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Mr. Pickwick arrested at Ipswich. At length, with the assistance of Mr. Tupman, he managed to push open the roof; and mounting on the seat, Mr. Pickwick proceeded to address the multitude.
Harry Furniss
1910
14.3 cm x 9.6 cm (5 ½ by 3 ¾ inches), partly framed
Dickens's Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing II, 336.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Whether Mr. Winkle was seized with a temporary attack of that species of insanity which originates in a sense of injury, or animated by this display of Mr. Weller's valour, is uncertain; but certain it is, that he no sooner saw Mr. Grummer fall than he made a terrific onslaught on a small boy who stood next him; whereupon Mr. Snodgrass, in a truly Christian spirit, and in order that he might take no one unawares, announced in a very loud tone that he was going to begin, and proceeded to take off his coat with the utmost deliberation. He was immediately surrounded and secured; and it is but common justice both to him and Mr. Winkle to say, that they did not make the slightest attempt to rescue either themselves or Mr. Weller; who, after a most vigorous resistance, was overpowered by numbers and taken prisoner. The procession then reformed; the chairmen resumed their stations; and the march was re-commenced.
Mr. Pickwick's indignation during the whole of this proceeding was beyond all bounds. He could just see Sam upsetting the specials, and flying about in every direction; and that was all he could see, for the sedan doors wouldn’t open, and the blinds wouldn’t pull up. At length, with the assistance of Mr. Tupman, he managed to push open the roof; and mounting on the seat, and steadying himself as well as he could, by placing his hand on that gentleman’s shoulder, Mr. Pickwick proceeded to address the multitude; to dwell upon the unjustifiable manner in which he had been treated; and to call upon them to take notice that his servant had been first assaulted. In this order they reached the magistrate’s house; the chairmen trotting, the prisoners following, Mr. Pickwick oratorising, and the crowd shouting. [Chapter XXIV, “Wherein Mr. Peter Magnus Grows Jealous, and the Middle-aged Lady Apprehensive, Which Brings the Pickwickians within the Grasp of the Law,” 343]
The presence of a sedan chair suggests a Regency setting and tone for both the passage and its accompanying illustration which captures well the sense of uproarious discord of a brawling crowd scene which strikes the viewer as something out of Hogarth. However, the context is once again Sam Weller's trying to come to his master's rescue as Pickwick, blustering and indignant, is arrested under the misapprehension that he is about to participate in a duel.
Furniss has closely modelled his lithograph on the December 1836 steel-engraving by Phiz for the original serial, Mr. Weller Attacks the Executive of Ipswich (Part 9). However, by focussing mire on Pickwick and Sam, and by enlarging the leading "Executive" (Grummer, the large man on his back, lower left), Furniss has created a slightly different impression of the turmoil surrounding Pickwick's arrest on the trumped-up charge of intending to fight a duel with Peter Magnus. Typical of Furniss's delight in humorous detail are Pickwick's indignant expression as he attempts to address the boisterous crowd, Sam's obviously smiling as he punches the shocked functionary, and the symbol of the Executive's power, the truncheon with the brass crown, lower right. Excellent as Phiz's original mob scene is, Furniss has improved on both the detailing of the buildings in the background and the sedan chair, with Tupman inside, trying to see what's going on. overall, one has a much better impression of the sheer chaos surrounding the sedan chair in Furniss's presentation because Furniss has emphasized the figures of Pickwick, Sam, and Grummer, and has made the surrounding crowd far more raucous as Winkle (centre right) squares off comically against another member of the Executive as well as against the small boy whose fists are ineffectually raised against him.
Left: Thomas Nast's American Household Edition's engraving for this chapter, "What is the meaning of this, Sir?" (1873). Right: Phiz's composite woodblock engraving for these chapters, Mr. Pickwick no sooner put on his spectacles, than he at once recognised in the future Mrs. Magnus the lady into whose room he had so unwarrantably intruded on the previous night (1874), focuses on the relationship between Miss Witherfield and Peter Magnus. [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Left: Thomas Nast's American Household Edition's engraving for this chapter, "What is the meaning of this, Sir?" (1873). Right: Thomas Onwhyn's "extra" illustration investigating the upshot of the riot, when Pickwick and his associates square off against the cocky Jingle in Magistrate Nupkins' parlour: “What prevents me,” said Mr. Nupkins, with magisterial dignity, as Job was brought in, — “what prevents me from detaining these men as rogues and impostors? It is a foolish mercy. What prevents me?’” “‘Pride, old fellow, pride,” replied Jingle, quite at his ease. “Wouldn’t do — no go — caught a captain, eh? — ha! ha! very good — husband for daughter — biter bit — make it public — not for worlds — look stupid — very!’” Page 276 (31 July 1837). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Robert Seymour, Robert Buss, and Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, November 1837. With 32 additional illustrations by Thomas Onwhyn (London: E. Grattan, April-November 1837).
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. The Household Edition. 16 vols. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873. Vol. 4.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. 6.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 2.
Created 10 March 2024