Mr. Grimwig
J. Clayton Clarke ("Kyd")
c. 1900
15.3 x 9.8 cm framed
Original watercolour
Sixth illustration for Oliver Twist in Kyd's sequence of twelve water-colour "extra illustrations."
See below for passage illustrated and commentary.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham
Passages Illustrated
At this moment, there walked into the room: supporting himself by a thick stick: a stout old gentleman, rather lame in one leg, who was dressed in a blue coat, striped waistcoat, nankeen breeches and gaiters, and a broad-brimmed white hat, with the sides turned up with green. A very small-plaited shirt frill stuck out from his waistcoat; and a very long steel watch-chain, with nothing but a key at the end, dangled loosely below it. The ends of his white neckerchief were twisted into a ball about the size of an orange; the variety of shapes into which his countenance was twisted, defy description. He had a manner of screwing his head on one side when he spoke; and of looking out of the corners of his eyes at the same time: which irresistibly reminded the beholder of a parrot. In this attitude, he fixed himself, the moment he made his appearance; and, holding out a small piece of orange-peel at arm's length, exclaimed, in a growling, discontented voice.
Commentary
What could be an odder friendship than that of the misanthropic, pessimistic Mr. Grimwig (so aptly named) and the generous, impulsive humanitarian and optimist Mr. Brownlow? And yet here they are, both pronouncing judgment on Oliver, Grimwig certain that the boy will return to his criminal associates (with the books and the five-pound note), and Brownlow certain that the boy will come home shortly. Mr. Brownlow's contrarian companion, Grimwig, has not been a favourite with Dickens's illustrators, however. He is well represented as a physical contrast to the kindly Mr. Brownlow in Sol Eytinge, Junior's 1867 Diamond Edition study Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Grimwig. In James Mahoney's Household Edition volume woods-engravings of 1871, the illustrator seems to have deliberately confounded the two figures, so that his Brownlow is a mirror image of Grimwig in "A Beadle! A parish beadle, or I'll eat my head.". Perhaps the most successful portrait of the old friends, both deeply concerned about Oliver's failure to return home (although Grimwig is reluctant to admit his concern) is Harry Furniss's Waiting for Oliver. In a manner reminiscent of serial illustrator George Cruikshank's Bentley's Miscellany steel engravings, Frederic W. Pailthorpe's "Look here! do you see this?", Mr. Grimwig seems to be a superannuated Regency buck of a pessimistic cast of mind, in contrast to the warmhearted, generous nature of that modern Samaritan, Mr. Brownlow.
Illustrations from the Robson & Kerslake (1886), the Diamond Edition (1867), the Household Edition (1871)
Left: Frederic W. Pailthorpe's caricatural version of Brownlow and Grimwig, Oliver recovering from the fever. Right: Sol Eytinge, Junior's Diamond Edition wood-engraving of the old friends awaiting Oliver's return in Mr. Brownlow and Mr. Grimwig (1867). [Click on images to enlarge them.]
Above: James Mahoney's Household Edition illustration of Bumble's visit to Mr. Brownlow's Pentonville residence to claim the reward for information about Oliver in "A Beadle! A parish beadle, or I'll eat my head" (1871). [Click on images to enlarge them.]
Bibliography
Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.
Cohen, Jane Rabb. "George Cruikshank." Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980. Pp. 15-38.
Darley, Felix Octavius Carr. Character Sketches from Dickens. Philadelphia: Porter and Coates, 1888.
Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress. Illustrated by George Cruikshank. London: Bradbury and Evans; Chapman and Hall, 1846.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. 55 vols. Illustrated by F. O. C. Darley and John Gilbert. New York: Sheldon and Co., 1865.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Household Edition. Illustrated by James Mahoney. London: Chapman and Hall, 1871.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. Charles Dickens Library Edition. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. 3.
Dickens, Charles. The Adventures of Oliver Twist. Works of Charles Dickens. The Waverley Edition. Illustrated by Charles Pears. London: Waverley, 1912.
Dickens, Charles. The Letters of Charles Dickens. Ed. Graham Storey, Kathleen Tillotson, and Angus Eassone. The Pilgrim Edition. Oxford: Clarendon, 1965. Vol. 1 (1820-1839).
Dickens, Charles. Oliver Twist. Illustrated by Frederick W. Pailthorpe. London: Robson and Kerslake, 1886.
Forster, John. "Oliver Twist 1838." The Life of Charles Dickens. Ed. B. W. Matz. The Memorial Edition. 2 vols. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1911. Vol. 1, book 2, chapter 3.
Kyd. Characters from Dickens. Nottingham: John Player & Sons, 1910.
Created 18 February 2015