The Fall of Pecksniff. (1872). Fifty-seventh illustration by Fred Barnard for the Household Edition of Dickens's Martin Chuzzlewit (Chapter LII), page 409. [Old Martin unmasks the conniving hypocrite who has attempted to alienate him from his grandson and marry his companion, Mary Graham.] 9.3 x 13.7 cm, or 3 ¾ high by 5 ½ inches, framed, engraved by the Dalziels. Running head: “Mark Invents a Sign," 409. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Passage Illustrated: Old Martin Chastises the Arch Hypocrite
[Seth Pecksniff] advanced with outstretched arms to take the old man's hand. But he had not seen how the hand clasped and clutched the stick within its grasp. As he came smiling on, and got within his reach, old Martin, with his burning indignation crowded into one vehement burst, and flashing out of every line and wrinkle in his face, rose up, and struck him down upon the ground.
With such a well-directed nervous blow, that down he went, as heavily and true as if the charge of a Life-Guardsman had tumbled him out of a saddle. And whether he was stunned by the shock, or only confused by the wonder and novelty of this warm reception, he did not offer to get up again; but lay there, looking about him with a disconcerted meekness in his face so enormously ridiculous, that neither Mark Tapley nor John Westlock could repress a smile, though both were actively interposing to prevent a repetition of the blow; which the old man's gleaming eyes and vigorous attitude seemed to render one of the most probable events in the world. [Chapter LII, "In Which the Tables are Turned, Completely Upside Down," 405. Running Head: "Mr. Pecksniff Surprisingly Rewarded."]
Commentary: Shades of Satan's Last Appearance in Paradise Lost
Over the course of a number of illustrated editions of The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) such gifted artists as Hablot Knight Browne and Fred Barnard have assailed this climactic scene, so that, by 1910, Harry Furniss had several useful precedents to draw upon, including the the original version, Phiz's Warm Reception of Mr. Pecksniff by His Venerable Friend (July 1844), and the Household Edition illustration by Fred Barnard, entitled simply The Fall of Pecksniff (1872). What Furniss seems to have been determined to attain was a balance between the chaotic and dynamic scene of the old patriarch in Phiz bringing the hypocrite to judgment and the more static, tableau vivant treatment of the same subject by Barnard. Although Barnard has brought together nine of the principals, the women are obscured entirely as Tom Pinch, the man whom Pecksniff unjustly vilified, stares down at the prostrate figure at the end of Old Martin's cane. Furniss, then, seems to have striven to inject more action while revealing the faces of all nine characters, each in a unique pose and caught in the midst of the action, with the hat, books, and umbrella and the possessed old man as the vortex, and the cane raised to strike, as in Phiz, rather than merely prodding Pecksniff after the initial blow, as in Barnard's treatment. In the centre of the Barnard composition, standing above Pecksniff in triumph, now fully vindicated in his opinions of his former architectural master, is John Westlock, hands on his hips. A nice Barnard touch is the old man's using his left hand on young Martin's shoulder as he vigorously points downward with his right. On the periphery, Mark and Mrs. Lupin take up the upper left register, and down front (lower right) Tom Pinch and his sister Ruth (crowded out of the frame). Thus, like Phiz before him and Furniss after him, Fred Barnard here uses this antepenultimate illustration to bring most of his principals back on stage for the finalé — the obvious exception being Mrs. Gamp. Furniss has subtly acknowledged his indebtedness to Barnard by using the same title.
Relevant Illustrations, 1843-1924
Left: Hablot Knight Browne's climactic scene of poetic justice, Warm Reception of Mr. Pecksniff by His Venerable Friend (Chapter 52, July 1844). Right: Harold Copping's contrasting study of the two deceivers,Mr. Pecksniff and Old Martin Chuzzlewit (1867). [Click on these images to enlarge them.]
Above: Harry Furniss's emotionally-charged realisation of the climactic scene in which Old Martin denounces Pecksniff and beats him soundly, The Fall of Pecksniff (1910). [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
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
Allingham, Philip V. "Phiz's Illustrations, Part Four." [Ch. 38-52] The Dickens Magazine: Martin Chuzzlewit. 5.4 (August, 2009): 8-13.
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1844.
_____. Martin Chuzzlewit. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1863. Vols. 1-4.
_____. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Junior. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
_____. The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit, with 59 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition, 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. 2. [The copy of the Household Edition from which this picture was scanned was the gift of George Gorniak, proprietor of The Dickens Magazine, whose subject for the fifth series, beginning in January 2008, was this novel.]
_____. Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 7.
Guerard, Albert J. "Martin Chuzzlewit: The Novel as Comic Entertainment." The Triumph of the Novel: Dickens, Dostoevsky, Faulkner. Chicago & London: U. Chicago P., 1976. Pp. 235-260.
Hammerton, J. A. "Chapter 15: Martin Chuzzlewit." The Dickens Picture-Book. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 17. Pp. 267-294.
Kyd [Clayton J. Clarke]. Characters from Dickens. Nottingham: John Player & Sons, 1910.
"Martin Chuzzlewit — Fifty-nine Illustrations by Fred Barnard." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, Being Eight Hundred and Sixty-six Drawings by Fred Barnard, Gordon Thomson, Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz), J. McL. Ralston, J. Mahoney, H. French, Charles Green, E. G. Dalziel, A. B. Frost, F. A. Fraser, and Sir Luke Fildes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1907.
Steig, Michael. "From Caricature to Progress: Master Humphrey's Clock and Martin Chuzzlewit." Ch. 3, Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U.P., 1978. Pp. 51-85. [See e-text in Victorian Web.]
Steig, Michael. "Martin Chuzzlewit's Progress by Dickens and Phiz." Dickens Studies Annual 2 (1972): 119-149.
Vann, J. Don. Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: Modern Language Association, 1985.
3 February 2008
Last modified 27 November 2024