"Engraved Title-page" by Harry Furniss for Dickens's "Master Humphrey's Clock" (1910)

[Victorian Web Home —> Visual Arts —> Illustration —> Henry Furniss —> Master Humphrey's Clock —> Next]

Master Humphrey's Clock

Harry Furniss

1910

14.5 x 10 cm (5 ¾ by 3 ⅞ inches), vignetted

Dickens's Master Humphrey's Clock, in Vol. VI of the Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing the frontispiece of From His Clock-side in the Chimney Corner, anticipating the initial selection "Master Humphrey from His Clock-side in the Chimney-Corner" (1-7 in the second half of volume 6). In no respects is this engraved title-page different from other general Characters title-pages in this 1910 edition. [Commentary continues below.]

[Click on image to enlarge it.]

Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.

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

Commentary for Master Humphrey's Clock

Furniss, perhaps at J. A. Hammerton's suggestion, has illustrated four uncollected pieces from Master Humphrey's Clock, the weekly periodical in which, in addition to various short stories and sketches, Dickens ran the novels The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge. The final instalment of the Clock appeared on 4 December 1841. The Charles Dickens Edition of 1867 was the first time that these sketches and stories had been collected. Each monthly volume in that edition contains eight illustrations. The original serial had seven illustrations by the illustrator with antiquarian tastes, George Cattermole, and twelve by the artist who would work with Dickens for twenty-three years, Hablot Knight Browne, or Phiz. These wood-engravings, which were dropped into the weekly text, for the most part describe the narrator's wood-panelled chamber and his ancient furniture, including, of course, his clock-case, as well as the "editor" himself and his numerous guests, including the celebrated Mr. Pickwick.

In addition to his usual Characters engraved title-page and a frontispiece, Furniss provides four "Special Plates": The Penitent's Return, The Murderer had his Victim in the Net, Mr. Pickwick examining the Clock, and The Blighted Hairdresser. These date the uncollected chapters of Master Humphrey's Clock.

The collection of characters and situations in miniature on the title-page has almost nothing to do with the fourteen reprinted pieces. However, at the top Furniss has included both Sam Weller and Samuel Pickwick, the principals of The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, both of whom do appear in the slight sketches reprinted here, in "Mr. Pickwick's Tale" and "Mr. Weller's Watch," the former period-piece narrated to Mr. Humphrey by Pickwick himself.

Other Illustrated Editions of Master Humphrey's Clock

George Cattermole's Original Serial Illustrations for Master Humphrey's Clock (April 1840)
W. H. C. Groome's Illustrations for Master Humphrey's Clock (1907)
Fred Barnard's Four Illustrations for Master Humphrey's Clock (1879) in the Household Edition (Vol. XX)

Related Materials

Bibliography

Bentley, Nicolas, Michael Slater, and Nina Burgis. The Dickens Index. New York and Oxford: Oxford U. P., 1990.

Davis, Paul. "Master Humphrey's Clock." Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to his Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998, 238.

Dickens, Charles. Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by George Cattermole and Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). London: Chapman and Hall, 1840-41.

_______. Master Humphrey's Clock. The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Reprinted Pieces, and Other Stories. With thirty illustrations by L. Fildes, E. G. Dalziel, and F. Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1872. Vol. XX. Pp. 253-306.

_______. Master Humphrey's Clock and Pictures from Italy. Collins Pocket Editions. Illustrated by W. H. Groome. London and Glasgow: Collins Clear-type Press, 1907. Pp. 1-168.

_______. Barnaby Rudge and Master Humphrey's Clock. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Volume VI.

Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture Book: A Record of the Dickens Illustrators. Ch. XIV. "Master Humphrey's Clock." The Charles Dickens Library. London: Educational Book Co., 1910. Pp. 259-265.

Stevens, Joan. "'Woodcuts Dropped into the Text': The Illustrations in The Old Curiosity Shop and Barnaby Rudge." Studies in Bibliography. 20 (1967): 113-34.

Vann, J. Don. "The Old Curiosity Shop in Master Humphrey's Clock, 25 April 1840-6 February 1841." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: MLA, 1985. 64-65.

Dickens Library Edition. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. VI.

Victorian
Web

Illustra-
tion

Harry
Furniss

Master Hum-
phrey's Clock

Created 3 December 2019

Last modified 30 August 2022