The Illustrations
Dickens took great care in the appearances of A Christmas Carol, calling for the production of four full-page hand-colored steel engravings and four wood engravings. He employed as his illustrator John Leech, who was one of the best known “comic illustrators” of the time. From existing correspondence, we know that Dickens discussed the illustrations with Leech very carefully. Though we know he approved them, we don’t know if Dickens explicitly told Leech which scenes to illustrate. It is interesting to note which scenes are illustrated, and which are not. Scenes which are often omitted from adaptations, such as the chained ghosts haunting the dark night, are emphasized by their illustration in the original. the following pages contain reproductions of all original illustrations, with the passage which describes them.
Marley’s Ghost
His colour changed though, when, without a pause, it came on through the heavy door, and passed into the room before his eyes. Upon its coming in, the dying flame leaped up, as though it cried, “I know him; Marley’s Ghost!” and fell again.
The Ghosts of Departed Usurers, or The Phantoms
The air was filled with phantoms, wandering hither and thither in restless haste, and moaning as they went. Every one of them wore chains like Marley’s Ghost; some few (they might be guilty governments) were linked together; none were free. Many had been personally known to Scrooge in their lives. He had been quite familiar with one old ghost, in a white waistcoat, with a monstrous iron safe attached to it ankle, who cried piteously at being unable to assist a wretched woman with an infant, whom it saw below, upon a door-step. The misery with them all was, clearly, that they sought to interfere, for good, in human matters, and had lost the power for ever.
Mr. Fezziwig’s Ball
A positive light appeared to issue from Fezziwig’s calves. They shone in every part of the dance like moons. You couldn’t have predicted, at any given time, what would have become of them next. And when old Fezziwig and Mrs. Fezziwig had gone all through the dance; advance and retire, both hands to your partner, bow and curtsey, corkscrew, thread-the-needle, and back again to your place; Fezziwig ‘cut’–cut so deftly, that he appeared to wink with his legs, and came upon his feet again without a stagger.
Scrooge Extinguishes the First of The Three Spirits
“Leave me! Take me back. Haunt me no longer!”
Ignorance and Want
In the struggle, if that can be called a struggle in which the Ghost with no visible resistance on its own part was undisturbed by any effort of its adversary, Scrooge observed that its light was burning high and bright; and dimly connecting that with its influence over him, he seized the extinguisher-cap, and by a sudden action pressed it down upon its head. The Spirit dropped beneath it, so that the extinguisher covered its whole form; but though Scrooge pressed it down with all his force, he could not hide the light, which streamed from under it, in an unbroken flood upon the ground.
The Second of the Three Spirits or Scrooge’s Third Visitor
It was clothed in one simple green robe or mantle, bordered with white fur. This garment hung so loosely on the figure, that its capacious breast was bare, as if disdaining to be warded or concealed by any artifice. Its feet, observable beneath the ample folds of the garment, were also bare; and on its head it wore no other covering than a holly wreath, set here and there with shining icicles. Its dark brown curls were long and free; free as its genial face, its sparkling eye, and its joyful air. Girded round its middle was an antique scabbard; but no sword was it in, and the ancient sheath was eaten up with rust.
“You have never seen the like of me before!” exclaimed the Spirit.
Ignorance and Want
“They are Man’s,” said the Spirit, looking down upon them. “And they cling to me, appealing from their fathers. This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware of them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be erased. Deny it”! cried the Spirit, stretching out its hand toward the city. “Slander those who tell it ye! Admit it for your factious purposes, and make it worse. And bide the end!” “Have they no refuge or resource?” cried Scrooge? “Are there no prisons?” said the Spirit, turning on him for the last time with his own words. “Are there no workhouses?”
The bell struck twelve.
The Last of the Spirits – The Pointing Finger
“Before I draw nearer to that stone to which you point,” said Scrooge, “answer me one question. Are these the shadows of the things that Will be, or are they the shadows of thing that May be, only?” Sill the Ghost pointed downward to the grave by which it stood. “Men’s courses will foreshadow certain ends, to which, if persevered in, they must lead,” said Scrooge. “But if the courses be departed from, the ends will change. Say it is thus with what you will show me!”
The Spirit was immoveable as ever. Scrooge crept towards it, trembling as he went; and followed the finger, read upon the stone of the neglected grave his own name, EBENEZER SCROOGE.
Scrooge and Bob Cratchit or The Christmas Bowl
“A merry Christmas, Bob!” said Scrooge, with an earnestness that could not be mistaken, as he clapped him on the back. “A merrier Christmas, Bob, my good fellow, than I have given you for many a year! I’ll raise your salary, and endeavour to assist your struggling family, and we will discuss your affairs this very afternoon, over a Christmas bowl of smoking bishop, Bob! Make up the fires, and buy another coal-shuttle before you dot another i, Bob Cratchit!”
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