"Mrs. Jarley's Waxworks" — Furniss's fifteenth illustration for Dickens's "The Old Curiosity Shop" (1910)

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Mrs. Jarley's Waxworks

Mrs. Jarley sat down in an armchair, having formally invested Nell with a willow wand. "That," said Mrs. Jarley in her exhibition tone, as Nell touched a figure at the beginning of the platform, "is an unfortunate Maid of Honour in the Time of Queen Elizabeth, who died from pricking her finger in consequence of working upon a Sunday."

Harry Furniss

1910

14.2 x 9.1 cm, vignetted

Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing V, facing 208.

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Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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Passage Illustrated: Mrs. Jarley has Nell practice her patter

When Nell had exhausted her first raptures at this glorious sight, Mrs. Jarley ordered the room to be cleared of all but herself and the child, and, sitting herself down in an arm-chair in the centre, formally invested Nell with a willow wand, long used by herself for pointing out the characters, and was at great pains to instruct her in her duty.

"That," said Mrs. Jarley in her exhibition tone, as Nell touched a figure at the beginning of the platform, "is an unfortunate Maid of Honour in the Time of Queen Elizabeth, who died from pricking her finger in consequence of working upon a Sunday. Observe the blood which is trickling from her finger; also the gold-eyed needle of the period, with which she is at work."

All this, Nell repeated twice or thrice: pointing to the finger and the needle at the right times: and then passed on to the next. [Chapter XXVI, 210]

Related Material about The Old Curiosity Shop

Bibliography

Dickens, Charles. The Old Curiosity Shop. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. V.

Created 8 May 2020

Last modified 27 November 2020