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Frontispiece
Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz')
W. T. Green
1849
Steel engraving
13.3 cm high by 9.2 cm wide (5 ¼ inches high by 3 ⅝ inches wide), vignetted in an oval.
Dickens's Barnaby Rudge, The Cheap Edition frontispiece (1849)
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham
The twilight had come on, and it was quickly growing dusk, but the path was so familiar to her from frequent traversing that she hardly thought of this, and certainly felt no uneasiness at being left alone. Moreover, there was the bracelet to admire; and when she had given it a good rub, and held it out at arm’s length, it sparkled and glittered so beautifully on her wrist, that to look at it in every point of view and with every possible turn of the arm, was quite an absorbing business. There was the letter too, and it looked so mysterious and knowing, when she took it out of her pocket, and it held, as she knew, so much inside, that to turn it over and over, and think about it, and wonder how it began, and how it ended, and what it said all through, was another matter of constant occupation. Between the bracelet and the letter, there was quite enough to do without thinking of anything else; and admiring each by turns, Dolly went on gaily.
As she passed through a wicket-gate to where the path was narrow, and lay between two hedges garnished here and there with trees, she heard a rustling close at hand, which brought her to a sudden stop. She listened. All was very quiet, and she went on again — not absolutely frightened, but a little quicker than before perhaps, and possibly not quite so much at her ease, for a check of that kind is startling.
She had no sooner moved on again, than she was conscious of the same sound, which was like that of a person tramping stealthily among bushes and brushwood. Looking towards the spot whence it appeared to come, she almost fancied she could make out a crouching figure. She stopped again. All was quiet as before. On she went once more — decidedly faster now — and tried to sing softly to herself. It must be the wind. [Barnaby Rudge, Chapter XX, pp. 94-95]
Phiz's treatments reflect the archetypes in Perrault's fairytale "Little Red Ridinghood." However, whereas in his serial version of Hugh's suddenly accosting Dolly in the woods the uncouth Hugh has already confronted and terrified her, here she is blissfully unaware that she is the subject of Hugh's clandestine surveillance. The artist therefore is flagging an important moment well into the narrative, setting up in the reader apprehension about the fate of the vain but well-meaning heroine. That Hugh is akin to the classical satyrs of the woods Phiz suggests by placing his villain's hirsute visage in the midst of greenery which serves him here as camouflage. In the background is Dolly's destination, The Warren, where she intends to deliver Edward Chester's letter to Mr. Haredale's niece, Emma, who serves as another fairytale archetype, the princess sequestered in the remote castle.
Left: Sol Eytinge, Junior's dual character study:
Darley, Octavius Carr. Character Sketches from Dickens. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1888.
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ('Phiz') and George Cattermole. London: Chapman and Hall, 1841; rpt., Bradbury & Evans, 1849.
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge. The Cheap Edition. Illustrated by H. K. Browne, J. Absolon, and F. Corbeaux. London: Chapman and Hall, 1849.
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne. Original pencil drawings Barnaby and Hugh, and Mrs. Varden and Miggs, two of four extra illustrations for the Cheap Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1849.
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge and Hard Times. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 16 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. IX.
Dickens, Charles. Barnaby Rudge — A Tale of the Riots of 'Eighty. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. VII.
Created 7 March 2025