"'Come, come, my lass, awast, awast!' said Bunsby." — thirty-fourth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

“Come, come, my lass, awast, awast!” said Bunsby. by W. L. Sheppard. Thirty-fourth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter XXXIX, "Further Adventures of Captain Edward Cuttle, Mariner," p. 228. Page 227's Heading: "Jack Bunsby and Captain Cuttle Surprized." 9.2 x 13.7 cm (3 ⅝ by 5 ⅜ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Mrs. MacStinger in Pursuit of Captain Cuttle meets Bunsby

“A pretty sort of a man is Cap’en Cuttle,” said Mrs. MacStinger, with a sharp stress on the first syllable of the Captain’s name, “to take on for — and to lose sleep for — and to faint along of — and to think dead forsooth — and to go up and down the blessed town like a madwoman, asking questions after! Oh, a pretty sort of a man! Ha ha ha ha! He’s worth all that trouble and distress of mind, and much more. That’s nothing, bless you! Ha ha ha ha! Cap’en Cuttle,” said Mrs. MacStinger, with severe reaction in her voice and manner, “I wish to know if you’re a-coming home.”

The frightened Captain looked into his hat, as if he saw nothing for it but to put it on, and give himself up.

“Cap’en Cuttle,” repeated Mrs. MacStinger, in the same determined manner, “I wish to know if you’re a-coming home, Sir.”

The Captain seemed quite ready to go, but faintly suggested something to the effect of “not making so much noise about it.”

“Ay, ay, ay,” said Bunsby, in a soothing tone. “Awast, my lass, awast!”

“And who may you be, if you please!” retorted Mrs. MacStinger, with chaste loftiness. “Did you ever lodge at Number Nine, Brig Place, Sir? My memory may be bad, but not with me, I think. There was a Mrs. Jollson lived at Number Nine before me, and perhaps you’re mistaking me for her. That is my only ways of accounting for your familiarity, Sir.”

“Come, come, my lass, awast, awast!” said Bunsby. [Chapter XXXIX, "Further Adventures of Captain Edward Cuttle, Mariner," pp. 227-228]

Commentary: Setting up the Romance between Bunsby and Mrs. Mac Stinger

Now that the year since Sol Gills' mysterious disappearance has expired, Captain Cuttle regards the opening of the packet with both curiosity and trepidation. Since Rob the Grinder has given notice and Cuttle wants somebody to serve as a witness, he is relieved when in the shipping news he learns that Jack Bunsby and his coaster, The Cautious Clara have just arrived in port. He despatches a letter to Bunsby and in a few days receives notice that Bunsby has accepted his invitation to visit The Little Midshipman. It is now evening, and the old salts have shared a rum grog as Cuttle describes events of the year before. When Cuttle shows Bunsby the "Last Will and Testament of Solomon Gills" and the "Letter to Captain Edward Cuttle," Bunsby endorses the notion of reading the contents of the letter, in which Gills mentions his intention to search for news of his nephew, Walter, in the West Indies. No sooner has Cuttle deposited the will (unread still) and the note in the shop's safe, than the pair's grog-drinking is interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Captain Cuttle's landlady. The domineering Mrs. Macstinger is concerned that her lodger has not been back in his rooms in some time. The reader, of course, knows that Edward Cuttle has taken the the place of Rob the Grinder, sleeping under the counter to guard the shop, and to avoid the peculiarly possessive and amorous Mrs. MacStinger.

In this illustration, Sheppard depicts the termagant landlady with her three children in tow: the youngest, Alexander, garbed as miniature sailor, sits at the table; Juliana is centre; and Chowley at her mother's feet. Staring out of the frame at the reader rather than at his friend, one-eyed Bunsby seems utterly stunned by the sudden arrival as she attempts to fill her pipe. Oddly enough, in spite of the timing of the speech that furnishes the caption, Captain Cuttle's hat remains on the floor, and he does not look particularly put out by the landlady's unexpected visit. He should at least look startled that Bunsby has just wrapped his arm around their thorny visitor. However, Sheppard has certainly made Bunsby's peacock look suitably hairy. Thus begins the book's oddest romance, although both are over-the-top comic characters well deserving of each other.

Parallel Illustrations from Other Editions (1847-1901)

Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s character study of the odd couple on their wedding day: Mrs. MacStinger and Bunsby (1867). Centre: W. H. C. Groome's more muted version of the farcical scene in the back-parlour: Bunsby put his arm around Mrs. MacStinger (1900). Right: Phiz's original serial illustration of the waspish widow assailing the mariners: The Midshipman is boarded by the enemy (Part 16: January 1848).

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1910)

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Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. L. Sheppard. The Household Edition. 18 vols. New York: Harper & Co., 1873.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 55 vols. New York: Sheldon and Company, 1862. Vols. 1-4.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr., and engraved by A. V. S. Anthony. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. III.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard [62 composite wood-block engravings]. The Works of Charles Dickens. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. II.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. 61 wood-engravings. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1877. XV.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by W. H. C. Groome. London and Glasgow, 1900, rpt. 1934. 2 vols. in one.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. IX.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). 8 coloured plates. London and Edinburgh: Caxton and Ballantyne, Hanson, 1910.

__________. Dombey and Son. Illustrated by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). The Clarendon Edition, ed. Alan Horsman. Oxford: Clarendon, 1974.

Created 17 February 2022