A Bunch of Pippins by W. L. Sheppard. Seventh illustration for Dickens's Dombey and Son in the American Household Edition (1873), Chapter VI, "Paul's Second Deprivation," p. 33. 10.5 x 13.3 cm (4 ⅛ by 5 ¼ inches) framed. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: At Staggs's Gardens after the Christening

“Why, Polly!” cried Jemima. “You! what a turn you have given me! who’d have thought it! come along in Polly! How well you do look to be sure! The children will go half wild to see you Polly, that they will.”

That they did, if one might judge from the noise they made, and the way in whichthey dashed at Polly and dragged her to a low chair in the chimney corner, where her own honest apple face became immediately the centre of a bunch of smaller pippins, all laying their rosy cheeks close to it, and all evidently the growth of the same tree. As to Polly, she was full as noisy and vehement as the children; and it was not until she was quite out of breath, and her hair was hanging all about her flushed face, and her new christening attire was very much dishevelled, that any pause took place in the confusion. Even then, the smallest Toodle but one remained in her lap, holding on tight with both arms round her neck; while the smallest Toodle but two mounted on the back of the chair, and made desperate efforts, with one leg in the air, to kiss her round the corner.

“Look! there’s a pretty little lady come to see you,” said Polly; “and see how quiet  she is! what a beautiful little lady, ain’t she?” [Chapter VI, "Paul’s Second Deprivation," p. 33]

Commentary: Polly returns home from Paul's christening

The scene is the Toodle cottage at Staggs's Gardens in the vicinity of the railway yard. Florence accompanied by her sour maid, Susan Nipper, is visiting Polly's family, whom Dickens characterizes as a bunch of pippins, probably on account of their red cheeks. Sheppard shows Susan sitting rigidly to the left, holding young Florence, as if to protect her from the contagious embulience of the Toodle children, who throng Polly in her chair as Dickens suggests in "Polly . . . was full as noisy and vehement as the children." The other woman, holding Polly's charge, the infant Paul, is Jemima, Polly's sister, who helps her older sibling raise the children as was expected in Victorian families.

Dickens's dialogue conveys a sense of the uproarious scene of Polly's homecoming, in contrast to the straight-laced behaviour of the middle-class participants at Paul Dombey, Junior's christening. However, instead of depicting the church scene, Sheppard has chosen to present a working-class family scene full of effervescent spirits and convivial humour. To effect a sharp contrast, he has seated Susan and Florence rather than leave them hovering hesitantly at the door of the cottage. Thus, he creates not merely a more compact design than Dickens suggests, but effectively contrasts the timid Florence and the standoffish Susan Nipper (so aptly named) with the merry Toodles. The original illustrator, Hablot Knight Browne, had focussed on the sedate and somewhat stuffy "christening party" that Dombey hosts, but Sheppard was clearly more interested in the warm reception Polly receives when she returns home from the cold, upper-middle-class gathering. To emphasize Susan's discomfort with the visit to the working-class environment Sheppard depicts the maid and her charge as wearing their boonets, as if they are are already about to depart. In contrast, Polly has merely thrown her bonnet aside (lower right), as if to suggest her haste in wishing to play with her children.

Related Material, including Other Illustrated Editions of Dombey and Son (1846-1924)

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned it and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

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.

Dickens, Charles. Dombey and Son. With illustrations by  H. K. Browne. The illustrated library Edition. 2 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, c. 1880. Vol. 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. 9.

__________. 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.

"Dombey and Son — Sixty-two Illustrations by Fred Barnard." Scenes and Characters from the Works of Charles Dickens, Being Eight Hundred and Sixty-six Drawings by Fred Barnard, Gordon Thomson, Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz), J. McL. Ralston, J. Mahoney, H. French, Charles Green, E. G. Dalziel, A. B. Frost, F. A. Fraser, and Sir Luke Fildes. London: Chapman and Hall, 1907.


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Created 17 January 2022