"'Sir!' exclaimed Mr. Winkle, starting from his chair" for Dickens's "Pickwick Papers" by Thomas Nast (1873)

"Sir!" exclaimed Mr. Winkle, starting from his chair by Thomas Nast, in Charles Dickens's The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club, Chapter XVIII (p. 107).

Bibliographical Note

The illustration appears in the American Edition of Charles Dickens's The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club, Chapter XVIII, "Briefly illustrative of two points; first, the power of hysterics, and, secondly, the force of circumstances," p. 107. Wood-engraving, 4 1⁄8 inches high by 5 ¼ inches wide (10.5 cm high by 13.5 cm wide), framed, half-page; referencing text on the previous page; descriptive headline: "Alarming Condition of Mrs. Pott" (p. 107). New York: Harper & Bros., Franklin Square, 1873.

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.]

Passage Illustrated: Potts Irate

Such having been the demeanour of this celebrated public character towards Mr. Winkle, it will be readily imagined that considerable surprise was depicted on the countenance of the latter gentleman, when, as he was sitting alone in the breakfast-room, the door was hastily thrown open, and as hastily closed, on the entrance of Mr. Pott, who, stalking majestically towards him, and thrusting aside his proffered hand, ground his teeth, as if to put a sharper edge on what he was about to utter, and exclaimed, in a saw-like voice —

"Serpent!"

"Sir!" exclaimed Mr. Winkle, starting from his chair.

"Serpent, Sir," repeated Mr. Pott, raising his voice, and then suddenly depressing it: "I said, serpent, sir — make the most of it."

When you have parted with a man at two o'clock in the morning, on terms of the utmost good-fellowship, and he meets you again, at half-past nine, and greets you as a serpent, it is not unreasonable to conclude that something of an unpleasant nature has occurred meanwhile. So Mr. Winkle thought. He returned Mr. Pott’s gaze of stone, and in compliance with that gentleman’s request, proceeded to make the most he could of the "serpent." The most, however, was nothing at all; so, after a profound silence of some minutes’ duration, he said, —

"Serpent, Sir! Serpent, Mr. Pott! What can you mean, Sir? — this is pleasantry."

"Pleasantry, sir!" exclaimed Pott, with a motion of the hand, indicative of a strong desire to hurl the Britannia metal teapot at the head of the visitor. "Pleasantry, sir! — But — no, I will be calm; I will be calm, Sir;" in proof of his calmness, Mr. Pott flung himself into a chair, and foamed at the mouth. [Chapter XVIII, "Briefly illustrative of two points; first, the power of hysterics, and, secondly, the force of circumstances," page 107]

Commentary: Another Scene at the Breakfast Table

Thomas Nast is focussing on a highly emotional confrontation based on the standard devices of nineteenth-century stage farce, mistaken identity, and misinterpreted motives. He has effectively contrasted the stock figure of the jealous and enraged husband, holding his fists as if struggling with his desire to strike Winkle, and the shocked (and utterly ignorant) guest. Poor Winkle! The butt of the joke again, he is caught in the process of falling backward as he attempts to rise from the table still laden with teapots, plates, and other accoutrements of the morning meal. The apoplectic newspaper editor, Pott, is a type common enough in literature, and particularly in The Pickwick Papers, an irate husband or indignant lover who is easily provoked to fits of anger. Interestingly, Nast has elected not to show the more composed Mrs. Pott, and her devoted maid, who are just entering the breakfast-room at this point in the narrative.

Although the Household Edition compositors at Chapman and Hall positioned Phiz's illustration in Chapter XVIII, it refers to a situation in Chapter XVII's inset short story"The Parish Clerk. A Tale of True Love," written by Pickwick in his convalescence but adapted from an oral version delivered by Sam Weller. Rather than illustrate a scene from the interpolated tale as Phiz has done, Nast has chosen to realise the scene involving the Eatanswill Gazette editor's confrontation with Winkle over the latter's pronounced interest in Mrs. Pott. Ironically, Pott regards the inept, bumbling, and inoffensive Winkle as a would-be adulterer. Nast has focussed on a much more dramatic subject than Phiz's, sketching the adversaries in depth, and he has rendered the background details of the breakfast-room lightly so as to emphasise the middle-aged husband's indignation (at being characterised by his rival editor as a cuckolded "Brass Pott") and Winkle's complete shock at his host's accusation. More pratfalls ensue before Dickens explicates the mistaken purpose of Winkle's behaviour.

Another approach: Phiz's depiction of a scene in Pickwick's inset tale (1873)

Phiz's approach is entirely different because he has elected to illustrate the interpolated short story rather than the continuing action of the novel: Old Lobbs gave it one tug, and open it flew, disclosing Nathaniel Pipkin standing bolt upright inside, and shaking with apprehension from head to foot, p. 89.

Other artists who illustrated this work, 1836-1910

Related Material

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. "Pickwick Papers. Illustrated by Robert Seymour and Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman & Hall, 1836-37.

Dickens, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. Engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. The Diamond Edition. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.

Dickens, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. The Household Edition. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. New York: Harper and Brothers 1873.

Dickens, Charles. Pickwick Papers. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874.

Last modified 20 November 2019