"You're all affection and et cetera, ain't you?." — thirty-fifth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

"You're all affection and et cetera, ain't you?." by W. L. Sheppard. Thirty-fifth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter XL, "Domestic Relations," p. 235. Page 235's Heading: "On the Down." 10.6 x 13.6 cm (4 ⅛ by 5 ⅜ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Good Mrs. Brown and Alice confront Edith and Mrs. Skewton

As Mrs. Skewton drew her purse out with a trembling hand, and eagerly fumbled for some money, which the other old woman greedily watched for — their heads all but touching, in their hurry and decrepitude — Edith interposed:

“I have seen you,” addressing the old woman, “before.”

“Yes, my Lady,” with a curtsey. “Down in Warwickshire. The morning among the trees. When you wouldn’t give me nothing. But the gentleman, he give me something! Oh, bless him, bless him!” mumbled the old woman, holding up her skinny hand, and grinning frightfully at her daughter.

“It’s of no use attempting to stay me, Edith!” said Mrs. Skewton, angrily anticipating an objection from her. “You know nothing about it. I won’t be dissuaded. I am sure this is an excellent woman, and a good mother.”

“Yes, my Lady, yes,” chattered the old woman, holding out her avaricious hand. “Thankee, my Lady. Lord bless you, my Lady. Sixpence more, my pretty Lady, as a good mother yourself.”

“And treated undutifully enough, too, my good old creature, sometimes, I assure you,” said Mrs Skewton, whimpering. “There! Shake hands with me. You’re a very good old creature — full of what’s-his-name — and all that. You’re all affection and et cetera, ain’t you?”

“Oh, yes, my Lady!” [Chapter XL, "Domestic Relations," 236]

Comment: Combining Four of the Leading Women in a Single Scene

With the introduction of Edith Granger, the most fascinating of the story's unusual number of women, Dickens began to expand the psychological scope and depth of Dombey. Some, like Mesdames Skewton, Chick, Pipchin, and MacStinger, invited caricature — indeed the only caricature Dickens permitted in this book. Most, however — Polly Toodles, Susan Nipper, Alice Brown, Florence, and, especially, Edith — all beauties of various kinds, required and received varied treatments. [Cohen 96]

In the present illustration, set upon the South Downs near Brighton where Mr. Dombey has set his mother-in-law for her health, Sheppard, following Phiz's precedent in the original serial illustration, presents Edith (centre, an icy pillar of aloofness) and her cousin Alice Marwood (left, bundled up against the chill) as both opposites and complements. In terms of the other figures we can see Sheppard responding to the Cruikshankian tradition of distortion and caricature in the face-to-face confrontation of the elderly mothers, Mrs. Skewton (right) with her walking-stick and Good Mrs. Brown (just behind Edith). Sheppard shows all five figures stirred by the stiff wind that blows from right to left across the heath. Withers, the smartly dressed page boy, must hold onto his hat, whereas Edith Dombey seems utterly unperturbed, possessing what Dickens terms "the same mechanical attention and immovable beauty" (234). The accompanying carriage is presumably out of the frame, to the right, whereas Phiz had included it at the rear of his composition. Sheppard, therefore, has made a deliberate choice to omit it in order to focus on the four women. As Dickens mentions, Alice is holding a basket of knitted work for sale, and her mother holds out her hand, begging an additional sixpence from Mrs. Skewton. Just to the left, the cliff drops off, and a steamer is just visible on the horizon line of the English Channel.

Parallel Illustrations from Other Editions (1847-1901)

Left: Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s character study of the the beautiful daughter and her crone-like mother: (1867). Centre: Phiz's original serial illustration of the chance meeting of the mothers and their lookalike daughters on the heath: A Chance Meeting (Part 14: October 1847). Right: Sir John Gilbert's frontispiece for the third volume of the Sheldon & Co. (New York) "Household" Edition: "It's my handsome daughter, living and come back," she screamed again. . . (1862).

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

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Bibliography

Cohen, Jane Rabb. "Part Two: Dickens and His Principal Illustrator. 4. Hablot Browne." (Part 1). Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio U. P., 1980.

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 18 February 2022