[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> Henry Furniss —> David Copperfield —> Next]

Commentary: David introduced to the Quintessential Dickensian Character — Micawber.

"At what hour," said Mr. Micawber, "shall I —"

"At about eight," said Mr. Quinion.

"At about eight," said Mr. Micawber. "I beg to wish you good day, Mr. Quinion. I will intrude no longer."

So he put on his hat, and went out with his cane under his arm: very upright, and humming a tune when he was clear of the counting-house.

Mr. Quinion then formally engaged me to be as useful as I could in the warehouse of Murdstone and Grinby, at a salary, I think, of six shillings a week. I am not clear whether it was six or seven. I am inclined to believe, from my uncertainty on this head, that it was six at first and seven afterwards. He paid me a week down (from his own pocket, I believe), and I gave Mealy sixpence out of it to get my trunk carried to Windsor Terrace that night: it being too heavy for my strength, small as it was. I paid sixpence more for my dinner, which was a meat pie and a turn at a neighbouring pump; and passed the hour which was allowed for that meal, in walking about the streets.

At the appointed time in the evening, Mr. Micawber reappeared. I washed my hands and face, to do the greater honour to his gentility, and we walked to our house, as I suppose I must now call it, together; Mr. Micawber impressing the name of streets, and the shapes of corner houses upon me, as we went along, that I might find my way back, easily, in the morning. [Chapter XI, "I Begin Life on My Own Account, And Don’t Like I," 157]

Commentary: Micawber translated from Page to Lithograph

Although Furniss offers a caption to note the precise moment realised, in fact he, like the other artists who have tackled this ebullient subject, has had to incorporate all of the following elements in David's initial description:

I went in, and found there a stoutish, middle-aged person, in a brown surtout and black tights and shoes, with no more hair upon his head (which was a large one, and very shining) than there is upon an egg, and with a very extensive face, which he turned full upon me. His clothes were shabby, but he had an imposing shirt-collar on. He carried a jaunty sort of a stick, with a large pair of rusty tassels to it; and a quizzing-glass hung outside his coat, — for ornament, I afterwards found, as he very seldom looked through it, and couldn’t see anything when he did. [156]

Thus, Micawber steps onto the stage of world literature, one of Dickens's greatest comic achievements. Tackling so distinctive a figure who had already been rendered by so many other able illustrators must have been something of a challenge for Furniss, gifted caricaturist though he was. His unique contribution is setting Micawber in the context of a London street, and in David's ineffable expression as he stares up wonderingly at this great walking encyclopedia of London's lanes, streets, and thoroughfares. The pose says it all: "London and all of life are before you David to make of them what you will!"

Although he had not likely seen Sol Eytinge, Junior's Micawber for American readers, Mr. Micawber and his Family (1867), for models Furniss had a wide selection from which to choose, for Micawber occurs in a total of six of Phiz's forty original serial plates (1849-50) and in eight out the sixty-two large-scale wood engravings by Fred Barnard for the Housegold Edition (1872).

From Numerous Other Editions: The Inimitable Wilkins Micawber (1849-1924)

Left: Harold Copping's 1924 coloured lithograph Mr. Micawber Conducts David Home. Centre: Phiz's February 1850 steel engraving introduces Micawber belatedly: We are disturbed in our cookery (Chapter XXVIII, "Mr. Micawber's Gauntlet"). Right: Barnard's full-page Household Edition study of the great comic creation: Mr. Micawber, impressing the names of streets and shapes of corner houses upon me as we went along, that I might find my way back easily in the morning (1872).

Fred Barnard's composite woodblock engraving of David's arrival at Micawber's house on Windsor Terrace, City Road, London: I am presented to Mrs. Micawber (Household Edition, 1872).

Left: Clayton J. Clarke's watercolour from his book of watercolours of Dickensian characters: Mr. Micawber (c. 1910). Centre: Fred Barnard's photogravure study of the thorogh Londoner: Mr. Micawber (1912). Right: Clayton J. Clarke ("Kyd") — Player's Cigarette Card No. 41, Mr. Micawber (1910).

Relevant Illustrated Editions of this Novel (1849 through 1910)

• Hablot Knight Browne's Forty steel engravings for the Chapman and Hall Edition (May 1849 through November 1850)
• O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 1, 1863)
• O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 2, 1863)
• Sir John Gilbert's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 3, 1863)
• O. C. Darley's Frontispiece in the New York edition (Vol. 4, 1863)
• Sol Eytinge, Junior's 16 wood engravings for the Diamond Edition (1867)
• Fred Barnard's 62 Composite Woodblock Engravings for the Household Edition (1872)
• Clayton J. Clarke (Kyd): David Copperfield (1910)

Bibliography

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. Oxford and New York: Oxford U. P., 1988.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. The Personal History of David Copperfield, illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Centenary Edition. London & New York: Chapman & Hall, Charles Scribner's Sons, 1911. 2 vols.

_______. The Personal History of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. V.

_______. David Copperfield, with 61 illustrations by Fred Barnard. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. III.

_______. The Personal History and Experiences of David Copperfield. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. X.

Hammerton, J. A., ed. The Dickens Picture-Book: A Record of the the Dickens Illustrations. London: Educational Book, 1910.

Steig, Michael. Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978.

---

Victorian
Web

Illus-
tration

Harry
Furniss

Index

Next

Created 6 March 2022