"Everybody knows what Dickens's signature is like"--says the reader who
bases acquaintance with it upon the familiar, gold-impressed facsimile
on the well-known red covers of his works--"a free, dashing signature,
with an extensive and well-graduated flourish underneath." (No. 1.)
Aye! But have you ever seen an original Dickens-letter? Have you ever
handled, not one, but hundreds of his documents--letters, franked
envelopes, cheques signed by Dickens, cheques indorsed by him, legal
agreements bearing his signature, and the original MSS. of his works?
Owing to the kindness of owners and guardians of Dickens-letters, etc. I
have been able to supplement the materials in my own collection by
numerous facsimiles taken direct from a priceless store of Dickens-MSS.
Here are some of the specimens. We will glance over them, and in doing
so will view them, not merely as signatures, but also as
permanently-recorded tracings of Dickens's nerve muscular action--of his
_gesture_. The expressive play of his facial muscles has gone, the
varying inflections of voice have gone, but we still possess the
self-registered and characteristic tracings of Charles Dickens's
hand-gesture.
[Illustration: NO. 1.--FAMILIAR "BOOK COVER" SIGNATURE.]
[Illustration: NO. 2.--WRITTEN IN 1825.]
In No. 1 we have the signature of Dickens as he wrote it when aged
forty-five to fifty; in No. 2 there is the boy's signature at the age of
thirteen, written to a school-fellow. This youthful signature shows the
existence in embryo form of the "flourish" so commonly associated with
Dickens's signature. It is interesting to note that the receiver of this
early letter has stated that its schoolboy writer had "more than usual
flow of spirits, held his head more erect than lads ordinarily do," and
that "there was a general smartness about him." We shall perhaps see
that the direct emphasis of so many of Charles Dickens's signatures
which is given by his "flourish" may be fitly associated with certain
characteristics of the man himself. We may also note that high spirits
and vigorous nervous energy are productive of redundant nerve-muscular
activity in any direction--hand gesture included.
[Illustration: AGE 18. _From a Miniature by Mrs. Janet Barrow_.]
Let us look at some other early signatures. Hitherto they have been
stowed away in various collections, and they are almost unknown.
[Illustration: NO. 3.--WRITTEN IN 1830.]
The next facsimile, No. 3, is remarkable as being almost the only full
signature out of hundreds I have seen which lacks the flourish; this
specimen is also worth notice, owing to the "droop" of every word below
the horizontal level from which each starts--a little piece of
nerve-muscular evidence of mental or physical depression, which may be
tested by anyone who cares to examine his own handwriting produced under
conditions which diminish bodily vigour or mental _élan_.
[Illustration: NO. 4.--WRITTEN IN 1831.]
The writing of No. 4 is very like that of No. 3; the easy curves below
the signature are cleverly made, and while they indicate much energy,
they also point to a useful confidence in self, owing to the deliberate
way of accentuating the most personal part of a letter--its signature.
[Illustration: NO. 5.--WRITTEN IN 1832.]
No. 5 is the facsimile of a signature to a letter which was written in
the Library of the British Museum to "My dear Knolle"; the letter ends:
"Believe me (in haste), yours most truly." At this time--1832--Dickens
was a newspaper reporter, and it is curious to notice that in spite of
"haste" he yet managed to execute this complex movement underneath the
signature. Its force and energy are great, but we shall see even more
pronounced developments of this flourish before it takes the moderated
and graceful form of confident and assured power.
[Illustration: NO. 6.--WRITTEN IN 1833 OR 1834.]
There is still more force and "go" about No. 6: it was written on
"Wednesday night, past 12," and also in haste. Dickens was reporting for
the _Morning Chronicle_, and was just starting on a journey, but yet
there are here two separate flourishes; one begins under the _s_ of
_Charles_ and ends under the _C_ of that name; the other starts under
the capital _D_ and finishes below the _n_ of _Dickens_.
[Illustration: AGE 23.
_From a Miniature by Miss R. E. Drummond._]
[Illustration: NO. 7.--WRITTEN IN 1836.]
[Illustration: NO. 8.--WRITTEN OCT. 1, 1836.]
The intricacy of the next facsimile, No. 7, is an ugly but a very active
piece of movement. This group of curves is equal to about a two-feet
length of pen-stroke, a fact which indicates an extraordinary amount of
personal energy. Dickens was then writing his "Sketches by Boz," and
this ungraceful elaboration of his signature was probably accompanied by
a growing sense of his own capacity and power. During the time-interval
between the signatures shown in Nos. 7 and 8, the first number of the
"Pickwick Papers" was published--March, 1836--and Charles Dickens
married Catherine Hogarth on the 2nd of April in that year. The original
of a very different facsimile (No. 9) was written as a receipt in the
account-book of Messrs. Chapman and Hall for an advance of £5.
[Illustration: NO. 9.--WRITTEN IN 1837.]
The six facsimiles numbered 9 to 15 deserve special notice. The
originals were all written in the year 1837, and I have purposely shown
them because their extraordinary variations entirely negative the
popular idea about the uniformity of Dickens's handwriting, and because
these mobile hand-gestures are a striking illustration of the mobility
and great sensibility to impressions which were prominent features in
Charles Dickens's nature.
[Illustration: NO. 10.--WRITTEN IN 1837.]
Common observation show us that a man whose mind is specially receptive
of impressions from persons and things around him, and whose sensibility
is very quick, can scarcely fail to show much variation in his own forms
of outward expression--such, for example, as facial "play,"
voice-inflections, hand-gestures, and so on. Notice the originality in
the position of the flourishes shown in No. 9, and compare the
ungraceful movement of it with the much more dignified and pleasing
flourishes in some of the later signatures. A whimsical originality of
mind comes out also in the curious "B" of "Boz" (No. 10).
[Illustration: NO. 11.--WRITTEN NOV. 3, 1837.]
[Illustration: NO. 12.--WRITTEN NOV. 3, 1837.]
[Illustration: AGE 25.
_From a Drawing by H. K. Browne._]
The next pair--Nos. 11 and 12--are interesting. No. 11 shows the
signature squeezed in at the bottom of a page; the flourish was
attempted, and accompanied by the words: "No room for the flouish," the
_r_ of _flourish_ being omitted. No. 12 was written on the envelope of
the same letter.
[Illustration: NO. l3.--WRITTEN NOV. 18, 1837.
_Taken from the Legal Agreement re "Pickwick."_]
[Illustration: AGE 29.
_From a Drawing by Alfred Count D'Orsay._]
No. 13 is a copy of a very famous signature: the original is on a great
parchment called "Deed of License Assignment and Covenants respecting a
Work called 'The Pickwick Papers,'" and which, after a preamble,
contains the words: "Whereas the said Charles Dickens is the Author of a
Book or Work intituled 'The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club,'
which has been recently printed and published in twenty parts or
numbers," etc. It is probable that the fact of the seal being placed
between _Charles_ and _Dickens_ prevented the flourish which almost
invariably accompanied his signatures on business documents; the marked
enlargement of this signature takes the place of the flourish, and shows
an unconscious emphasis of the _ego_. It would be almost unreasonable
for us to expect that so impressionable a man, who was also feeling his
power and fame, could abstain from showing outward signs of his own
consciousness of abnormal success. Yet, in the private letters of
Dickens, the simple "C. D." is very frequent; a few examples of it are
given in this article, and their present number in no way represents the
numerical relation of these simple signatures to the more "showy" ones.
It may at once be said that this point of difference is alike
interesting to the student of gesture and to the student of Dickens's
character. He was certainly a very able man of business, and the wording
of his "business" letters fully bears out the idea conveyed by his
"business" signature--so to speak--that Dickens was fully aware of his
own powers, and that, quite fairly, he did not omit to impress the fact
upon other people when he thought fit. Both the wording and the
signature of many of his private letters are simple and unostentatious
to a high degree. This curious fact, which is now illustrated by Charles
Dickens's own hand-gesture, ought to be remembered when people talk
about Dickens's "conceit" and "love of show." My explanation is, I
think, both logical and true.
[Illustration: NO. 14.--WRITTEN IN 1837.]
[Illustration: AGE 30.
_From a Portrait-Bust by H. Dexter._]
No. 14 closes this series for the year 1837. It shows a quaint and
pretty signature on a wrapper.
[Illustration: NO. 15.--WRITTEN MARCH 12, 1841.
_(Announcing the Death of "Raven", a prominent character in "Barnaby
Rudge")_]
[Illustration: AGE ABOUT 30.
_From a Drawing by R.J. Lane, A.E._]
No. 15 shows part of a very humorous and famous letter announcing the
death of the raven which figures in "Barnaby Rudge." Notice the curious
originality of form shown in the capital _Y_ and _R_. The wording of
this letter is also quaintly original, and the sensitive mind of this
man again caused his nerve-muscular action--his gesture--to harmonize
with his mood. Points of this kind, which the handwriting of Dickens
illustrates so well, have a deeper meaning for the observant than for
the casual reader of a magazine article; they indicate that these little
human acts, which have been so long overlooked by intelligent men, do
really give us valuable data for the study of mind by means of
written-gesture.
[Illustration: NO. 16.--WRITTEN IN 1841]
[Illustration: NO. 17.--WRITTEN IN 1841.]
[Illustration: NO. 18.--WRITTEN IN 1843.]
[Illustration: CHARLES DICKENS READING "THE CHIMES," 1844.
_From the original Sketch by David Maelise, R.A._]
[Illustration:
CHARLES DICKENS AS "CAPTAIN BOBADIL" IN "EVERY MAN IN HIS HUMOUR."
_From a Painting by C.R. Leslie, R.A._]
In No. 16 we see another and very original form of the "Boz" signature.
No. 17 has a curious stroke of activity above the signature. No. 18 is a
fine, strong signature.
[Illustration: NO. 19.--WRITTEN IN 1845.]
[Illustration: NO. 20.--WRITTEN MAY 12, 1848. (PASS TO THE STAGE.)]
[Illustration:
CHARLES DICKENS AS "SIR CHARLES COLDSTREAM" IN "USED UP", 1850.
_From a Painting by Augustus Egg, R.A._]
No. 19 is remarkably vigorous and active. The well-controlled activity
and energy of the signatures are now strongly marked. No. 20 explains
itself; the curious _P_ of _Pass_ is worth notice.
[Illustration: NO. 21.--WRITTEN JULY 22, 1854.]
[Illustration: CHARLES DICKENS IN HIS STUDY, 1854.
_From the Picture by E.M. Ward, R.A._]
[Illustration: AGE 44.
_From the Painting by Ary Scheffer_.]
No. 21 is a stray illustration of clever and gracefully-executed
movements which abound in Dickens's letters.
[Illustration: NO. 22.--WRITTEN WHEN ILL, OCT. 29, 1859]
[Illustration: AGE 47.
_From an Oil Painting by W.P. Frith, R.A._]
See, in No. 22, how illness disturbed the fine action of this splendid
organism; but illness did not prevent attention to detail--the dot is
placed after the _D_.
[Illustration: NO. 23.--WRITTEN NOV. 1, 1860.]
[Illustration: NO. 24.--WRITTEN JAN. 17, 1861.]
[Illustration: NO. 25.--WRITTEN NOV. 25, 1861.]
[Illustration: DICKENS AS "RICHARD WARDOUR" IN "THE FROZEN DEEP."]
[Illustration: AGE 49.
_From a Photograph_.]
[Illustration: AGE 51.
_From a Photo. by Alphonse Maze, Paris._]
When on a reading tour, Dickens wrote at Bideford the letter from which
No. 23 has been copied. After writing that he could get nothing to eat
or drink at the small inn, he wrote the sentence facsimiled. The
exaggeration of the words is matched by the use of two capital _T_'s in
place of two small _t_'s. The letter continues: "The landlady is playing
cribbage with the landlord in the next room (behind a thin partition),
and they seem quite comfortable." No. 24 is another instance of the
variation which, in fact, obtained up to the very day before death. No.
25 was written at Berwick-on-Tweed; it is an amusing letter, and states
how the local agents wanted to put the famous reader into "a little
lofty crow's nest," and how "I instantly struck, of course, and said I
would either read in a room attached to this house ... or not at all.
Terrified local agents glowered, but fell prostrate." By the way,
notice, in No. 25, the emphasis of gesture on the _me_.
[Illustration: NO. 26.--WRITTEN FEB. 3, 1864.]
[Illustration: DICKENS IN HIS BASKET CARRIAGE.
_From a Photo. by Mason._]
No. 26 is written in one continuous stroke with a noticeably good
management of the curves. The graceful imagination of this is
very striking.
[Illustration: NO. 27.--WRITTEN JUNE 7, 1866.]
[Illustration: CHARLES DICKENS READING TO HIS DAUGHTERS, 1863.
_From a Photograph by R. H. Mason._]
No. 27 shows the endorsement on a cheque.
[Illustration: NO. 28.--WRITTEN JUNE 6, 1870 (THREE DAYS BEFORE DEATH).]
[Illustration: NO. 29.--WRITTEN JUNE 8, 1870 (ONE DAY BEFORE DEATH).]
[Illustration: AGE 56.
_From a Photograph by Garney, New York._]
But we near the end. Doctors had detected the signs of breaking up,
which are not less plain in the written gesture, and had strenuously
urged Dickens to stop the incessant strain caused by his public
readings. The stimulus of facing an appreciative audience would spur him
on time after time, and then, late at night, he would write affectionate
letters giving details of "the house," etc., but which are painful to
see if one notices the constant droop of the words and of the lines
across the page. Contrast the writing in No. 28, broken and agitated,
with some of the earlier specimens I have shown you. This was written
three days before death. The wording of the letter from which No. 29 has
been copied tells no tale of weakness, but the gesture which clothes the
words is tell-tale. The words, and the lines of words, run downward
across the paper, and No. 29 is very suggestive of serious trouble--and
it is specially suggestive to those who have studied this form of
gesture: look, for example, at the ill-managed flourish.
[Illustration: NO. 30.--WRITTEN JUNE 8, 1870 (ONE DAY BEFORE DEATH.)
_From the last letter written by Charles Dickens._]
Now comes a facsimile taken from the last letter written by Charles
Dickens. It has been given elsewhere, but, not satisfied with the
facsimile I saw, I obtained permission to take this direct from the
letter in the British Museum. This was written an hour or so before the
fatal seizure. Every word droops below the level from which each starts,
each line of writing descends across the page, the simple _C. D._ is
very shaky, and the whole letter is broken and weak. Charles Dickens was
not "ready" at "3 o'clock"--he died at ten minutes past six p.m. And so
ends this too scanty notice of a great man's written-gesture.
* * * * *
NOTE:--Considerations of space and of the avoidance of technicalities
have prevented a really full account of the written gesture of Charles
Dickens; scanty as the foregoing account is, the illustrations it
contains could not have been supplied by any one collector of Charles
Dickens's letters. I express my sincere gratitude to the many persons
who have enabled me to give these illustrations, and only regret that
one collector refused my request for the loan of some very early and
interesting letters.