Herfst 2007 no.61
English moral standards did not apply. Other
aspects of the subject covered included
Dickens's interest in the Crimean War; his flu
ency in Italian and French, and the English
reluctance to learn languages; how Dickens
depicts his foreign characters speaking
English; European settings in the novels; the
reception of foreigners in England, and
English insularity. In the second part of his
lecture he focussed on the importance of A
Tale of Two Cities as a warning to Victorian
England, fear of revolution being very much in
the consciousness of the time, and the way in
which Dickens satirises the English abroad in
Pictures from Italy. As examples of Dickens's
best writings about his European travels Dr
Williams read "An Italian Dream" and "The
Ascent of Vesuvius".
The final lecture of the
2006 Conference was
delivered by Professor
Malcolm Andrews, his
subject being "Illustrating
Dickens". His overall pur
pose to examine how well
Dickens was served by his
illustrators, and whether
he actually needs to be
illustrated. Dickens is the
most intensely visual of
novelists, and the fact that
the novels seem inseparable from the original
illustrations is not necessarily advantageous.
We were shown slides of Cruikshank's illustra
tions to Oliver Twist to demonstrate how they
frequently over-simplify Dickens's more com
plex writing - for example, the way in which
Oliver's features have been given classical
nobility between the scene of his asking for
more and the attack on Noah Claypole. A sim
ilar process happens to Fagin and Sikes in
reverse. Professor Andrews went on to consid
er two versions of Phiz's plate depicting Mrs
Bardell's fainting, which raise questions about
the role of illustration, and then discussed the
difference between the wrapper of Dombey
and Son and the frontispiece, the positioning
of illustrations and the use of the dark plates
in Bleak House, the static nature of which
cannot adequately demonstrate the writing.
Professor Andrews reminded us that for the
last two novels Dickens chose Marcus Stone
and Luke Fildes, because he wanted more nat
ural depictions than Phiz produced, thereby
contributing perhaps unwittingly to the dis
crediting of his illustrators. He concluded that
the "inseparable" illustrations may be respon
sible for readers' views on the characters by
frequently reinforcing the caricature mode.
Perhaps Dickens would have been better with
out his illustrators: readers must judge for
themselves.
At 4.30 pm delegates attended the service of
Evensong at Christ Church, Amsterdam, con
ducted by Revd Mark Collinson, who also
preached the sermon. The lessons were read
by Dr Tony Williams and myself.
Conference ended with superb entertainment
in celebration of the fifty years of the Haarlem
Branch. After a humorous introduction from
Paul Ferdinandusse we were shown a highly
entertaining film about "Dickensian activities
in Hollandincluding lectures, excursions,
the Dickens museum at Bronkhorst, a
Christmas dinner, and
plenty of Dutch conviviali
ty throughout. This was
followed by Mr Bert
Hornback from the
Haarlem Branch in the
person of Dickens, with a
replica of the original
[reading desk, giving excel
lent readings from Hard
Times, Bleak House and
Martin Chuzzlewit.
Without seeming to refer
much to his script he rendered the death of Jo
in a particularly moving way, conveying much
of Dickens's pathos and passion.
As the grand finale we were treated to a veri
table tour de force by Gerald Dickens: he per
formed A Child's Journey with Dickens by
Kate Douglas Wiggin, which relates how, as a
girl of ten she encountered Dickens in 1867,
when he was on his reading tour of America,
and how she had a conversation with him on a
train journey to Boston. Of this narrative,
apparently memorised, Gerald Dickens gave
what earlier Dickensians would have
described as a "capital rendering", and it made
a brilliant end to the Amsterdam Conference.
Very ïany thanks are due to all those mem
bers of the Haarlem Branch who ensured by
their efficiency, thoughtfulness and kindness
that this was such a happy and memorable
Conference, and we owe particular gratitude
to Maria Werdmuller and Paul Ferdinandusse,
whose tireless efforts ensured that everything
ran smoothly.
MICHAEL ROGERS
