"The Unknown Knight" — sixteenth illustration by Phiz for Charles Lever's "The Knight of Gwynne," Chapter XXVII (July 1846)

"The Unknown Knight"

Phiz

July 1846 (seventh) instalment

Steel-engraving

14.1 cm by 11.5 cm (5 ½ by 4 ½ inches), vignetted.

Charles Lever's The Knight of Gwynne; A Tale of the Time of the Union (July 1846), originally for Part 7, facing p. 220.

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

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 photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Passage Illustrated: Maurice Darcy's return to Gwynne Abbey

They had now reached a little glen, where the postboys were obliged to walk their blown cattle; emerging from this, they passed a thick grove of beech, and at once came in sight of the abbey. Darcy leaned anxiously from the window to catch the first sight of home, when what was his amazement to perceive that the whole was lighted up from end to end. The great suite of state rooms were a blaze of lustres, which even at that distance glittered in their starry brilliancy, and showed the shadows of figures moving within. He well knew that Lady Eleanor never saw company in his absence, — what could this mean? Tortured with doubts that in his then state of mind took every painful form, he ordered the postilions to get on faster, and at the very top of their speed they tore along, over the wide lawn, across the terrace drive, up the steep ascent to the gate tower into the courtyard.

This was also brilliantly lighted by lamps from the walls, and also by the lights of numerous carriage lamps which crowded the ample space.

“What is this? Can no one tell me?” muttered the Knight, as he leaped from the carriage, and, seizing a livery servant who was passing, said, “What is going on here? What company has the abbey?”

“Full of company,” said the man, in an English accent; “there's my Lord —”

“Who do you mean?”

“The Earl of Netherby, sir, and Sir Harry Beauclerk, and Colonel Crofton, and —”

“When did they arrive?” said the Knight, interrupting a catalogue, every name of which, although unknown, sent a feeling like a stab through his heart.

“They came the evening before last, sir; Mr. Lionel Darcy, who arrived the same morning —”

“Is he here?” cried the Knight; and, without waiting for more, hastened forward.

The servants, of whom there seemed a great number about, were in strange liveries, and unknown to the Knight; nor was it without undergoing a very cool scrutiny from them that Darcy succeeded in gaining admittance to his own house. At last he reached the foot of the great stair, whence the sounds of music and the din of voices filled the air; servants hurried along with refreshments, or carried orders to others in waiting; all was bustle and excitement, in the midst of which Darcy stood only half conscious of the reality of what he saw, and endeavoring to reason himself into a conviction of what he heard. It was at this moment that several officers of a newly quartered regiment passed up, admiring, as they went, the splendor of the house, and the magnificent preparations they witnessed on every side. [Chapter XXVII, "The Knight's Return," 220]

Commentary: Maurice Darcy's "guests" at the Abbey fail to recognise him

The English servant's mentioning the Earl of Netherby alerts Darcy to the presence of Lady Eleanor's brother and his entourage. Leading the young men in uniform is Maurice Darcy (left), the Knight of Gwynne; upstairs, Phiz has sketched in a gentleman (presumably Earl Netherby himself) talking to his butler and a group of women conversing beneath a chandelier as the dance is about to begin. The military men fail to recognize the travel-worn newcomer, and treat him casually, as a "friend of the family," for young Lionel Darcy, who has accompanied the Earl, is not among their number to introduce his own father. The Knight talks in the illustration to the "thick-set Major with bushy beard and eyebrows" (220) beside him, and the "white-faced ghostly-looking Ensign" (centre). Although Phiz depicts just one of the servants (coping with "a tray of glasses"), he has included the "ice-pail with some bottles" (right). Shortly, the Knight of the Gwynne must confront his wife and daughter, and deliver the news of their massive financial losses, and their imminent departure for the Antrim cottage of Bagenal Daly.

Bibliography

Buchanan-Brown, John. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.

Lester, Valerie Browne Lester. Chapter 11: "'Give Me Back the Freshness of the Morning!'" Phiz! The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004. Pp. 108-127.

Lever, Charles. The Knight of Gwynne; A Tale of the Time of the Union. London: Chapman and Hall, serialised January 1846 through July 1847.

Lever, Charles. The Knight of Gwynne. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablột Knight Browne]. Novels and Romances of Charles Lever. Vol. I and II. In two volumes. Project Gutenberg. Last Updated: 28 February 2018.

Steig, Michael. Chapter Four: "Dombey and Son: Iconography of Social and Sexual Satire." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 86-112.

Stevenson, Lionel. Chapter IX, "Nomadic Patriarch, 1845-1847." Dr. Quicksilver: The Life of Charles Lever. London: Chapman and Hall, 1939. Pp. 146-164.

_______. "The Domestic Scene." The English Novel: A Panorama. Cambridge, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin and Riverside, 1960.

Created 31 July 2023