For Dombey and Son, his seventh novel, Charles Dickens once again enlisted Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne) as his illustrator. Serialised in twenty parts (nineteen monthly instalments, the last being a "double number") from October 1846 through April 1848, published by Bradbury and Evans, differed from Dickens's previous novels in its careful planning and symmetrical composition of instalments: typically, an instalment contained three uniform chapters, the exceptions being no. 2 (September 1847: ch. 35-38) and no. 20 (April 1848: ch. 58-62). although he does not reproduce the wrapper in Chapter 16 of The Dickens Picture-Book (1910), on p. 294 J. A. Hammerton gives the frontispiece (also provided by Michael Steig in Dickens and Phiz), thirty-seven of the thirty-eight plates issued two each for every monthly part, and five so-called "character plates" from Phiz's correspondence: Little Paul, Florence, Alice, and Edith. Paul Schicke in The Oxford Reader's Companion to Dickens (1999) notes that Browne also supplied "the wrapper design, frontispiece, and vignette title-page" (85), for a grand total of forty-six illustrations.
The source of the following illustrations, a number of them colourized, is the so-called "London Edition" published by the Caxton Publishing Company, 84-86 Chancery Lane, W. C., but in scale they are identical to the plates in the original monthly numbers. This volume does not contain all of the original thirty-nine plates, but does provide a number of Phiz's originals in colour.
The 39 Plates
- 1. Miss Tox Introduces "The Party" (ch. 2)
- 2. The Dombey Family (ch. 3) colourized version
- 3. The Christening Party (ch. 5)
- 4. Polly Rescues the Charitable Grinder (ch. 6)
- 5. Paul and Mrs. Pipchin (original plate — working drawing (ch. 8)
- 6.Captain Cuttle Consoles His Friend (ch. 9)
- 7. Doctor Blimber's Young Gentlemen As They Appeared When Enjoying Themselves (ch. 12)
- 8. Paul's Exercises (ch. 12)
- 9. Paul Goes Home for the Holidays (ch. 14)
- 10. Profound Cogitation of Captain Cuttle (original plate — colourized version) (ch 15)
- 11. Let Him Remember It in That Room, Years To Come (Ch. 18)
- 12. Poor Paul's Friend (ch. 18)
- 13.The Wooden Midshipman on the Look-Out (ch. 19)
- 14. Major Bagstock is delighted to have that opportunity (plate — working drawing) (ch. 19)
- 15. Mr. Toots Becomes Particular — Diogenes Also (ch. 22)
- 16. Solemn Reference Is Made to Mr. Bunsby (ch. 23)
- 17. Mr. Carker Introduces Himself to Florence and the Skettles Family (ch. 24) colourized version
- 18. Joe B. Is Sly, Sir, Devilish Sly (ch. 26)
- 19. Mr. Dombey Introduces His Daughter Florence (ch. 28) (original plate — colourized version)
- 20.The Eyes of Mrs. Chick Are Opened to Lucretia Tox (ch. 29)
- 21. Coming home from Church (ch. 31)
- 22. Rob the Grinder Admires the Nobby Shropshire One (ch. 32)
- 23. Rob the Grinder Reading with Captain Cuttle (ch. 33)
- 24. The Rejected Alms (ch. 34) colorized version
- 25. Miss Tox Pays a Visit to the Toodle Family (ch. 38)
- 26. The Midshipman is boarded by the enemy (plate — working drawing) (ch.39)
- 27. A Chance Meeting (colorized version, ch. 40)
- 28. Mr. Dombey and His "Confidential Agent" (ch. 42)
- 29. Florence Parts from a Very Old Friend (ch. 44)
- 30. Abstraction and recognition (ch. 46)
- 31. Florence and Edith on the staircase (ch.47)
- 32. The Shadow in the Little Parlour (ch. 49)
- 33. Mr. Dombey and The World (ch. 51)
- 34. Secret Intelligence (ch.52)
- 35. Mr. Carker in his hour of triumph (plate — working drawing — colorized version) (ch 54)
- 36. On the Dark Road [dark plate] (ch. 55)
- 37. An Arrival (ch. 56)
- 38. Another Wedding (ch. 60)
Note: According to venerable Dickens scholar and enthusiast Walter Dexter, the original of the little mid-shipman, taking a sighting with a naval quadrant, was located outside a marine supply shop at 57 Leadenhall Street, on Dickens's route from his home at Doughty Street and Covent Garden past the India House. In "The Uncommercial Traveller," Dickens mentions that he was accustomed to patting the figure "on one leg of his knee-shorts for old acquaintance sake" (or possibly for good luck). As of 2, when Dexter wrote a brief commentary for The Dickensian, vol. 25, when the firm changed premises they took the statue to Minories, No. 23, "preserved from the weather inside their office" (p. 3) as a symbol of their being in trade since 1670. It has since been acquired by The Dickens Museum, 48 Doughty Street, London.
Other Material, including front matter and sketches
- Cover for monthly parts
- Frontispiece
- Seventeen "Fancies" for Mr. Dombey
- Seventeen "Fancies" for Mr. Dombey
- Portrait of Miss Skewton (From a series of separately published etchings)
References
Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book Co., [1904].
Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978.
Last modified 6 October 2005