"The mottled-faced gentleman reviewed the company" — penultimate illustration by Phiz for Dickens's "Pickwick Papers" (1874)

The mottled-faced gentleman reviewed the company, and slowly lifted his hand! by Phiz (Hablot K. Browne). British Household Edition (1874) of Dickens's Pickwick Papers, p. 393. Engraved by one of the Dalziels. Chapter LV, “Mr. Solomon Pell, assisted by a Select Committee of Coachmen, arranges the Affairs of the elder Mr. Weller,” 397. The illustration is 11.1 cm high by 14.3 cm wide (4 ¼ by 5 ½ inches), framed. [Click on image to enlarge it.]

Passage Illustrated: The Room full of Tony Weller lookalikes

"What should you say to a drop o' beer, gen'l'm'n?" suggested the mottled–faced man. "And a little bit o' cold beef," said the second coachman.

"Or a oyster," added the third, who was a hoarse gentleman, supported by very round legs.

"Hear, hear!" said Pell; "to congratulate Mr. Weller, on his coming into possession of his property, eh? Ha! ha!"

"I'm quite agreeable, gen'l'm'n," answered Mr. Weller. "Sammy, pull the bell."

Sammy complied; and the porter, cold beef, and oysters being promptly produced, the lunch was done ample justice to. Where everybody took so active a part, it is almost invidious to make a distinction; but if one individual evinced greater powers than another, it was the coachman with the hoarse voice, who took an imperial pint of vinegar with his oysters, without betraying the least emotion.

"Mr. Pell, Sir," said the elder Mr. Weller, stirring a glass of brandy–and–water, of which one was placed before every gentleman when the oyster shells were removed — "Mr. Pell, Sir, it wos my intention to have proposed the funs [funds, gilt-edged, guaranteed British government investments] on this occasion, but Samivel has vispered to me —"

Here Mr. Samuel Weller, who had silently eaten his oysters with tranquil smiles, cried, "Hear!" in a very loud voice.

— "Has vispered to me," resumed his father, "that it vould be better to dewote the liquor to vishin' you success and prosperity, and thankin' you for the manner in which you’ve brought this here business through. Here's your health, sir."

"Hold hard there," interposed the mottled–faced gentleman, with sudden energy; "your eyes on me, gen'l'm'n!"

Thomas Onwhyn's "extra" illustration focuses on Tony Weller for page 458 in the original serial numbers: “Mr. Weller surveyed the attorney from head to foot with great admiration, “And what’ll you take, Sir?” “Why, really,” replied Mr. Pell “you’re very _ Upon my word and honour, I’m not in the habit of _ It’s so very early in the morning, that, actually, I am almost _ Well, you may bring me three penn’orth of rum, my dear.”, for the fifteenth inastalment (26 October 1837).

Saying this, the mottled–faced gentleman rose, as did the other gentlemen. The mottled–faced gentleman reviewed the company, and slowly lifted his hand, upon which every man (including him of the mottled countenance) drew a long breath, and lifted his tumbler to his lips. In one instant, the mottled–faced gentleman depressed his hand again, and every glass was set down empty. It is impossible to describe the thrilling effect produced by this striking ceremony. At once dignified, solemn, and impressive, it combined every element of grandeur. [Chapter LV, “Mr. Solomon Pell, assisted by a Select Committee of Coachmen, arranges the Affairs of the elder Mr. Weller,” 388]

Other Versions of the Same Scene (1837, 1910)

Compare the 1874 wood-engraving to the original 1837 steel engraving by Phiz for the same narrative moment in the volume edition of the Chapman and Hall novel (facing page 590): Mr. Weller and his friends drinking to Mr. Pell. In the more realistic wood-engraving Phiz has revised his approach to the comic moment only slightly, but he has changed the orientation of the plate to permit our seeing more background detail. The result, however, is a tendency to generalise the contents of the feast on the table, as well as the saturnine expressions on the faces of the four Tony Weller lookalikes. The coachman who has just raised his hand to make a point is not Tony, but "the mottled-faced gentleman." Phiz's focus here seems to be the complacent Mr. Pell, who is definitely Furniss's principal subject in the 1910 lithograph. And both later versions have eliminated the intrusive gasoliers above by focussing on the figures, and filling up the background with more pictures.

Above: Phiz revises his approach to the comic moment only slightly in The mottled-faced gentleman reviewed the company, and slowly lifted his hand!. Right: In Harry Furniss's revision of Phiz's illustration, the focal character is manifestly little Mr. Pell, rather than Tony Weller, whom he seems to have cloned: Solomon Pell and his Clients (1910). [Click on these images to enlarge them.]

Related Material

Other artists who illustrated this work, 1836-1910

Scanned images and text by Philip V. Allingham. [You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the person who scanned the images, and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.]

Bibliography

Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980.

Davis, Paul. Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File and Checkmark Books, 1998.

Dickens, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Robert Seymour, Robert Buss, and Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, November 1837. With 32 additional illustrations by Thomas Onwhyn (London: E. Grattan, April-November 1837).

_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. 1.

_______. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. The Household Edition. 16 vols. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873. Vol. 4.

_______. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. 6.

_______. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 2.

Guiliano, Edward, and Philip Collins, eds. The Annotated Dickens.2 vols. New York: Clarkson N. Potter, 1986. Vol. I.

Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book Co., 1910.

Johnannsen, Albert. "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club." Phiz Illustrations from the Novels of Charles Dickens. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 1956. Pp. 1-74.

Kitton, Frederic G. Dickens and His Illustrators. 1899. Rpt. Honolulu: U. Press of the Pacific, 2004.

Steig, Michael. Chapter 2. "The Beginnings of 'Phiz': Pickwick, Nickleby, and the Emergence from Caricature." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 24-50.

Created 11 March 2012

Last modified 3 April 2024