Herfst 2004 no. 50
into a canter and took us forward at
such a rate, uphill though it was, that
the wheels sent the road drift flying
about our heads like spray from a
water-mill.
Presently we lost the light, presently
saw it, presently lost it, presently saw
it, and turned into an avenue of trees
and cantered up towards where it was
beaming brightly.
It was in a window of what seemed to
be an old-fashioned house with three
peaks in the roof in front and a circular
sweep leading to the porch.
Nee, dan kunnen we toch beter meteen
naar de echte deskundigen gaan zoals
b.v. De onvolprezen David Perdue die
op zijn website: Charles dickens Page
van David Perdue:
http ://www.fidnet.com/~ dap 195 5/dicke
ns/bleakhouse.html
Hij geeft meteen het antwoord:
Dickens located John Jarndyce's Bleak
House near the old Roman town of St.
Albans in Hertfordshire, about 20 miles
north of London.
Hiermee ben ik echter nog niet
tevreden. Located near St Albans! Ik
wil precies weten waar het lag en als
het enigszins mogelijk is ook graag een
afbeelding hebben. Had ik niet
afgelopen zomer Dickens' England van
Michael en Mollie Hardwick gelezen,
daarmee moest ik verder kunnen
komen!
Op bladzijde 107 vond ik een verdere
aanwijzing:
Gombards House, an early Georgian
building on the north side of St.
Albans, has been
thought to be the
original (though it is in
town, not out of it, by
today's measurements)
and great Nast Hyde,
off the main St Albans-
hatfield road, has also
had supporters
Maar voor ik te
enthousiast kon
worden vervolgden zij
met:
But there is no evidence that he
[Dickens] was ever a visitor to either
house, or to any particular house in St
Albans. He stayed at the Queen's
Hotel, Chequer Street, two months
after writing the description of Bleak
House, and had stayed at the Salisbury
Arms, Hatfield, in 1835. The
probability is that he made a composite
house out of several exteriors.
Terug naar St. Albans en eens kijken of
we een afbeelding kunnen vinden van
verschillende huizen die in de twee
stukjes worden genoemd.
12
The Dutch Dickensian Volume XXIV
