BY
FREDERIC G. KITTON
AUTHOR OF "CHARLES DICKENS BY PEN AND PENCIL," ETC.
WITH TWENTY-TWO PORTRAITS AND FACSIMILES OF
SEVENTY ORIGINAL DRAWINGS NOW REPRODUCED
FOR THE FIRST TIME
SECOND EDITION
LONDON
GEORGE REDWAY
1899
TO
CHARLES DICKENS'S DAUGHTER
KATE PERUGINI
THESE NOTES UPON THE ILLUSTRATIONS
TO HER FATHER'S WRITINGS
are respectfully dedicated
BY THE AUTHOR
PREFACE
In the matter of pictorial embellishment, the writings of Charles Dickens may be regarded as occupying a unique position. The original issues alone present a remarkable array of illustrations; and when we remember the innumerable engravings specially prepared for subsequent editions, as well as for independent publication, we are fain to confess that, in this respect at least, the works of "Boz" take precedence of those of any other novelist. These designs, too, are of particular interest, inasmuch as they are representative of nearly every branch of the art of the book-illustrator; both the pencil of the draughtsman and the needle of the etcher have been requisitioned, while the brush of the painter has depicted for us many striking scenes culled from the pages of Dickens.