Sketches of Young Couples with Illustrations by Phiz and the Chapman & Hall advertiser for other Phiz-illustrated pamphlets: Quiz's (pseudonym of the Rev. Edward Caswall) Sketches of Young Ladies, eighth edition (1840), Sketches of Young Gentlemen, fifth edition (1840), A Paper of Tobacco, by "Joseph Fume," second edition (1840), and The Handbook of Swindling, by "Captain Barabbas Whitefeather" (1840). Also, advertiser for the Works of Charles Dickens: The Pickwick Papers, The Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, and Sketches by "Boz." The wood-engraving for the The Sketches of Young Ladies elaborates upon the Leap Year marriage motif, with various young, middle-class ladies' proposing marriage successfully and otherwise. 15.5 cm high by 9.7 cm wide (6 ⅛ by 3 ¾ inches), framed. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Passage Illustrated: Facetious Introduction to The Leap Year Proposal
That the present is Bissextile, or Leap Year, in which it is held and considered lawful for any lady to offer and submit proposals of marriage to any gentleman, and to enforce and insist upon acceptance of the same, under pain of a certain fine or penalty; to wit, one silk or satin dress of the first quality, to be chosen by the lady and paid (or owed) for, by the gentleman.
That these and other the horrors and dangers with which the said Bissextile, or Leap Year, threatens the gentlemen of England on every occasion of its periodical return, have been greatly aggravated and augmented by the terms of Her Majesty’s said Most Gracious communication, which have filled the heads of divers young ladies in this Realm with certain new ideas destructive to the peace of mankind, that never entered their imagination before. [Chapter I, "An Urgent Remonstrance, &c. To The Gentlemen of England, (Being Bachelors or Widowers,) The Remonstrance of Their Faithful Fellow-Subject," 8]
Commentary: Cashing in on the Royal Wedding
Phiz introduces the Leap Year motif with six vignettes illustrative of young ladies rather than young gentlemen proposing marriage in 1840. The fairy-tale figures top centre are selecting targets for the arrows of the fairy-archer. To their left, a young lady seems to have had a positive response to her proposal, whereas the young man to the right seems to be desperate to escape the maiden's clutches. In the lower register, a bonnetted young lady skewers a gigantic wedding band with an enormous hat-pin (left), while to the right a young lady presents oversized chains to a pleading youth.
Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned them and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]
Bibliography
Ackroyd, Peter. Dickens: A Biography. London: Sinclair-Stevenson, 1990.
Buchanan-Brown, John. Phiz! Illustrator of Dickens' World. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.
Caswell, Edward. Sketches of Young Ladies: In Which These Interesting Members of the Animal Kingdom Are Classified, According to Their Several Instincts. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. London: Chapman and Hall, 31 December 1836.
Dickens, Charles. Sketches by Boz Illustrative of Every-day Life and Every-day People. With 56 illustrations by George Cruikshank Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. The Universal Edition of the Works of Charles Dickens in 22 volumes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1913.
_______. Sketches of Young Couples. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. London: Chapman and Hall, 1840.
_______. Sketches of Young Gentlemen. Illustrated by Phiz [Hablot Knight Browne]. London: Chapman and Hall, 1838.
Lester, Valerie Browne Lester. Phiz! The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.
Slater, Michael. Charles Dickens. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2009.
Bentley, Nicholas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. "Sketches of Young Couples." The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1990. P. 237.
Steig, Michael. Chapter Two: "The Beginnings of 'Phiz': Pickwick, Nickleby, and the Emergence from Caricature." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 24-85.
Created 22 April 2023 Last updated 13 May 2023