one damn whether I make a little sketch for the book or not.
However, if _you_ think that the appearance of the volume
should be as like the former ones as possible, I will with
even pleasure gulp down my jealousy and draw on the wood
that apple-tree, &c, for a frontispiece. In which case you
must _shut up that_ same subject to Doyle--as I saw in his
sketch last night. But I do this at your bidding, and not at
all for D., and on the whole would much prefer not engaging
in the matter at all.--Yours truly,
"D. M."
Apparently some little misunderstanding had hurt the susceptibilities of
the artist, but, happily, it was speedily removed, for he presently
wrote in a more conciliatory spirit:--
"MY DEAR FORSTER,--I have received the blocks and will make
the design of the apple-tree and the girls dancing--so keep
that subject sacred to me. B[radbury] and E[vans] have sent
the block as large as the last, but as I do not approve the
look of the design without margin, I intend to keep this one
within bounds. They have sent me a smaller one for
title-page. Now I propose, and I know it will improve the
appearance of the little book, not to cram in another design
there with the title--a printed title in type has always
still been necessary--but if you like I will make another
design for the body of the book. That one, perhaps, the
lover of Marion's interview with her--and Clemency. I hope
very much you will see no good objection to this
proposition--or will _you_ propose a second subject?--Ever
yours truly
"D. M."
Again, a few days later:--
"MY DEAR FORSTER,-- ... I write to say that you will find me
at the Athenæum to-morrow at five o'clock. Do not be later.
I hope _then_ to bring with me the drawing on the block for
the frontispiece--the girls dancing; for the other, I will
do what you like, the girls and the Doctor, Marion reading,
&c, or the lover of Marion's interview with her, and
Clemency outside the door, &c. We will agree
to-morrow.--Very truly yours,
"D. MACLISE.
"I hope there may be time enough then not to hurry it."
The following letter probably refers to the allegorical design on the
title-page, depicting the triumph of Virtue over Vice, in which the
figures (with one exception) are nude: although, from an allusion to
"that tree," it might be suggested that it was the frontispiece:--
"MY DEAR FORSTER,--I suppose the stern moralist, Thackeray,
would have described the last design I made lecherous,
libidinous, lustful, lewd, and loose; but I meant it to be
pure and 'mi-ld as the moo-n-beams.'
"... I only write to tell you, if you can exercise any
control over its fate, that it may be placed in the hands of
as good a wood-man as possible, and that he be recommended
to spare _that_ tree-e-.
"I fear that my character is gone abroad, and that I am a
dog with a bad name....--Ever yours,
"DANIEL MACLISE."
Both the frontispiece and title-page were excellently rendered on wood
by John Thompson, one of the foremost engravers of the day. Maclise,
however, had hoped the work would have been entrusted to others, for he
observed to Forster: "I am annoyed that neither Williams nor Dalziel are
to do that little design. Some one called here and took it away on
Monday, and he said that there was not time (the old excuse) to do it
justice." Judging from the following trenchant remarks, the artist was
anything but gratified by the engraved reproductions of these drawings
when they appeared in print:--
"MY DEAR F.,--I can never hope to get you to understand how
I am mortified and humiliated by the effect of these
damnable cuts. It really is too much to be called upon to
submit to, to be shown up in these little dirty scratches
and to have one's name blazoned as if one was proud of them.
I wish to Heaven you would have my name cut out from the
corners, that at least I might have the benefit of the doubt
as to which of the blots is mine. I would give anything that
I had kept to my original notion and had nothing to do with
the thing.... I wish you had left me that last one; I would
have tried to beguile myself with a belief that it might be
improved. My curses light upon the miserable dog that
produced it--I don't mean myself.--Ever yours,
"D. MACLISE.
"And what is the good of employing Thom[p]son--if the demon
printers are to ruin them with their diabolic press?"
Maclise, like other draughtsmen on wood, doubtless often experienced a
sense of disappointment when their delicately-pencilled drawings were
hurriedly engraved and submitted to the arbitrary treatment of printer's
ink. In this way those subtle touches upon which the artist prided
himself were lost for ever, so that the designs appear coarse and crude.
Such was obviously the case with regard to the illustrations now under
consideration, notwithstanding the fact that they bear the signatures of
thoroughly experienced engravers. It is a fact worth recording here that
Maclise did not draw from life the figures in his designs for the
Christmas Books. Indeed, it was a matter of astonishment to his brother
artists that, even when working upon his more important canvases, he
very rarely resorted to the use of the living model, his singular
facility in composition leading him, perhaps, too often to dispense with
the study of the human form; yet his works, although possessing a
mannered look, are distinctively marked by characteristics of individual
as well as general nature.
As already intimated, the friendship subsisting between Dickens and
Maclise was of a kind the most sincere, and it was naturally coupled
with a true admiration which each entertained for the genius of the
other. Dickens never tired of praising the talent of the artist, whom he
thought "a tremendous creature, who might do anything," and recalled
with delight those halcyon days when Maclise accompanied Clarkson
Stanfield, Forster, and himself on that memorable Cornish trip in 1842,
one result of which was a charming painting (now in the Forster
Collection at South Kensington) of the Waterfall at St. Nighton's Keive,
near Tintagel, into which the artist introduced as the principal feature
a young girl carrying a pitcher, the model for whom was Dickens's
sister-in-law, Miss Georgina Hogarth. It should be remembered that one
of the finest of the early portraits of Dickens himself was painted by
Maclise in 1839, at the instigation of Chapman & Hall, with a view to an
engraving for "Nicholas Nickleby," the reproduction duly appearing as
the frontispiece. The original picture was presented to Dickens by his
publishers, and at the sale of the novelist's effects in 1870 this very
interesting canvas was purchased for £693 by the Rev. Sir E. R. Jodrell,
by whom it was bequeathed to the National Gallery, where it may now be
seen. Maclise is responsible also for another excellent portrait of the
novelist at the same youthful period--a slight pencil-drawing (executed
in 1843) representing him with his wife and her sister.
The premature death of Dickens's raven, immortalised in "Barnaby Rudge,"
was formally notified to Maclise by the novelist in the form of a letter
narrating the details of that domestic calamity. The artist forwarded
the missive to Forster, together with a sketch purporting to represent
"Grip's" apotheosis, while to Dickens himself he dispatched (March 13,
1841) the following letter, which does not appear in the published
collection, and is one of a very few letters extant that were addressed
by him to the novelist:[42]--
Footnote 42: Replying to Mr. W. J. O'Driscoll's application
for the loan of any of the artist's correspondence, with a
view to publishing them in his Memoir of Maclise, Dickens
stated that a few years previously he destroyed an immense
correspondence, expressly because he considered it had been
held with him and not with the public. Thus we have been
deprived of valuable records which would have thrown
additional light upon the friendly intercourse subsisting
between the novelist and many of his distinguished
contemporaries.
"MY DEAR DICKENS,--I received the mournful intelligence of
our friend's decease last night at eleven, and the shock was
great indeed. I have just dispatched the announcement to
poor Forster, who will, I am sure, sympathise with us in our
bereavement. I know not what to think of the probable cause
of his death,--I reject the idea of the Butcher Boy, for the
orders he must have in his (the Raven's) life-time received
on account of the Raven himself must have been considerable.
I rather cling to the notion of _felo de se_--but this will
no doubt come out upon the post-mortem. How blest we are to
have such an intelligent coroner as Mr. Wakley. I think he
was just of those melancholic habits which are the
noticeable signs of your intended suicide, his solitary
life, those gloomy tones,--when he did speak, which was
always to the purpose. Witness his last dying speech,
'Hallo! old girl,' which breathes of cheerfulness and
triumphant recognition,--his solemn suit of raven black,
which never grew rusty. Altogether his character was the
very prototype of a Byron hero--and even of a Scott--a
Master of Ravenswood. He ought to be glad he had no family.
I suppose he seems to have intended it, however, for his
solicitude to deposit in those Banks in the garden his
savings was always very touching. I suppose his obsequies
will take place immediately.
"It is beautiful, the idea of his return, even after death,
to the scene of his early youth and all his associations,
and lie with kindred dusts amid his own ancestral graves
after having made such a noise in the world, having clearly
booked his place in that immortality-coach driven by
Dickens. Yes, he committed suicide; he felt he had done it
and done with life. The hundreds of years! what were they to
him? There was nothing more to live for--and he committed
the rash act.--Sympathisingly yours,
"DAN. MACLISE."
It is evident from the following epistle, addressed to Forster at the
time when "Dombey and Son" was appearing in monthly numbers, that
Maclise, while acknowledging his intense admiration of the novelist's
powers, could not bring himself to appreciate certain of his youthful
creations:--
"MY DEAR FORSTER,--I think it very great--the old
nautical-instrument-seller novel, and most promising. I'm
never up to his young girls--he is so very fond of the age
of 'Nell,' when they are most insipid. I hope he is not
going to make another 'Slowboy'--but I am only trying to say
something, and to find fault when there is none to find. _He
is absolutely alone._--Ever yours,
"D. M."
In 1870 Maclise's health began seriously to fail him; he appeared
languid and depressed, and in April of that year he succumbed to an
attack of acute pneumonia, predeceasing the novelist by only a few
weeks.
Dickens experienced a severe shock on hearing of the death of this
steadfast and genuine friend, and when, three days later, he returned
thanks for "Literature" at the Royal Academy dinner (his final
appearance in public), he offered a most affectionate, graceful, and
eloquent tribute to the memory of him who had just passed away. "For
many years," he said, "I was one of the two most intimate friends and
most constant companions of the late Mr. Maclise. Of his genius in his
chosen art I will venture to say nothing here, but of his prodigious
fertility of mind and wonderful wealth of intellect, I may confidently
assert that they would have made him, if he had been so minded, at least
as great a writer as he was a painter. The gentlest and most modest of
men, the freshest as to his generous appreciation of young aspirants,
and the frankest and largest-hearted as to his peers, incapable of a
sordid or ignoble thought, gallantly sustaining the true dignity of his
vocation, without one grain of self-ambition, wholesomely natural at the
last as at the first, 'in wit a man, simplicity a child,' no artist, of
whatsoever denomination, I make bold to say, ever went to his rest
leaving a golden memory more pure from dross, or having devoted himself
with a truer chivalry to the art-goddess whom he worshipped." These were
the last public words of Charles Dickens, and they were uttered when the
speaker was far from well, and when, indeed, he was himself nearing the
brink of the Great Unknown.
SIR JOHN TENNIEL
Cartoons for _Punch_--Book Illustrations--A Self-Taught
Artist--Becomes Acquainted with Dickens--Designs for "The
Haunted Man"--A Wonderful Memory of Observation--An
Interview with Dickens--Knighthood.
Sir John Tenniel, the _doyen_ of the _Punch_ staff, is undoubtedly best
known as the designer and draughtsman of the cartoon published weekly in
that journal. This famous pictorial satirist succeeded Richard Doyle on
_Punch_ in 1850, and since 1861 (with the exception of a few brief
intervals) he has supplied the subject of the principal engraving with
unfailing regularity. Confining himself almost entirely to
black-and-white drawing, Sir John has produced, during a long and active
career, a large number of book-illustrations, such as those embellishing
certain editions of "Æsop's Fables," "The Ingoldsby Legends," "Lalla
Rookh," and "The Arabian Nights," while those charming designs in the
late "Lewis Carroll's" "Alice in Wonderland," with its sequel, "Through
the Looking-Glass," will be readily remembered. In _Once a Week_ may
also be found many of his illustrations.
Sir John Tenniel was born in London in 1820. Although for a time he
attended the Royal Academy Schools, he is practically a self-taught
artist, and exhibited his first picture when sixteen years of age. After
this initial success he continued to paint and exhibit pictures both in
oil and water-colours, but soon realised that he could exercise his
facile pencil with greater advantage, his designs possessing a
refinement and good taste, coupled with a sense of
humour--characteristics suggesting the thought that to him may be
attributed the establishment of the connection between "High" Art and
what may be termed "Grotesque" Art.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: =The Haunted Man, 1848.=]
Prior to joining the _Punch_ staff--that is to say, in 1847--Sir (then
Mr.) John Tenniel became acquainted with Charles Dickens, who invited
the young artist to contribute (in conjunction with Clarkson Stanfield,
R.A., John Leech, and Frank Stone, A.R.A.) some designs to "The Haunted
Man," published in 1848. Accordingly, in this Christmas Book we find him
represented by six illustrations, consisting of the frontispiece,
engraved title-page, and four other designs, the latter appearing at the
opening of the chapters. The frontispiece is a remarkable achievement in
respect to the decorative border surrounding the central picture,--a
beautifully-fanciful treatment of elf-like and other figures, typifying
Good and Evil, the drawing being admirably engraved on wood by Martin
and Corbould. In the second chapter the artist has represented the
Tetterby family, which it is interesting to compare with a similar group
of the Tetterbys by John Leech in the same chapter. Sir John Tenniel's
final drawing is a successful attempt to portray, in the form of
allegory, Night receding before Dawn.
Except in painting, Sir John Tenniel never resorts to the use of the
living model for his figures, but depends entirely upon a wonderful
memory of observation. _Apropos_ of his collaboration with the novelist,
he has favoured me with the following note:--
"My 'artistic association' with Charles Dickens began and
ended simply with my poor little contributions towards the
illustration of 'The Haunted Man.' There was no written
correspondence between us that I can remember, and I believe
I had but one interview with Dickens on the subject, when he
gave me certain hints as to treatment, &c. &c. &c. Only
that, and nothing more!
"As to what became of the original sketches I have not the
remotest idea; probably I gave them away--or, more probably
still, they were one day consigned to the waste-paper
basket. At all events, and after an interval of about
forty-five years, it is perhaps scarcely surprising that I
should have long since forgotten all about them."
It should be mentioned that, as in the case of Leech, many of Sir John
Tenniel's _Punch_ cartoons are adapted from illustrations in the works
of Dickens, these happily suggesting the political situation of the
moment. This subject is fully treated in my paper on "Dickens and
_Punch_" in the _English Illustrated Magazine_, August 1891.
Sir John is one of the oldest members of the Royal Institute of Painters
in Water-Colours. In June 1893 the distinction of knighthood was
conferred upon the veteran artist, his name having been included in the
list of Royal birthday honours, at the recommendation of Mr. Gladstone,
whose face and figure he has so frequently delineated; thus for the
first time were the claims of black-and-white draughtsmen deservedly
recognised. Sir John Tenniel's busy pencil continues to be effectively
employed in the pages of _Punch_; but he remains, alas! the sole
survivor of the band of clever artists whose designs adorn the Christmas
Books of Charles Dickens.
FRANK STONE, A.R.A.
Early Career--Intimacy with Dickens--Illustrations for "THE
HAUNTED MAN"--Selects his Own Subjects--A Letter from
Dickens--His Approbation of the Drawing of "Milly and the
Old Man"--Hints from the Novelist to the Artist--Amateur
Theatricals--Frank Stone's Portrait of Lieutenant Sydney
Dickens--His Election as Associate of the Royal Academy--His
Portraits of 'Tilda Price, Kate Nickleby, and Madeline
Bray--His Frontispiece for the First Cheap Edition of
"Martin Chuzzlewit"--Sudden Death.
Frank Stone, A.R.A., father of Mr. Marcus Stone, R.A., was privileged to
join the ranks of Dickens Illustrators. This distinguished artist, born
in 1800, was the son of a Manchester cotton-spinner, which business he
also followed until twenty-four years of age, when he abandoned
mercantile pursuits in favour of Art. During the early portion of his
professional career, which was begun in London under very modest and
unassuming conditions, he made pencil-drawings for Heath's "Book of
Beauty," and presently became successful as a painter in water-colours.
His engaging personality and innate abilities caused him to be welcomed
in both literary and artistic circles, and in this way he secured the
warm friendship of Dickens, Thackeray, and other celebrities of the day.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: =The Haunted Man, 1848.=]
Frank Stone's intimacy with Charles Dickens was especially close. In
1845 the artist, with his family, went to reside in Tavistock House,
Tavistock Square, remaining there until 1851, when it became the home of
Dickens. In the interval the novelist's fourth Christmas Book, "The
Haunted Man," was published, for which Frank Stone prepared three
designs, representing respectively "Milly and the Old Man," "Milly and
the Student," and "Milly and the Children." As indicated by the
following letter (dated November 21, 1848), the novelist dispatched
proofs of the letterpress to the artist, in order that he might select
his own subjects:--
"MY DEAR STONE,--I send herewith the second part of the
book, which I hope may interest you. If you should prefer to
have it read to you by the Inimitable rather than to read
it, I shall be at home this evening (loin of mutton at
half-past five), and happy to do it. The proofs are full of
printer's errors, but, with the few corrections I have
scrawled upon it, you will be able to make out what they
mean.
"I send you on the opposite side a list of the subjects
already in hand from the second part. If you should see no
other in it that you like (I think it important that you
should keep Milly, as you have begun with her), I will in a
day or two describe you an unwritten subject for the third
part of the book."
"_Subjects in hand for the Second Part._
"1. Illuminated page. Tenniel. Representing Redlaw going
upstairs, and the Tetterby family below.
"2. The Tetterby Supper. Leech.
"3. The boy in Redlaw's room, munching his food and staring
at the fire."
* * * * *
A preliminary sketch (in pencil and indian-ink) for the
first subject was immediately submitted to the novelist for
approval, and elicited the following reply:--
"We are unanimous.
"The drawing of Milly on the chair is CHARMING. I cannot
tell you how much the little composition and expression
please me. Do that, by all means.
PLATE LII
"MILLY AND THE OLD MAN"
_Facsimile_ of the Original Drawing for "The Haunted Man" by
FRANK STONE, A.R.A.
_Lent by Mr. Marcus Stone. R.A._
[Illustration]
"I fear she must have a little cap on. There is something
coming in the last part about her having had a dead child,
which makes it yet more desirable than the existing text
does that she should have that little matronly sign
about her. Unless the artist is obdurate indeed, and then
he'll do as he likes.
"I am delighted to hear that you have your eye on her in the
students' room. You will really, pictorially, make the
little woman whom I love...."
The original sketch of Milly on the chair has fortunately
been preserved, and has been kindly lent for reproduction by
Mr. Marcus Stone, R.A. The drawing of the old man in the
published engraving is hardly so satisfactory as the
delineation of him in the sketch. The second illustration,
"Milly and the Student," was duly executed; it is a very
graceful design, the pose of the male figure being
excellently rendered. Respecting the third illustration, the
novelist communicated to the artist the following facts, to
assist him in realising the principal theme:--
"There is a subject I have written to-day for the third
part, that I think and hope will just suit you.
Scene--Tetterby's. Time--morning. The power of bringing back
people's memories of sorrow, wrong, and trouble has been
given by the ghost to Milly, though she don't know it
herself. As she comes along the street, Mr. and Mrs.
Tetterby recover themselves and are mutually affectionate
again, and embrace, closing _rather_ a good scene of quarrel
and discontent. The moment they do so, Johnny (who has seen
her in the distance and announced her before, from which
moment they begin to recover) cries 'Here she is!'and she
comes in, surrounded by the little Tetterbys, the very
spirit of morning, gladness, innocence, hope, love,
domesticity, &c. &c. &c. &c.
"I would limit the illustration to her and the children,
which will make a fitness between it and your other
illustrations, and give them all a character of their own.
The exact words of the passage I enclose on another slip of
paper. Note: There are six boy Tetterbys present (young
'Dolphus is not there), including Johnny; and in Johnny's
arms is Mulock, the baby, who is a girl.... Don't wait to
send me the drawing of this. I know how pretty she will be
with the children in your hands, and should be a stupendous
jackass if I had any distrust of it...."
(_Slip of paper enclosed._)
"'Hurrah! here's Mrs. Williams!' cried Johnny.
"So she was, and all the Tetterby children with her; and as
she came in, they kissed her and kissed one another, and
kissed the baby, and kissed their father and mother, and
then ran back and flocked and danced about her, trooping on
with her in triumph.
"(After which she is going to say, 'What, are _you_ all glad
to see me too! Oh, how happy it makes me to find every one
so glad to see me this bright morning!')"
* * * * *
The amateur theatricals brought author and artist constantly together,
Frank Stone being an actor of some ability. The immortal Mrs. Gamp, in
describing the members of that famous company of players, alludes to
Frank Stone as "a fine-looking portly gentleman, with a face like an
amiable full moon." He became the recipient of many nicknames, that of
"Pump" (or "Pumpion") being one by which Dickens sometimes addressed
him, and it was both pleasantly intended and jocularly received. In 1849
the artist painted the portrait of the novelist's fifth son, Lieutenant
Sydney Dickens, who was buried at sea in 1872, his death being due to a
sharp attack of bronchitis when on his way home.