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"The horse, whose health had been drunk"
Frederic W. Pailthorpe
1886
9 cm high by 7.8 cm wide (3 ½ inches by 3 inches)
Dickens's Oliver Twist
[Click on image to enlarge it. See below for passage illustrated, commentary and comparisons with other illustrators' work; mouse over the text for links.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
The stranger reflected upon this argument, with a very profound face; having done so, he seized Sikes by the hand: and declared he was a real good fellow. To which Mr. Sikes replied, he was joking; as, if he had been sober, there would have been strong reason to suppose he was.
After the exchange of a few more compliments, they bade the company good-night, and went out; the girl gathering up the pots and glasses as they did so, and lounging out to the door, with her hands full, to see the party start.
The horse, whose health had been drunk in his absence, was standing outside: ready harnessed to the cart. Oliver and Sikes got in without any further ceremony; and the man to whom he belonged, having lingered for a minute or two “to bear him up,” and to defy the hostler and the world to produce his equal, mounted also. Then, the hostler was told to give the horse his head; and, his head being given him, he made a very unpleasant use of it: tossing it into the air with great disdain, and running into the parlour windows over the way; after performing those feats, and supporting himself for a short time on his hind-legs, he started off at great speed, and rattled out of the town right gallantly. [Chapter XXI, "The Expedition," p. 118 in the 1846 edition]
Pailthorpe had a number of precedents for the Chertsey housebreaking "expedition" that he might have drawn, notably Cruikshank's interpretation of the botched burglary itself (The Burglary, January 1838), and James Mahoney's Household Edition larger-scale wood-engraving of Sikes's dragging a reluctant Oliver towards the back of the house, where he will climb through a small window to admit the gang. But Pailthorpe elected to pattern his illustration for the twenty=first chapter on neither of these. Rather, he realizes the journey from the thieves' kitchen to Chertsey as Sikes makes use of carters' wagons to make his way to the scene of the crime. Undoubtedly his intention is to arrive relatively fresh, as opposed to being exhausted from hours walking into the Surrey counytryside.
Pailthorpe utilizes Sikes's unique, off-white top-hat and signature face to identify the notorious housebreaker, and distinguish him from the carter who will unwittingly aid him in his designs. The illustrator charges the scene with energy through the rearing of the horse, eager to be on his way, and the animated figures of the hostler in his striped vest and the jolly carter (both clearly inebriated). The driver, having been jollied up by Sikes, raises a glass to his horse as he sets the wicker cart in motion. In contrast, a collected Sikes cooly observes his companions, and Oliver looks both frightened and uncertain as the trio bids the serving wench at the tavern (right) farewell. Dickens reiterates that Sikes has not apprised Oliver of their object in this tedious journey; when they arrive at the bridge at Shepperton subsequently, Oliver thinks that Sikes intends to drown him. However, they pass over the river without incident, and in the dark approach their objective, the porch of a substantial country mansion.
Left: J. Clayton Clarke's 1890 chromolithograph of a dashing, Macheath-like Bill Sikes. Right: Harry Furniss depicts Sikes's compelling Oliver to cooperate in "The Expedition": Oliver in the Grip of Sikes (1910).
Left: George Cruikshank realizes the dramatic moment when one of the Maylie servants shoots Oliver, with Sikes looking on, helpless to intervene: The Burglary (January 1838). CEntre: James Mahoney's Household Edition illustration of Sikes's dragging an unwilling Oliver into a life of crime in Sikes, with Oliver's hand still in his, softly approached the low porch (1871). Right: Felix Octavius Carr Darley's 1888 lithographic character study Sikes, Nancy, and Oliver Twist.
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Cohen, Jane Rabb. "George Cruikshank." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980. Pp. 15-38.
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr. Character Sketches from Dickens. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1888.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1838; Chapman and Hall, 1846.
_______. The Letters of Charles Dickens. Ed. Graham Storey, Kathleen Tillotson, and Angus Eassone. The Pilgrim Edition. Oxford: Clarendon, 1965. Vol. 1 (1820-1839).
_______. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1865.
_______. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867. Vol. XI.
_______. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 22 vols. Illustrated by James Mahoney. London: Chapman and Hall, 1871. Vol. I.
_______. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. III.
_______. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. The Waverley Edition of the Works of Charles Dickens. Illustrated by Charles Pears. London: Waverley, 1912.
Grego, Joseph (intro). Cruikshank's Water Colours. [27 Oliver Twist illustrations, including the wrapper and the 13-vignette title-page produced for F. W. Cosens; 20 plates for William Harrison Ainsworth's The Miser's Daughter: A Tale of the Year 1774; 20 plates plus the proofcover the work for W. H. Maxwell's History of the Irish Rebellion in 1798 and Emmetts Insurrection in 1803]. London: A & C Black, 1903. OT = pp. 1-106]. Book in the Rare Book Collection of the University of Toronto.
Pailthorpe, Frederic W. (Illustrator). Charles Dickens's Oliver Twist. London: Robson & Kerslake, 1886. Set No. 118 (coloured) of 200 sets of proof impressions.
Created 11 February 2015 Updated 7 December 2021