Selected Short Fiction (62 page)

and meditative nature of their peaceful calling ... in the same hands and always
A Clever Bird.

the boards, like a Dutch clock ... I saw him yester-
Dogs who keep Men.

tom-cats, and their resemblance ... as if he were Phoebus in person.
Street Fowls.

 

Dullhorough Town
(pp. 208-18)

It lately happened ... hitting out at one
Departed Joys.

greengrocer's house recalled ... the Thames and other proper
The identical Greengrocer.

who travelled with two professional ladies ... at the end of it was a little like-
Its Literature and Art.

 

Nurse's Stories
(pp. 218-29)

giants, and the refreshed ... I see no meat.'
Career of Captain Murderer.

Captain Murderer had a fiendish enjoyment ... and shipwrights will run
Chips and the Rats.

smelling at the baby in the garret!'... authentication that impaired my diges-
Claims of the Female Bard.

 

Arcadian London
(pp. 229-38)

Being in a humour for complete solitude ... having any mind for anything but
The Hatter's Desk and his young Man.

—
and only knows me ... order-taker, left on the hopeless
Mrs Klem.
of Adam's confiding children ... these useful establishments. In the Arca-
A Golden Age.

 

The Calais Night-Mail
(pp. 238-46)

It is an unsettled question ... Richard the Third.
Calais.

‘Rich and rare were the gems ... but still ahead and shining.
Getting across.

 

travellers; one, a compatriot ... I follow the good example.
The little Bird.

In the following annotations, my comments about the selections from
Pickwick Papers, Nicholas Nickleby,
and
Sketches by Boz
are indebted in part to the painstaking notes on these works by T. W. Hill in the
Dickensian,
vols. 44-48 (1947-52). I have likewise been aided in a few other instances by James S. Stevens,
Quotations and
References in
Charles Dickens
(Boston: The Christopher Publishing House, 1929). Additional references illuminating specific notes are indicated in context. Details of initial publication of each selection are given at the beginning of their respective notes.

First published in the tenth monthly number of
Pickwick Papers
(January 1837). In the 1836-7 edition, it erroneously appeared as the second Chapter 28. In 1847 the chapters were renumbered, and the story correctly became Chapter 29. The text here is that of the Charles Dickens Edition of
Pickwick Papers
(1867).

1
(p. 39)
gall
and
wormwood.
cf. Lamentations 3: 19.

First published in the second monthly number of
Nicholas Nickleby
(May 1838). It appears in Chapter 6 along with ‘The Five Sisters of York'. The text here is that ofthe Charles Dickens Edition of
Nicholas Nickleby
(1867).

1
(p. 51)
Nimrod
or
Gillingwater.
Nimrod is described in Genesis 10: 9 as ‘a mighty hunter before the Lord'. In comic contrast, Gillingwater was a contemporary London barber and perfumier who kept bears underneath his shop and used to advertise in the window, ‘another young bear slaughtered this day' - presumably to produce the ingredients for bear's grease, then fashionable on men's hair. See [B. W. Matz],
Dickensian,
voL 16 (1920), p. 222.

2
(p. 51)
corned.
Preserved by rubbing with salt and soaking in a solution of salt and water.

3
(p. 52) '
‘Till all was blue'.
According to the
Oxford English Dictionary,
a description of the effects of heavy drinking on the eyesight.

First published in the third weekly number of
Master Humphrey's Clock
(18 April 1840). Dickens omitted the Clock material when he published
The Old Curiosity Shop
and
Barnaby Rudge,
the two novels originally presented in this context, as separate works. The text here is that of the first volume edition of
Master Humphrey's Clock
(1840-41).

First published in the
Keepsake
(1852) which provides the present text.

‘The Signalman' was first published as part of
Mugby Junction,
the extra Christmas number of
All the Year Round
for 1866 which provides the present text.

1
(p. 79)
a man who had been shut up within narrow limits all his life.
In the first portion of
Mugby Junction,
the central character who uses the name Barbox Brothers after the firm in which his life has been confined until his retirement, becomes belatedly interested in the world from which his job has isolated him. While exploring the railway lines radiating out from Mugby Junction, he gradually undergoes a more natural version of Gabriel Grub's supernaturally induced change of heart. ‘The Signalman‘, as well as ‘The Boy at Mugby' and the pieces by the other contributors to this Christmas number, are presented as things which were ‘seen, heard, or otherwise picked up, by the Gentleman from Nowhere [Barbox Brothers], in his careful study of the Junction'.

First published in the
Evening Chronicle
(14 July 1835) and included in the First Series of
Skerches by Boz
(1836). The text here is that of the Charles Dickens Edition of
Sketches by Boz
(1868). For a discussion of Dickens's revisions in successive collections of the Sketches, see John Butt and Kathleen Tillotson,
Dickens at Work
(London: Methuen, 1957), chapter 2.

1
(p. 93)
Watching-rates.
Rates levied to pay local watchmen who were subsequently replaced by the police.

2
(p. 94)
the old naval officer on half-pay, to whom we have already introduced our readers.
Described in the second sketch dealing with ‘Our Parish', omitted from this selection. ‘The Election for Beadle' is the fourth in the ‘Parish' section
of Sketches by Boz.

3
(p. 97)
his neighbour, the old lady.
Likewise described in the second ‘Our Parish' sketch.

4
(p. 97)
high-lows.
Laced boots which reached over the ankle, in contrast to shoes, but did not extend so far up the leg as top boots. 5· (p. 98)
envy, and hatred, and
malice
and all uncharitableness.
The Litany in the Book of Common Prayer petitions for deliverance ‘From all blindness of heart; from pride, vain-glory, and hypocrisy; from envy, hatred, and malice, and all uncharitableness'.

First published in
Bell's Life in London
(27 September 1835) and included in the Second Series of
Sketches by Boz
(1837) [1836]. The text here is that of the Charles Dickens Edition of
Sketches by Boz
(1868).

1
(p.
100)
Tom King and the Frenchman. Figures in Monsieur Tonson
(1821), a farce by ‘William Thomas Moncrieff' (William Thomas Thomas) based on a poem of the same title by John Taylor (1757-1832). Tom King's coffee house in Covent Garden is depicted in Hogarth's ‘Morning' (1738).

2
(p. 100)
Seven Dials.
A district in London so named from the convergence of seven streets at a point once marked by a pillar with six dials, or circular faces, which was removed in 1773. In the first half of the nineteenth century, Seven Dials along with the adjoining area of St Giles was one of the worst slums in London, packed with criminals, vagrants, impoverished immigrants, and more affluent visitors attracted by the low-life atmosphere as well as the ballad-singers and sellers for which the location was famous.

3
(p. 100)
names of Catnach and of Pitts.
James Catnach (1792-1841) and John Pitts (1765-1844), rival printers of street literature whose shops were located in Seven Dials.

4
(p. 100)
penny yards of song.
Songs printed in three columns on sheets approximately a yard in length and sold for a penny. There is an illustration of a long-song seller as well as a discussion of this trade in Henry Mayhew's
London Labour and the London Poor
(1861; reprinted New York: Dover, 1968), vol. I, p. 221.

5
(p. 101)
gordian knot.
Anything intricate or difficult to unravel, like the knot securing the yoke to the wagon pole of Gordius, a peasant who became king of Phrygia. According to legend, whoever could untie the knot would rule over Asia; Alexander fulfilled the prophecy by cutting the knot with his sword.

6
(p. 101)
Beulah Spa.
One of the noted features of this place of recreation, which opened at Norwood in 1831, was a small maze.

7
(p. 101)
Belzoni-like.
Giovanni Baptista Belzoni (1778-1823), born in Padua and educated in Rome, came to England in 1803 to embark upon a colourful career. He won recognition first as a public performer, capitalizing upon his enormous strength and height (approximately six feet, seven inches) and then turned his attention to engineering and exploration. He made numerous journeys within Egypt and became famous for his discoveries of antiquities and his excavations of ancient tombs.

8
(p. 101)
‘three outs.'
From the slang phrase ‘to drink the three outs', meaning to drink copiously.

9
(p. 103)
put the kye-bosk on her.
Slang for knock out either figuratively or literally.

10
(p. 103)
Blucher boots.
Named after the Prussian field-marshal, Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher (1742-1819). Sturdy boots which reached no higher than mid-calf in contrast to the taller Wellington boots.

11
(p. 104)
increase and multiply.
An allusion to the command in Genesis ‘Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth' given at the creation (1: 28) and repeated to Noah after the flood (9: 1).

12
(p. 104)
jemmy.
Slang for a cooked sheep's head.

13
(p. 105)
writes poems for Mr Warren.
The blacking warehouse in which Dickens toiled for a few miserable months as a child bore the name of its original proprietor Jonathan Warren, a rival of the more famous Robert Warren. Like innumerable other manufacturers both then and now, Jonathan Warren advertised his product with rhyme, and Tony Weller's comments about Sam Weller's valentine in Chapter 33 of
Pickwick
Papers likewise poke fun at these rhyming propensities:

First published in the
Morning Chronicle
(24 September 1836) and included in the Second Series of
Sketches by Boz
(1837) [1836]. The text here is that of the Charles Dickens Edition of
Sketches by Boz
(1868).

1
(p. 106)
Monmouth-street.
In London, noted for its second-hand clothing shops.

2
(p. 106)
Holywell-street.
In London, noted for its second-hand book shops.

3
(p. 107)
half-boots.
,Boots extending half way up the leg to the knee. Sometimes equated with Blucher boots; see note 10 to ‘Seven Dials' (P. 413).

4
(p. 110)
pair of tops.
High boots whose topmost portion was made of a contrasting colour.

5
, (p. 110)
knee-cords.
Corduroy trousers ending just below the knee.

6
(p. no)
Denmark satin.
Smooth surfaced, worsted material used for women's shoes.

7
(p. 112)
imperence.
Slang for impudence.

First published in the First Series of
Sketches by Boz
(1836). The text here is that of the Charles Dickens Edition of
Sketches by Boz
(1868).

1
(p. 112)
If Bedlam could be suddenly removed like another Aladdin's palace.
In the oriental tale of ‘Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp', generally considered part of the collection known as the
Arabian Nights' Entertainments,
Aladdin, the son of a poor tailor, acquires a lamp containing a genie who subsequently builds him a palace and enables him to marry a princess. At one point, he temporarily loses the lamp to an evil magician who causes both princess and palace to be transported to Africa, but Aladdin eventually triumphs and returns his wife and home to China. Bedlam (the word is a corrupt form of Bethlehem) was long a famous London hospital for lunatics.

2
(p. 112)
Newgate.
A famous London prison, demolished in 1902.

3
(p. 112) Old
Bailey.
The street in which the Old Bailey, the Central Criminal Court, is located.