"Fire lights up the night sky at the Welmington church." — John McLenan's uncaptioned headnote vignette for the thirty-fourth weekly number of Wilkie Collins's "The Woman in White" in <span class="book">Harper's Weekly</span> (14 July 1860)

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Fire lights up the night sky at the Welmington church.

John McLenan

14 July 1860

10.8 cm high by 5.5 cm wide (4 ⅛ by 2 ⅛ inchess), vignetted.

Uncaptioned headnote vignette for the thirty-fourth weekly number of Collins's The Woman in White: A Novel (14 July 1860), 437; p. 214 in the 1861 volume.

[Click on the image to enlarge it.]

McLenan flags at the head of the instalment the conflagration that will result in the death of Sir Percival Glyde, who is hoist on his own petard as he has attempted to destroy the registry book, and inadvertently trapped himself in the vestry.

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Fire lights up the night sky at the Welmington church. — staff artist John McLenan's headnote vignette (composite woodblock engraving) for the thirty-fourth weekly part of Wilkie Collins's The Woman in White: A Novel, published on 14 July 1860 in Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, "Epoch 3: Part II, "Hartright's Narrative, Ch. IX," p. 437; p. 214 in the 1861 volume.

Passage Illustrated: Fire Breaks out at the Church Vestry — hardly a coincidence

“I say, measter,” said the boy, pulling officiously at the clerk’s coat, “there be summun up yander in the church. I heerd un lock the door on hisself — I heerd un strike a loight wi’ a match.”

The clerk trembled and leaned against me heavily.

“Come! come!” I said encouragingly. “We are not too late. We will catch the man, whoever he is. Keep the lantern, and follow me as fast as you can.”

I mounted the hill rapidly. The dark mass of the church-tower was the first object I discerned dimly against the night sky. As I turned aside to get round to the vestry, I heard heavy footsteps close to me. The servant had ascended to the church after us. “I don’t mean any harm,” he said, when I turned round on him, “I’m only looking for my master.” The tones in which he spoke betrayed unmistakable fear. I took no notice of him and went on.

The instant I turned the corner and came in view of the vestry, I saw the lantern-skylight on the roof brilliantly lit up from within. It shone out with dazzling brightness against the murky, starless sky.

I hurried through the churchyard to the door.

As I got near there was a strange smell stealing out on the damp night air. I heard a snapping noise inside — I saw the light above grow brighter and brighter — a pane of the glass cracked — I ran to the door and put my hand on it. The vestry was on fire!

Before I could move, before I could draw my breath after that discovery, I was horror-struck by a heavy thump against the door from the inside. I heard the key worked violently in the lock — I heard a man’s voice behind the door, raised to a dreadful shrillness, screaming for help. [Part 34. Third Epoch. Part III. "Hartright's Narrative, IX," p. 437; p. 214 in the 1861 volume.

Commentary: A Picturesque Backdrop Sets the Stage for a Dramatic Conflagration

This headnote vignette does not, as most of the others do, give readers a portrait of one of the chief characters of the episode. Rather, McLenan offers an atmospheric landscape of the Romantic school; however, Collins's narrative soon transforms leafy foreground to theatrical backdrop in which Walter Hartright plays a leading role in trying to liberate Glyde from the vestry inferno. As yet, we have but only a hint of smoke in the rear, emanating from the church, obscured by surrounding vegetation. Indeed, our chief clue as to where the rustic pathway leads (a Gothic church rather than a ruined castle, apparently) is provided by the tombstones in the foreground, suggesting that Hartright is approaching the church through the cemetery.

Related Material

McLenan's regular, full-scale illustration for the thirty-fourth weekly number in serial: At the Vestry Door for 30 June 1860
Fred Walker's poster: The Woman in White for the Olympic's October 1871 adaptation

Bibliography

Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White: A Novel. New York: Harper & Bros., 1860.

Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White: A Novel. Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization. Illustrated by John McLenan. Vols. III-IV (16 November 1859 through 8 September 1860).

Collins, Wilkie. The Woman in White. Ed. Maria K. Bachman and Don Richard Cox. Illustrated by Sir John Gilbert and F. A. Fraser. Toronto: Broadview, 2006.

Peters, Catherine. "Chapter Twelve: The Woman in White (1859-1860)." The King of the Inventors: A Life of Wilkie Collins. London: Minerva Press, 1992. 205-25.

Vann, J. Don. "The Woman in White in All the Year Round, 26 November 1859 — 25 August 1860." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. 44-46.

Created 30 July 2024