American "Household Edition."The Household Edition was simultaneously published in London and New York, Harper & Brothers having arranged with Chapman & Hall to be supplied with clichés of the illustrations. For some reason, however, the English engravings do not appear in several of the volumes thus issued in America, there being substituted for them a similar number of entirely new designs by the following American artists: C. S. Reinhart ("Nicholas Nickleby," "The Uncommercial Traveller," and "Hard Times"), Thomas Worth ("The Old Curiosity Shop"), W. L. Sheppard "Dombey and Son"), E. A. Abbey, R.A. ("Christmas Stories"), A. B. Frost "Sketches by Boz"), and Thomas Nast ("Pickwick" and "American Notes").
Mr. Nast has also illustrated various Dickens subjects for American magazines, and independent works such as "Gabriel Grub" (from "Pickwick"), issued by McLoughin as a Christmas book. Mr. Frost is likewise responsible for twelve illustrations engraved on wood for an edition of "Pickwick" published a few years ago by Ward, Lock & Co., of London and New York; and there is a design by him in Scribner's Magazine, December 1897, entitled "That Slide," and depicting the familiar scene described in the thirtieth chapter of "Pickwick." In 1859 Harper & Brothers printed "A Tale of Two Cities" as a serial in Harper's Weekly, with thirty-four woodcut illustrations by a New York artist, J. McLenan, and in the following year the same firm similarly produced "Great Expectations," with twenty-seven illustrations by that artist, the first chapter appearing in November 1860. Both stories were subsequently issued in volume form by T. B. Peterson & Brothers, of Philadelphia.
F. O. C. Darley.Perhaps the best of Dickens's American illustrators was Felix Octavius Carr Darley, a most eminent and successful "character" draughtsman, whose productions are both original and clever. When, in 1860, an octavo edition (also designated the Household Edition) was prepared by W. A. Townsend & Co. of New York, it was proposed that the services of Darley and Mr. (afterwards Sir) John Gilbert should be secured as illustrators for the new venture, this resulting in the American artist executing nearly the whole of the vignette designs, all of which assumed the form of frontispieces. He had already prepared more than five hundred illustrations for an edition of Cooper's novels, so it is probable that the excellence of those drawings led to his engagement in a like capacity for this Household Edition of Dickens. His designs, which were beautifully engraved on steel, are very refined both as regards conception and execution, and are especially interesting as indicating an intelligent appreciation, on the part of a Transatlantic artist, of the novelist's characterisation, the extravagant and grotesque being instinctively avoided. Darley, although born in Philadelphia in 1822, was the son of an English actor; his natural gift for drawing was properly encouraged, and he developed into one of the most efficient book-illustrators of his time; in addition to this he achieved a distinct reputation through the production of large prints, such as "The Village Blacksmith," "The Unwilling Labourer," "The Wedding Procession," "Washington's Entry into New York," and other popular subjects. The Dickens series of designs have recently been reprinted by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. (Boston and New York) for their Standard Library Edition. Darley also prepared six drawings for a little work entitled "Children from Dickens's Novels," and subsequently painted a series of eight familiar scenes from Dickens, which were reproduced as photo-etchings and issued in sets; these afterwards appeared in an Imperial Edition of the novelist's works by Estes & Lauriat, Boston, U.S.A. Darley continued to occupy himself with his art up to the end of his life, but withdrew in his latter years from the cities to his home at Clayton, Delaware, where he died, March 27, 1888.[54]
Sir John Gilbert, R.A.The small number of frontispieces furnished by Sir John Gilbert to W. A. Townsend & Co.'s Household Edition are reprinted, with those of Darley, in Houghton, Mifflin & Co.'s Standard Library Edition. It is perhaps not generally known that, in 1868, four woodcut illustrations were specially designed by Sir John for one of Dickens's minor productions, "Holiday Romance,"—a short story written expressly for Our Young Folks, a magazine published by Ticknor & Fields, of Boston, U.S.A. In the original announcement we read that the artist had "consented to waive his decision not to draw again on wood, in order to give additional interest to Mr. Dickens's 'Romance,'" by which it may be inferred that these are among the last examples of Sir John's skill in that direction. For the initials in "Holiday Romance," a Transatlantic artist, G. G. White, was responsible. Sir John Gilbert, R.A., P.R.W.S., also produced a series of "Pickwick" illustrations, now exceedingly rare, particulars of which will be found in the next chapter. This accomplished painter and prolific designer died so recently as October 5, 1897, in his eightieth year, and of him it has been truly observed that in his most distinctive line—viz., illustration—we can look in vain for his equal. It is recorded that he must have contributed no fewer than thirty thousand subjects to the pages of The Illustrated London News alone, besides supplying innumerable designs to The London Journal and other publications. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that Sir John Gilbert stands out pre-eminently the great popular illustrator of the Victorian era.
Sol. Eytinge.Among the American illustrators of the writings of Dickens, an important place must be conceded to Sol. Eytinge, who was born in New York in 1833. He began to draw at a very early age, and for forty years was a most industrious illustrator of books, papers, and magazines. For a long time he was connected with Harper & Brothers, but subsequently became the chief artist of Every Saturday, published by Fields, Osgood & Co., to which he contributed many Dickensian subjects, notably a large picture entitled "Mr. Pickwick's Reception," representing Sam Weller introducing to Pickwick the leading characters in the various novels. To the Diamond Edition of Dickens's works, launched by Ticknor & Fields in 1867, Eytinge made several full-page drawings, each of the principal stories containing sixteen illustrations, all of which were engraved on wood. He also made some drawings for a volume of "The Readings of Mr. Charles Dickens," and subsequently prepared a series of character sketches, which were etched for the "Dickens Dictionary [of Characters]," published by Houghton, Mifflin & Co. in their Standard Library Edition. Concerning Sol. Eytinge's illustrations Dickens said: "They are remarkable alike for a delicate perception of beauty, a lively eye for character, a most agreeable absence of exaggeration, and a general modesty and propriety which I greatly like." On the whole these pictures are well done, although it must be admitted that the artist has not always succeeded in satisfactorily interpreting his author. When the novelist last visited America (1867-68), his portrait was painted by Eytinge, probably from sittings, and it is now in the possession of Mr. W. E. Benjamin of New York. A lithographic reproduction of this painting, by the artist himself, was published by Ticknor & Fields of Boston and New York in 1868, copies of which are now seldom met with. I am enabled, through the kindness of Mr. Stuart M. Samuel, to include in this volume a replica of a particularly interesting impression of this rare print, on which Dickens has written the concluding words of "A Christmas Carol:" "And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God Bless Us, Every One." In the summer of 1869 Eytinge visited the novelist at Gad's Hill, in company with Lowell and Fields, on which occasion they together explored the slums of East London, including the opium-dens so faithfully described in "Edwin Drood." The artist has now been dead for some years; during the latter part of his career he lived in retirement, on account of ill-health.
I have not attempted to enumerate all the illustrators who have executed drawings for the innumerable editions of the works of Charles Dickens, produced by various publishing houses both at home and abroad, as their name is Legion. There are, however, two or three artists, not already mentioned, to whom a slight reference may fittingly be made. In 1871, Fields, Osgood & Co. reprinted Dickens's beautiful and pathetic sketch entitled "A Child's Dream of a Star," with ten full-page drawings by an American artist, Hammatt Billings, which were engraved on wood by W. J. Linton. The imprint of another Transatlantic publisher, S. E. Cassino, appears on the title-page of a choice edition of "A Christmas Carol," 1887, quarto size, containing twenty-four photogravure reproductions of new designs by J. M. Gaugengigl and T. V. Chominski, which forms an attractive item for the collector of fine books. This work was also on sale in England by G. Routledge & Sons, who, in 1894, brought out a diminutive edition of "The Cricket on the Hearth," very tastefully printed by Guillaume of Paris, and containing several little woodcuts designed by Marold and Mittis. The same story was included in the reprints of Dickens's Christmas Books published by A. & F. Pears, having twenty-five clever illustrations by Lucius Rossi, carried out in a style somewhat similar to those by Charles Green. Particular interest attaches to certain volumes published by Cassell & Co., entitled "Gleanings from Popular Authors" (1882, &c.), as they contain several illustrations of Dickens scenes by Joseph Nash, Fred. Barnard, T. Walter Wilson, J. E. Christie, and Gordon Browne, the son of the famous "Phiz." To a booklet entitled "Tales from Pickwick" (G. Routledge & Sons, 1888), Mr. E. J. Wheeler contributed seven original and well-executed designs.