"This, from Jacques." — illustration for Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities" by John McLenan in the tenth weekly number for "Harper's Weekly" (9 July 1859)

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> John McLenan —> Charles Dickens —> Illustrations of A Tale of Two Cities —> Next ]

"This, from Jacques."

8.2 cm high (exclusive of caption) by 8.2 cm wide (3 ¼ inches square).

John McLenan

Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, Book II, Chapter 9, "The Gorgon's Head," 437. In the T. B. Peterson volume, this engraving faces p. 86.

Harper's Weekly, Vol. III, No. 132 (9 July 1859); this passage from the tenth instalment previously appeared in the UK in instalment 10 in All the Year Round on 2 July 1859.

[Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Passage Illustrated: The Man of Privilege Murdered in His Very Bed

It portended that there was one stone face too many, up at the chateau.

The Gorgon had surveyed the building again in the night, and had added the one stone face wanting; the stone face for which it had waited through about two hundred years.

It lay back on the pillow of Monsieur the Marquis. It was like a fine mask, suddenly startled, made angry, and petrified. Driven home into the heart of the stone figure attached to it, was a knife. Round its hilt was a frill of paper, on which was scrawled:

"Drive him fast to his tomb. This, from JACQUES." [Book the Second — "The Golden Thread," Chapter IX, "The Gorgon's Head," 438; picture, 437]

Commentary: Excitement at the Sensational Curtain

The writer has held off the climatic moment until the very conclusion of the weekly instalment, at the curtain. By showing readers this climax on the opening page the editors of Harper's have challenged the serial reader to progress as rapidly as possible in order to reach and appreciate the textual moment realised in the sensational woodblock engraving. The assassin has apparently pulled back the covers in order to be sure of his target, plunging the dagger precisely through the heart of his victim and adroitly attaching the note of retribution that ends the weekly number, fusing letterpress and image.

Other Illustrated Editions (1859-1910)

Related Material

Scanned image by Philip V. Allingham; text by PVA and George P. Landow. [You may use the 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

Allingham, Philip V. "Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities (1859) Illustrated: A Critical Reassessment of Hablot Knight Browne's Accompanying Plates." Dickens Studies. 33 (2003): 109-158.

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by John McLenan. Harper's Weekly: A Journal of Civilization, 7 May through 3 December 1859.

_______. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne). London: Chapman and Hall, November 1859.

Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by John McLenan (33 illustrations). Philadelphia: T. B. Peterson, 1859.

_______. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 16 vols. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867. XIII.

_______. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. VIII.

_______. A Tale of Two Cities: A story of the French Revolution. Project Gutenberg e-text by Judith Boss, Omaha, Nebraska. Release Date: September 25, 2004 [EBook #98].

_______. A Tale of Two Cities. With illustrations by John McLenan and Rowland Wheelwright. Orinda, Cal.: Sea Wolf Press, 2021.

Created 26 November 2007

Last modified 24 November 2025