The monthly cover or wrapper for the novel's nineteen parts for The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings and Complex Creer of the Nickleby Family edited by "Boz," first published serially between April 1838 and November 1839. Wood-engraving 22 cm high by 14 cm wide (8 ⅝ by 5 ½ inches), vignetted.
Source: Steig, plate 28; by permission of the author
[Return to text of Steig]
Relevant Passage from "The Preface"
There is only one other point, on which I would desire to offer a remark. If Nicholas be not always found to be blameless or agreeable, he is not always intended to appear so. He is a young man of an impetuous temper and of little or no experience; and I saw no reason why such a hero should be lifted out of nature. (October 1839)
Image scan 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 in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Related material, including front matter and sketches, by other illustrators
- Nicholas Nickleby (homepage)
- "Hush!" said Nicholas, laying his hand upon his shoulder. (Vol. 1, 1861)
- The Rehearsal (Vol. 2, 1861)
- "My son, sir, little Wackford. What do you think of him, sir?" (Vol. 3, 1861)
- Newman had caught up by the nozzle an old pair of bellows . . . (Vol. 4, 1861).
- The Diamond Edition (1867)
- Fred Barnard's 59 Illustrations for the Household Edution (1877)
- Harry Furniss's frontispiece Nicholas's Vengeance on Squeers in The Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910)
- Kyd's four Player's Cigarette Cards (1910)
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne). London: Chapman and Hall, 1839.
Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978.
Vann, J. Don. "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, twenty parts in nineteen monthly installments, April 1838-October 1839." New York: Modern Language Association, 1985. Page 63.
Created 9 November 2007 Last modified 2 April 2021