The Nutmeg Grater
Clarkson Stanfield; engraver, Williams.
1846
Wood engraving
9.9 high by 7.2 cm wide (4 by 2 ¾ inches), vignetted.
Full-page illustration for Dickens's The Battle of Life: "Part the Third," 127.
Click on image to enlarge it
. . . they seemed profuse of innocent and sparkling mirth, that did good where it lighted, softening neglected corners which the steady rain could seldom reach, and hurting nothing. [Framing text, 127]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
[Click on image to enlarge it and mouse over text for links.]
Passage Illustrated: The Thimble and Nutmeg Grater Inn, Described
At such a time, one little roadside Inn, snugly sheltered behind a great elm-tree with a rare seat for idlers encircling its capacious bole, addressed a cheerful front towards the traveller, as a house of entertainment ought, and tempted him with many mute but significant assurances of a comfortable welcome. The ruddy sign-board perched up in the tree, with its golden letters winking in the sun, ogled the passer-by, from among the green leaves, like a jolly face, and promised good cheer. The horse-trough, full of clear fresh water, and the ground below it sprinkled with droppings of fragrant hay, made every horse that passed, prick up his ears. The crimson curtains in the lower rooms, and the pure white hangings in the little bed-chambers above, beckoned, Come in! with every breath of air. Upon the bright green shutters, there were golden legends about beer and ale, and neat wines, and good beds; and an affecting picture of a brown jug frothing over at the top. Upon the window-sills were flowering plants in bright red pots, which made a lively show against the white front of the house; and in the darkness of the doorway there were streaks of light, which glanced off from the surfaces of bottles and tankards.
On the door-step, appeared a proper figure of a landlord, too; for, though he was a short man, he was round and broad, and stood with his hands in his pockets, and his legs just wide enough apart to express a mind at rest upon the subject of the cellar, and an easy confidence — too calm and virtuous to become a swagger — in the general resources of the Inn. The superabundant moisture, trickling from everything after the late rain, set him off well. Nothing near him was thirsty. Certain top-heavy dahlias, looking over the palings of his neat well-ordered garden, had swilled as much as they could carry — perhaps a trifle more — and may have been the worse for liquor; but the sweet-briar, roses, wall-flowers, the plants at the windows, and the leaves on the old tree, were in the beaming state of moderate company that had taken no more than was wholesome for them, and had served to develop their best qualities. Sprinkling dewy drops about them on the ground, they seemed profuse of innocent and sparkling mirth, that did good where it lighted, softening neglected corners which the steady rain could seldom reach, and hurting nothing.
This village Inn had assumed, on being established, an uncommon sign. It was called The Nutmeg-Grater. And underneath that household word, was inscribed, up in the tree, on the same flaming board, and in the like golden characters, By Benjamin Britain.
At a second glance, and on a more minute examination of his face, you might have known that it was no other than Benjamin Britain himself who stood in the doorway — reasonably changed by time, but for the better; a very comfortable host indeed. ["Part the Third," pp. 125-128]
Commentary: Stanfield's Stately Inn, Somewhat Different from Doyle's
Stanfield's pub . . . is also two-storied, but half-timbered and rambling, with extensions on one side suggesting stables, though no horse trough, and lots of chimneys. At the foot of the oak tree is a wooden bench, not encircling anything. Stanfield shows a rectangular signboard, but shaded by the tree, with no "golden letters winking in the sun" [125], Doyle's Part opening does "shadow forth" the Part without giving much away. [Patten 225]
Relevant Illustrations from the later editions (1876, 1878, 1893, 1910)
Left: Charles Green's painterly realisation of the village public house, The 'Nutmeg Grater' Inn. Right: Harry Furniss's depiction of Marion as the abiding presence in memory for the final movement of the story, Marion, the wreath still in her hair (1910).
Above: E. A. Abbey's 1876 dramatic realisation of the scene in which Michael Warden, a lone traveller on horseback, alights at the inn run by Clemency and Benjamin Britain, A gentleman attired in mourning, and cloaked and booted like a rider on horseback, who stood at the bar-door. [Click on the image to enlarge it.]
Above: Fred Barnard's more comic treatment of The Nutmeg Grater, Guessed half aloud "milk and water," "monthly warning," "mice and walnuts" — and couldn't approach her meaning.
Related Materials
- The Dedication, Illustrations, and Illustrators for The Battle of Life (1846)
- Robert L. Patten's Dickens, Death and Christmas, Chapter 8: "Chirping" and Pantomime, and Chapter 9: Battling for His Life
- Pears' Centenary Edition of The Battle of Life (1912)
- The Christmas Books of Charles Dickens
- Sol Eytinge, Jr.'s single illustration for The Battle of Life (1867)
- A. E. Abbey's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1876)
- Fred Barnard's Household Edition illustrations for The Christmas Books (1878)
- Harry Furniss's illustrations for Dickens's The Battle of Life (1910)
Bibliography
Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980.
Dickens, Charles. The Battle of Life: A Love Story. Illustrated by John Leech, Richard Doyle, Daniel Maclise, and Clarkson Stanfield. Engraved by J. Thompson, Dalziel, T. Williams, and Green. London: Bradbury and Evans, 1846.
_______. The Battle of Life: A Love Story. Illustrated by Charles Green. London: A & F Pears, 1912.
_______. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition. London: Chapman and Hall, 1878. Vol. XVII.
_______. Christmas Books. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition Edition. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. VIII.
_______. Christmas Stories. Illustrated by A. E. Abbey. The Household Edition. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1876. Vol. V.
Patten, Robert L. Chapter 9, "Battling for his Life." Dickens, Death, and Christmas. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. 200-233. [Review]
Created 20 February 2001
Last updated 3 June 2024