"Sol Gills, ahoy!" — forty-eighth illustration by W. L. Sheppard for Dickens's "Dombey and Son" (American Household Edition, 1873)

"Sol Gills, ahoy!". by W. L. Sheppard. Forty-eighth illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter LVI, "Several People Delighted, and The Game Chicken Disgusted," page 323. Page 323's Heading: "Mr. Solomon Gills in Explanation." 10.8 x 13.5 mm (4 ¼ by 5 ¼ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: Meanwhile, back at The Little Midshipman

Phiz's comedic rendering of Sol Gills' return from the Caribbean: An Arrival (March 1848).

The Captain spoke with all composure and attention to the game, but suddenly his cards dropped out of his hand, his mouth and eyes opened wide, his legs drew themselves up and stuck out in front of his chair, and he sat staring at the door with blank amazement. Looking round upon the company, and seeing that none of them observed him or the cause of his astonishment, the Captain recovered himself with a great gasp, struck the table a tremendous blow, cried in a stentorian roar, “Sol Gills, ahoy!” and tumbled into the arms of a weather-beaten pea-coat that had come with Polly into the room.

In another moment, Walter was in the arms of the weather-beaten pea-coat. In another moment, Florence was in the arms of the weather-beaten pea-coat. In another moment, Captain Cuttle had embraced Mrs Richards and Miss Nipper, and was violently shaking hands with Mr. Toots, exclaiming, as he waved his hook above his head, “Hooroar, my lad, hooroar!” To which Mr. Toots, wholly at a loss to account for these proceedings, replied with great politeness, “Certainly, Captain Gills, whatever you think proper!” [Chapter LVI, "Several People Delighted, and The Game Chicken Disgusted," 323]

Commentary: The Triumphant Return of Uncle Sol Gillis

Here in this chapter in what was originally the penultimate serial instalment Dickens makes the most of his "streaky bacon" plot construction: having disposed of Carker on the railway tracks, he now resolves the mystery of Sol Gillis's whereabouts. Thus, he follows melodrama with character comedy, and nemesis with romance. Chapter LVI, then, set in the parlour of The Little Midshipman, conventionally brings seven readers' favourites together: the novel's funny men (Mr. Toots and Captain Cuttle), the first and second comic women (the maid, Susan Nipper, and the affable Polly Toodle), and the young lovers, Florence Dombey and Walter Gay, in a contrived but enjoyable happy ending. Even as Dickens brings Uncle Sol on stage again after a significant lapse, he offers a belated explanation as to why Captain Cuttle never received any letters from his old friend as he searched throughout the West Indies for news of Walter.

Thus, Sheppard has created a somewhat crowded composition because he has attempted to accommodate an unusually large number of characters (seven) from the domestic comedy subplot and the romantic main plot in order to bring the various strands to closure visually: (left to right) Mr. P. Toots (seated), with Susan Nipper just behind him; Florence and Walter (standing rear); Captain Cuttle (back towards the reader) and Uncle Sol; "Mrs. Richards" (Polly Toodle), arms akimbo (right); missing: Diogenes the dog. Although the nominal subject is the homecoming of Uncle Sol in his tam o'shanter (as in Phiz's version of the same scene, An Arrival), Sheppard adroitly manages to focus our attention on Walter, who is pointing in amazement at Sol Gillis, and the wide-eyed, unbelieving Florence at his side.

Other Studies of The Homecoming from Other Editions (1877 and 1910)

Left: Fred Barnard's Household Edition portrait of the genial old salt after the dramatic incident: After this, he smoked four pipes successively in the little parlour by himself . . . . (1877). Right: Harry Furniss's dramatic revision of Phiz's serial illustration for the same scene: An Arrival (1910). Right:

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 4 March 2022