Lord Gordon, Gashford, and Grueby

Sol Eytinge

Wood engraving, approximately 10 cm high by 7.5 cm wide (framed), facing p. 163.

Eighth illustration for Dickens's Barnaby Rudge in the single volume Barnaby Rudge and Hard Times in the Ticknor & Fields (Boston, 1867) Diamond Edition.

In the eighth illustration, Eytinge attempts to capture the essence of three historical or quasi-historical figures: Lord Gordon, instigator of the anti-Catholic London riots of 1780, Gashford (based loosely on the Scottish adventurer Robert Watson), and Lord Gordon's dogged but fiercely loyal servant John Grueby. Gordon's secretary and a renegade Catholic, Gashford is manipulating Lord Gordon for his own ends, as Eytinge suggests by his sharp features and confidential pose. The naive Gordon appears in the foreground, warming his hand before the fire, while the devious Gashford leans over his shoulder in this interior scene from chapter 35. [Commentary continues below.]