

Marshall, Gail. “Psychology and the Sensation Novel.” Victorian Fiction. London and New York: Oxford U. P. and Arnold, 2002. 57-63.

Vann, J. Don. "No Name in All the Year Round, 15 March 1862-17 January 1863." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: Modern Language Association, 1985. 46-47.

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