"The Blighted Hairdresser" by Harry Furniss — sixth and final illustration for Dickens's "Master Humphrey's Clock" (1910)

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The Blighted Hairdresser

"But whose image is that!" she says, a-pinting at vun o’ the gen’lmen. “No vun’s, my love,” he says, “it is but a idea.” “A idea!” she cries: “it is a portrait, I feel it is a portrait, and that ’ere noble face must be in the millingtary!” — Master Humphrey, p. 90

Harry Furniss

1910

13.8 cm x 8/6 cm (5 ½ by 3 ⅜ inches), vignetted.

Dickens's Master Humphrey's Clock, fifth part, "Mr. Weller's Watch" — facing VI, 90.

the

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Passage Illustrated: A Final Sketch for The Clock

‘The young hairdresser hadn’t been in the habit o’ makin’ this avowal above six months, ven he en-countered a young lady as wos the wery picter o’ the fairest dummy. “Now,” he says, “it’s all up. I am a slave!” The young lady wos not only the picter o’ the fairest dummy, but she was wery romantic, as the young hairdresser was, too, and he says, “O!” he says, “here’s a community o’ feelin’, here’s a flow o’ soul!” he says, “here’s a interchange o’ sentiment!” The young lady didn’t say much, o’ course, but she expressed herself agreeable, and shortly artervards vent to see him vith a mutual friend. The hairdresser rushes out to meet her, but d’rectly she sees the dummies she changes colour and falls a tremblin’ wiolently. “Look up, my love,” says the hairdresser, “behold your imige in my winder, but not correcter than in my art!” “My imige!” she says. “Yourn!” replies the hairdresser. “But whose imige is that?” she says, a pinting at vun o’ the gen’lmen. “No vun’s, my love,” he says, “it is but a idea.” “A idea!” she cries: “it is a portrait, I feel it is a portrait, and that ’ere noble face must be in the millingtary!” “Wot do I hear!” says he, a crumplin’ his curls. “Villiam Gibbs,” she says, quite firm, “never renoo the subject. I respect you as a friend,” she says, “but my affections is set upon that manly brow.” “This,” says the hairdresser, “is a reg’lar blight, and in it I perceive the hand of Fate. Farevell!” Vith these vords he rushes into the shop, breaks the dummy’s nose vith a blow of his curlin’-irons, melts him down at the parlour fire, and never smiles artervards.’ ["Mr. Weller's Watch," 90]

The Distraught Hairdresser Jealous of His Own Mannequin (1872 and 1907)

Left: The theatrical 1872 Household Edition for the same sketch: "Vith these vords he rushes into the shop, breaks the dummy’s nose vith a blow of his curlin’-irons, melts him down at the parlour fire, and never smiles artervards.". Right: W. H. C. Groome chooses for realisation the comic when the young lady falls in love with the image in the window: "Whose image is that!" (1907).

Other Illustrated Editions of Master Humphrey's Clock

George Cattermole's Original Serial Illustrations for Master Humphrey's Clock (April 1840)
W. H. C. Groome's Illustrations for Master Humphrey's Clock (1907)
Fred Barnard's Four Illustrations for Master Humphrey's Clock (1872) in the Household Edition (Vol. XX)

Related Materials

Bibliography

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.

Davis, Paul. "Master Humphrey's Clock." Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to his Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998, 238.

Dickens, Charles. Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by George Cattermole and Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). London: Chapman and Hall, 4 April 1840 — 4 December 1841.

_______. Master Humphrey's Clock. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Reprinted Pieces, and Other Stories. With thirty illustrations by L. Fildes, E. G. Dalziel, and F. Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. XX. Pp. 253-306.

_______. Master Humphrey's Clock and Pictures from Italy. Collins Pocket Editions. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-type Press, 1907. Pp. 1-168.

_______. Barnaby Rudge and Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. 18 vols. Charles Dickens Library Edition. Volume VI. London: Educational Book, 1910.

Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture Book: A Record of the Dickens Illustrators. Ch. XIV. "Master Humphrey's Clock." The Charles Dickens Library. London: Educational Book Co., 1910. Pp. 259-265.

Steig, Michael. Chapter 3, "From Caricature to Progress: Master Humphrey's Clock and Martin Chuzzlewit." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978. 51-85.

Stevens, Joan. "'Woodcuts Dropped into the Text': The Illustrations in The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge." Studies in Bibliography. 20 (1967): 113-34.

Vann, J. Don. "The Old Curiosity Shop in Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840-6 February 1841." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. 64-65.

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Created 4 September 2022