"Mr. Pickwick at the the Cricket Match" — Harry Furniss's twelfth illustration for Dickens's "Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club" (1910)

Mr. Pickwick at the Cricket Match — Pickwick, facing p. 97. — Pickwick, p. 94. By Harry Furniss (1910).

Bibliographical Note

The illustration appears in the Charles Dickens Library Edition, Volume Two: Charles Dickens's The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club, Chapter VII, "How Mr. Winkle, instead of shooting at the Pigeon, and killing the Crow, shot the Crow and wounded the Pigeon; How the Dingley Dell Cricket Club played All-Muggleton, and how All-Muggleton dined at the Dingley Dell expense; with other interesting and instructive matters." Lithograph of a pen-and-ink drawing, 9.8 cm x 14.3 cm (3 ¾ by 5 ½ inches), vignetted, full-page, horizontal plate vertically mounted; referencing text on page 94. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. This is the first complete, uniform edition of the Works of Charles Dickens illustrated entirely by one artist, since the Diamond Edition of 1867 significantly predates Dickens's demise.

Passage Illustrated: In A Crowded Scene of Spectators Pickwick seems to Hold Court

The umpires were stationed behind the wickets; the scorers were prepared to notch the runs; a breathless silence ensued. Mr. Luffey retired a few paces behind the wicket of the passive Podder, and applied the ball to his right eye for several seconds. Dumkins confidently awaited its coming with his eyes fixed on the motions of Luffey.

R. W. Buss's lacklustre serial illustration for this incident: The Cricket Match (June 1836).

‘Play!’ suddenly cried the bowler. The ball flew from his hand straight and swift towards the centre stump of the wicket. The wary Dumkins was on the alert: it fell upon the tip of the bat, and bounded far away over the heads of the scouts, who had just stooped low enough to let it fly over them.

‘Run — run — another. — Now, then throw her up — up with her — stop there — another — no — yes — no — throw her up, throw her up!’ — Such were the shouts which followed the stroke; and at the conclusion of which All-Muggleton had scored two. Nor was Podder behindhand in earning laurels wherewith to garnish himself and Muggleton. He blocked the doubtful balls, missed the bad ones, took the good ones, and sent them flying to all parts of the field. The scouts were hot and tired; the bowlers were changed and bowled till their arms ached; but Dumkins and Podder remained unconquered. Did an elderly gentleman essay to stop the progress of the ball, it rolled between his legs or slipped between his fingers. Did a slim gentleman try to catch it, it struck him on the nose, and bounded pleasantly off with redoubled violence, while the slim gentleman’s eyes filled with water, and his form writhed with anguish. Was it thrown straight up to the wicket, Dumkins had reached it before the ball. In short, when Dumkins was caught out, and Podder stumped out, All-Muggleton had notched some fifty-four, while the score of the Dingley Dellers was as blank as their faces. The advantage was too great to be recovered. In vain did the eager Luffey, and the enthusiastic Struggles, do all that skill and experience could suggest, to regain the ground Dingley Dell had lost in the contest — it was of no avail; and in an early period of the winning game Dingley Dell gave in, and allowed the superior prowess of All-Muggleton. [Chapter VII, "How Mr. Winkle, instead of shooting at the Pigeon, and killing the Crow, shot the Crow and wounded the Pigeon; How the Dingley Dell Cricket Club played All-Muggleton, and how All-Muggleton dined at the Dingley Dell expense; with other interesting and instructive matters," 94]

Commentary: A Fresh Perspective on a Scene Phiz Abandoned

Dickens's previous illustrators except R. W. Buss have not attempted to describe the cricket match between the two Kentish villages, but Furniss offers a fresh perspective by placing Pickwick in the centre of the fashionably dressed spectators, as if he is a judge, arbiter, or expert on the sport. Stationed beside him is not the voluble (and apparently thoroughly informed) "stranger," Alfred Jingle; instead, Furniss has stationed Mr. Wardle, the gentleman-farmer, on Pickwick's left so that he can identify particular members of the Dingley Dell cricket team. In the background, the ball is in the air, and will shortly land at Pickwick's feet, and he will look utterly foolish as he will "essay to stop the progress of the ball," as he tries to grasp it, and fails. The relatively neutral illustration of Pickwick occurs three pages after the "elderly gentleman" yet again made a fool of himself.

Parallel Scenes by Phiz and Thomas Nast (1874 and 1873)

Left: Thomas Nast's rather cartoonish 1873 wood-engraving shows the awkwardness of the Pickwickians at field-sports, which places the principal characters (including Tupman n the ground, dismayed Pickwick left, shocked Winkle and Joe the Fat Boy to the right), a farcical scene in which the trio once again look ridiculous: To describe the confusion that ensued would be impossible (American Household Edition, 1873). Right: Phiz's revised version of the cricket scene for the British Household Edition (1874) focusses on the wonder-struck Wardle and the actor hogging the limelight after the game, as Pickwick observes Jingle's performance from the left: Mr. Wardle looked on, in silent wonder.

Related Material

Other artists who illustrated this work, 1836-1910

Scanned image, colour correction, sizing, caption, and commentary by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose, as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the image, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Checkmark and Facts On File, 1999.

Dickens, Charles. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"). The Authentic Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1901 [rpt. of the 1868 volume, based on the 30 May 1857 volume].

_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Frontispieces by Felix Octavius Carr Darley and Sir John Gilbert. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon & Co., 1863. 4 vols.

_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. 14 vols.

_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. The Household Edition. 22 vols. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873. Vol. 2.

_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. 5.

_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 2.

Created 5 April 2024