Discussions of Nicholas Nickleby (1839)

Illustrations (1838-1910)

Lengthily entitled The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the Nickleby Family, edited by "Boz", Dickens's third novel involved close collaboration between the young author and his illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz"), who together visited some notorious Yorkshire schools in January 1838, in particular Bowes Academy in Greta Bridge run by headmaster William Shaw, who in 1823 had been prosecuted for criminal negligence when two of his charges went blind. Phiz and Boz modelled Wackford Squeers directly on Shaw, and Dotheboys Hall on his "Academy." The thirty-nine steel engravings were presented in nineteen serial numbers issued between April 1838 and October 1839. The major subsequent editions are as follows: The Diamond Edition (Ticknor & Fields, Boston: 1867), The Household Edition (Harper & Bros., New York: 1875), The Household Edition (Chapman & Hall, London: 1875), and The Charles Dickens Library Edition (Educational Book, London: 1910).

  • Sample Serial Illustrations by Phiz (Hablot K. Brown), 1838-39
  • Illustrations from Four Later Editions, 1867-1910
  • Bibliography

    Barnard, J. "Fred" (illustrator). Charles Dickens's Nicholas Nickleby, with fifty-eight illustrations. The Works of Charles Dickens: The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1875. Rpt. 1890. XV.

    Dickens, Charles. The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. With fifty-two illustrations by C. S. Reinhart. The Household Edition. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1872. I.

    __________. Nicholas Nickleby. With 39 illustrations by Hablot K. Browne ("Phiz"). London: Chapman & Hall, 1839.

    __________. Nicholas Nickleby. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. IV.

    __________. "Nicholas Nickleby." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, being eight hundred and sixty-six drawings by Fred Barnard et al.. Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1908.

    Steig, Michael. Chapter 2, "The Beginnings of 'Phiz': Pickwick, Nickleby, and the Emergence from Caricature." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 24-50.

    Vann, J. Don. "The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, twenty parts in nineteen monthly installments, April 1838-October 1839." New York: Modern Language Association, 1985. Page 63.


    Created 9 October 2013

    Last updated 26 September 2021