Headnote vignette for "A Tale of Two Cities," Book III, Chapter 14 ("The Knitting Done"), by John McLenan in "Harper's Weekly" (26 November 1859)

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The Chief Functionary of La Guillotine holds aloft a severed head: Headnote vignette: Book III, "The Track of a Storm," Chapter 14, "The Knitting Done."

The thirtieth instalment of the novel appeared in Harper's Weekly (26 November 1859): 764-66; it had originally appeared in the UK on Saturday, 19 November in All the Year Round.

This is no mere St. Antoine crone keeping tally in her knitting; this is a functionary of the new Republic, a stoic Jacobin installed as Chief Executioner, striding forward from the guillotine, holding up the head of a young woman.

Passage Illustrated

As The Vengeance descends from her elevation to do it, the tumbrils begin to discharge their loads. The ministers of Sainte Guillotine are robed and ready. Crash! — A head is held up, and the knitting-women who scarcely lifted their eyes to look at it a moment ago when it could think and speak, count One.

The second tumbril empties and moves on; the third comes up. Crash! — And the knitting-women, never faltering or pausing in their Work, count Two." [Book the Third — "The Track of a Storm," Chapter XIV, "The Knitting Done," 764]

Other Illustrated Editions (1859-1910)

Related Material

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

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.

Dickens, Charles. 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].

Guiliano, Edward, and Philip Collins. The Annotated Dickens. 2 vols. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1986.

Created 25 November 2007

Last modified 27 November 2025