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Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby - Group Read 6
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Nicholas Nickleby: Intro comments and Chapters 1 - 10
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Bionic Jean wrote: "WHICH EDITION?There is no textually definitive edition of Nicholas Nickleby. One of his letters in September 1838 reveals that it was the very first time Charles Dickens had decid..."
Thank you! I look forward to reading this!
I follow your delightful conversations, and I learn a great deal. I come to learn so much about England from half a world away because of you all.
Warmly,
Jan
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I'm linking the proclamation to the beginning everyone, as I will do for each new chapter.
My copy of the novel has not yet arrived, so for the first few days I will have to use the Gutenberg version. Just having a look at the Author's Preface, which seems to set a pretty aggressive tone. Clearly, Dickens "hath an axe to grind".
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And scroll back a couple of posts to have a peek at the Proclamation, which puts one of his grievances in no uncertain terms! 😂
I don't know about anyone else, but to me Boz handled the Proclamation in a very sarcastic tone; I just loved it. He had every right to be furious about plagiarism but handling it with his wit was brilliant. I found it humorous because I love sarcastic writing, and you can just feel his anger. Thank you for sharing that, Jean.
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I'm really glad it's legible 😊... I spent quite along time messing around with the ancient printer on one leg (as I couldn't quite reach the computer to click "scan"!) then editing the image and making sure it came up as big as possible here. And still wasn't sure! 😂
I don't think anyone had put it online before, but hopefully the ghost of Boz won't mind ...
Bionic Jean wrote: "I totally agree Laura! Even at 26, he knew that the best way to get people on his side was to make them laugh first. I'm really glad it's legible 😊... I spent quite along time messing around with..."
Jean, I just thought of something about this: do you know if this proclamation is where the current term for copyright infringement is piracy (at the various forms of this word), at least in America it is.
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There were quite a few pirated stagings of this book ... I'll post about that later 😊
Bionic Jean wrote: "Yes, if I'm understanding you correctly! Copyright law was in its infancy in Britain, and when he went to America he got together a group of likeminded authors who were campaigning for copyright la..."I'm sorry if I put on the spot about that question. I was wondering if Boz was the first person to compare plagiarists to pirates. It makes sense now if he was (and it was ingenious too). I always wondered why the various forms of 'piracy' is used for copyright infringement, and now I know. Thanks!
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The first case I can find in history is in 1668, when the publisher John Hancock wrote of "some dishonest Booksellers, called Land-Pirats, who make it their practise to steal Impressions of other mens Copies" in the work A String of Pearls: Or, the Best Things Reserved Till Last . Discovered in a Sermon Preached in London, June 8. 1657. at The Funeral of by Thomas Brooks. Amazing!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyrig...
Jim wrote: "My copy of the novel has not yet arrived, so for the first few days I will have to use the Gutenberg version. Just having a look at the Author's Preface, which seems to set a pretty aggressive tone..."Same here, Jim. My copy shipped on Tuesday, so it shouldn't be TOO long.
Kelly wrote: "My copy came in from Thriftbooks! Hurrah! It's a little worse for wear but I somewhat like that."I know what you mean. My husband used to ask me if I'd ever want a complete set of Dickens--you know, a nice, matching set. I always said no, cuz I just liked having older copies that didn't match and most of mine are secondhand that I found in antique shops, but they just feel better to me. I have two that I bought in the "Word on The Water" boat in London, and I treasure them!
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Wrapper (cover) for each of nineteen parts published serially between April 1838 and November 1839. - Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz") (tinted green)
Installment 1
Chapter 1: Introduces all the Rest
Mr. Godfrey Nickleby decided late in life to marry. Being neither rich nor young, he married an old girlfriend because he was used to her. She married him for the same reason.
Mr. Godfrey Nickleby’s income fluctuated between £60-80 per year, and both looked for any opportunity to improve their earning capacity. He becomes more morose, for he is unsuccessful in finding a friend who might help him.
Five years pass, and the couple have two sons. Mr. Godfrey Nickleby even considers insuring his life and committing suicide for the insurance money. He then receives news that his uncle has died and left him some property that is worth £5,000. Mr. Godfrey Nickleby cannot believe his uncle left him this inheritance, for they were never friends. All his uncle ever did was send Godfrey’s eldest boy, who was named after the uncle, a silver spoon. However, even this seemed done more out of spite, to rub it in that the boy wasn’t “born with a silver spoon in his mouth”.
The reason for this was that Ralph Nickleby (the uncle), had planned to leave his property to the Royal Humane Society. He had changed his will when this society, much to his outrage, had saved the life of a poor relation, to whom he already paid a weekly allowance of three shillings and sixpence.
Godfrey Nickleby purchases a farm with his inheritance. The family live well on what they make from their produce. Ten years later, Godfrey’s wife dies, and he dies five years later. He leaves his eldest son Ralph £3,000 pounds, and his other son Nicholas £1,000 and the farm.
The sons had often heard the stories about how hard life had been when the family had been poor, and how affluent and important their father’s uncle had been. These two boys came away with different lessons from these stories. Nicholas learned that one should retire from the world and prefer the simple life of the country. Ralph learned that money was necessary for happiness and power, and it should be pursued at all costs.
Master Ralph decided to become a moneylender, using a simple formula to calculate interest owed to him; a golden rule: “two-pence for every half-penny”. He states that all loans have to be repaid on a Saturday, whenever they were taken out, and that the interest they should pay is the same whichever day of the week they started the loan. Nicholas disagrees, and want those who borrow for longer to pay less interest, as they clearly need the money. The narrator comments that these polarised attitudes exist even now, and that Ralph Nickleby’s golden rule “cannot be too strongly recommended to capitalists, both large and small”. Ralph and Nicholas lose contact with one another as they part ways, and Ralph’s life is about pursuing money.
Nicholas marries a neighbour’s daughter who has a dowry of £1,000. They have a son and daughter: Nicholas and Kate. When Nicholas is 19 and Kate is about 14, the family falls on hard times. Nicholas’s wife wants him to speculate, and put their remaining money in stocks. Nicholas the father is reluctant to do this, because if they lose it, they will be destitute. His wife says that Ralph made a lot of money that way, and finally convinces him to do it for the sake of the children. The narrator comments:
“Speculation is a round game; the players see little or nothing of their cards at first starting; gains may be great—and so may losses. The run of luck went against Mr. Nickleby. A mania prevailed, a bubble burst, four stock-brokers took villa residences at Florence, four hundred nobodies were ruined, and among them Mr. Nickleby.”
Nicholas’s family are ruined, and he becomes ill with the worry. He tells them that his brother Ralph is generous and good-hearted, and believes his brother will help them out, and dies:
“smiling gently on them, turned upon his face, and observed, that he thought he could fall asleep”.
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Serialisation Issues
As we learned in our reading of Oliver Twist, for Charles Dickens to produce a serial story was fraught with difficulties and arguments. You no doubt remember that Charles Dickens had a blazing row with Richard Bentley, swearing never to write any more installments of Oliver Twist, and missing out 2 months. After bargaining, he resumed the story after having borrowed copies of the earlier issues to remind himself of it, and restarted with the famous “life is like streaky bacon” passage.
Charles Dickens was still an editor there, and contracted to produce another serial novel for Richard Bentley, but there was still no love lost between the two men. Nevertheless Charles Dickens and John Forster managed to get Nicholas Nickleby excluded from his contract, with a promise that Charles Dickens would write another (Barnaby Rudge) later.
The publishers Chapman and Hall were keen to commission Charles Dickens , having been very excited by Oliver Twist, and he and John Forster arranged for a new contract. At the beginning of 1838 he was juggling so many things - as he continued to do all his life - with his new wife and home, as well as his writing. Catherine was heavily pregnant with his daughter Mary (Mamie) due 2 months later, he had finished The Pickwick Papers 2 months earlier (November 1837) but still had a year to go before his serial of Oliver Twist would be finished!
At the end of the month Charles Dickens went up to Yorkshire with his friend and illustrator Hablot Knight Browne (Phiz) to investigate the cheap boarding schools he had heard of (more on that later!) Then three weeks later, on 21st February he wrote to John Forster that “the first chapter of Nicholas is done”. The next day he wrote to his publishers, saying that he intended to “begin in earnest tomorrow night, so you can begin to print as soon as you like. The sooner you print, the faster I shall get on.”
Serial publication began on 31st March, and we can tell from Hablot Knight Browne ’s cover wrapper (at the top of the previous post) that at this point Charles Dickens had no idea of any theatrical troupe. It was just to be, as I said in the into comments, a picaresque story about the life and adventures of a young man, who meets with many diverse experiences, modelled on his favourite 18th century authors.
So here he is, the young Charles Dickens,
with wild ideas flying round his mind, and confident that he can somehow link the episodes all together and keep people reading!
By the end, Charles Dickens realised that the theatre is central to the plot, and dedicated the novel to his friend, distinguished actor and theatre manager, William Macready
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Locations and Law
The Monument
All Londoners know this. It is a fluted Doric column 202 feet (61.6 m) high, situated near the northern end of London Bridge. The proper name is "The Monument to the Great Fire of London, commemorating the Great Fire of London starting on 2nd September 1666". It stands 202 feet west of the spot in Pudding Lane where the Great Fire started.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monumen...
***
The phrase “born with a silver spoon in his mouth” appeared in print in English as early as 1719, in a translation of the novel Don Quixote: “Mum, Teresa, quoth Sancho, ’tis not all Gold that glisters [sic], and every Man was not born with a Silver Spoon in his Mouth.”
It is usually used to show resentment or disapproval, of others perceived as being born into a rich family and having a privileged upbringing.
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“when the son was about nineteen, and the daughter fourteen, as near as we can guess—impartial records of young ladies’ ages being, before the passing of the new act, nowhere preserved in the registries of this country”
This “new act” was passed in 1836, making the registering of all births, deaths and marriages compusory from 1st July 1837.
***
The Royal Humane Society was an organisation devoted to the recovery of person who were apparently drowned or dead. It was founded in 1774 and supported by voluntary donations, such as Godfrey Nickleby’s.
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I love the light-hearted tone, which made me chuckle out loud a few times. The idea of a middle aged man shimmying up the Monument is so ridiculous, (though clearly the idea of throwing himself off it is tragic) that we cannot help but laugh at the absurd mental image we are presented with! Nicholas’s father was evidently a victim of the commercial crisis of the 1820s … more about this tomorrow.
I wasn’t sure “being born with a silver spoon in your mouth” was used anywhere else, as the summary I am basing this on (though as usual it's turning out to be not much use 🙄) evidently didn’t appreciate the droll humour here.
The funniest sentence in the chapter for me is:
“The last reflection hurt him so much, that he took at once to his bed; apparently resolved to keep that, at all events.”
The idea of Nicholas’s father sloping off to his bed as a way of hanging on to at least that, when everything else was sold, made me fall about! Yet the ending, where he falls asleep with a smile on his face is poignant and moving, without interrupting the flow.
What a masterly first chapter from Charles Dickens, who had just had his 26th birthday. Such an entertaining way to tell us the background. And the broad title of this first chapter (there will be 4 in this first number) gives him plenty of scope to develop his story.
Nobody can do it like Dickens 😂
Over to you!
Dickens' parents were not good managers of money, and his father was even sent to debtor's prison while Dickens worked in a blacking factory. The trauma of poverty due to overspending or poor investments shows up frequently in his work. Poor Nicholas Nickleby and his sister are facing hard times when their parents lose the family money.
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Good point, Connie.
It's worth remembering though that Charles Dickens was only 12 when he worked in the blacking factory, whereas Nicholas is 19!
In this novel Charles Dickens's early experience are a source of shame to him, (as they remained) and a great secret he kept until much later, when he only told John Forster. Charles Dickens even disguised his intended autobiography, putting some of the fragments word for word into David Copperfield, as we discovered in our group read.
Although the personality and character of Nicholas is recognisably how the author saw himself, Charles Dickens went to great lengths to avoid revealing his "shameful" origins and never wrote his autobiography; we need to look at John Forster's biography for that (one of our side reads). We will be able to recognise some family members later though! 😊
This is a fascinating first chapter with enough matter for a week's discussion if we wished. I have not read the novel previously but I was also struck by the tone and humor, some of the driest I have seen. I wonder if seriocomic fitsas a definition for this work? We will have to see. I am just going to mention three motifs I saw which I could probably have described better if I took more effort. The first is value which we see mostly in monetary references. The second is expectation which includes unfulfilled expectation and the occurrence of the unexpected. The third is the role of fate and by that I mean external forces acting upon one's life, such as an inheritance or a market fall. I am going to be curious if any or all of these motifs continue and have significance throughout the novel. My last thought is on the name Nicholas Nickleby. I would love to suggest that Dickens was using some of that prescience I see in his work and that he foresaw the coming of the U.S. nickel as a coin which would make the name even more meaningful, but I am afraid we have to be realistic. The possibilities of meaning are the Swedish "copper demon," for the metal, or the German "rascal, fool,' and also an association with St. Nicholas which a given I think with Dickens. I wonder to what degree Dickens wanted us to see comparisons? Also, curious but of no meaning that struck me, was that construction is Nickle + as and Nickle + by. two prepositions. Finally, the Nickle- Dickens comparison where five letters are shared may be coincidental but is also curious. Okay, I will be quiet now. Hope everyone is enjoying as much as I. Smiles to all.
Being born with a silver spoon in one's mouth is very widely used in French by journalists (they said that about the late former President Giscard d'Estaing) or anyone who has an elevated language level, aged 30+.Still I met a young boy aged less than 10 for sure, homeschooled by his mum and grandma, who is already a specialist in Greek mythology and uses the passé simple and imparfait du subjonctif, while only very few still do so. While I was talking about Dickens with his mother, she asked him what he had read from Dickens. I suggested Oliver Twist? Full of enthusiasm he told me "Yes, I have, but Nicholas Nickleby is my favourite!" and quoted entire passages from the French translation...
I am not yet quite as enthusiastic as he is for the time being, but we will see!
A great, well-documented start into the novel, Jean!
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I like all your thoughts very much, and although Charles Dickens did not have a clue where he was going with this picaresque novel, it could well be that these concepts could be preying on his mind, ready for us to pick up as motifs. Ones I am always alert to with Charles Dickens are time and clocks - and cages of various sorts! Connie picked up on a couple of other preoccupations too. We'll have to see any or all of these are taken up. The mind of Dickens is fascinating!
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Oh I do hope this grows on you Claudia. I did wonder whether the first chapter covered so much ground that it would be confusing (as Sam says, we could spend the whole week on it 😂) especially with the same names "Nicholas" and "Ralph" coming up in different generations. But then historical and fantasy novels do that all the time, don't they? 🙄
For the summary I tried to simplify the events, rather than capture the humour. But this chapter could even be called a Prologue in a way, as what follows is different, e.g. there will be conversation!
I really enjoyed your anecdote about the child. What a little star! 😁 And he's right - much of the witty dialogue and observations in by the author in Nicholas Nickelby do stick in the mind. Partly that is because it was a serial, and Charles Dickens wanted short phrases - like catch phrases - to remind his readers a month later. You'll see what I mean better when we get there!
I hope you grow to love this one!
I usually find the litany of past generations in the first chapter of older novels rather dry going, so this one's having some levity sprinkled in here and there was welcome. Family is what forms us, and Nicholas' is one where the line between a life of relative comfort, and one of terrible impecunity, is rather thin, whether due to circumstance or an investment that goes sour. I wonder if, or how, that background will continue to affect him.
One of the things I love about Dickens is that I find I'm forced to slow down my reading to capture all of the depth and richness in his language. I think a lot of modern writing is dumbed down to a degree, and most certainly is less verbose. But its the roundaboutness of how he says things that just pulls you in. I think it says so much culturally that many of today's readers might struggle to connect with this style of writing, while it was meant for the masses in Dickens' time. About the book in particular, I love how much information he is able to present, not just from a genealogical perspective, but also on a emotional and psychological level, about so many characters in just a few short pages. As I said earlier, its so rich. It is books like this that reignite my love of reading! I'm hoping the rest lives up to this great start.
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Combining the information we need (about various sorts of things) with humour is what Charles Dickens excelled at. Here we can see that he was aware of the importance of this, even at such an early age, and in what some Dickens scholars (e.g. Michael Slater) regard as his first "proper" novel.
Well my comments are not as erudite as Sam's, which I totally appreciated. I wonder how old Godfrey Nickleby was when he got married ( rather late in life) and why he thought he had to. Of course we wouldn't have this family without that start. I did like that he married for love or perhaps familiarly that led to a quiet game of love. Unfortunately life is not easy when you don't have money which propels the rest of the chapter.Speculation led to a sad outcome for Nicholas Sr. but I had to chuckle at how Dickens presented it: The run of luck went against Mr. Nickleby; a mania prevailed, a bubble burst, four stockbrokers took villa residences at Florence, four hundred nobodies were ruined, and among them Mr. Nickleby.
Somethings don't change when it comes to speculation, do they?
I also found the last lines interesting, that he could give it all over to God and find repose. Do I remember correctly that Dickens had thought about the ministry? That he was a true believer?
As I mentioned earlier, I will be reading War and Peace concurrently with this group read of Nicholas Nickleby — perhaps, as Jean suggested, each being an antidote to the other. It’s been said that all great novels are about love, money or war and often a combination of all three. War certainly takes center stage in Tolstoy’s masterpiece, while Dickens, due to his personal history, is much concerned about money (or lack thereof). What Dickens also offers (while Tolstoy does not) is a generous amount of humor. So I’m convinced the two are indeed healthy antidotes.
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No, it's Thomas Hardy who considered joining the ministry. (I don't mean that no other Victorian authors did (!) - they may well have - but it's just that I think this is who you have in mind.)
Charles Dickens was certainly making a comment about the afterlife there. He was not only saying that Nicholas senior believed that, but also about his own strong Christian faith. Despite his many parodies of clergymen throughout his works, Charles Dickens's belief was sincere. It was the hypocrisy he saw in some aspects of religion which he condemned - just as he poked fun at aspects of the Catholic church's rituals and trappings, as we found when reading Pictures from Italy.
Charles Dickens even wrote a book for his children called The Life of Our Lord: Written for His Children During the Years 1846 to 1849. But it was not meant to be published, and his religion was a private thing to him.
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You might be interested in this podcast "Dickens vs Tolstoy: The Battle of the Great 19th-century Novelists"
https://www.intelligencesquared.com/e...
with Dickens scholar John Mullan arguing for Dickens, and Simon Schama for Tolstoy!
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Bionic Jean wrote: "Just edited to add a photo of "The Monument" - sorry - forgot!"Thank you for posting the photo, Jean, and for your comment "The idea of a middle aged man shimmying up the Monument is so ridiculous, (though clearly the idea of throwing himself off it is tragic) that we cannot help but laugh at the absurd mental image we are presented with!"
When I read this passage in the first chapter, I thought the Monument was similar to our Washington Memorial in Washington, DC where you reach the top via a circular stairway and elevator. Now knowing he would have had to shimmy up the side really makes it funny, and poor old Mr. Nickleby would probably have died of a heart attack long before reaching the top.
I am already loving Dickens' humor in this first chapter. There are several passages that brought smiles to my face, but I particularly loved his sarcasm in this paragraph:From what we have said of this young gentleman [Ralph Nickleby], and the natural admiration the reader will immediately conceive of his character, it may perhaps be inferred that he is to be the hero of the work which we shall presently begin. To set this point at rest for once and for ever, we hasten to undeceive them, and stride to its commencement.Oh, I can't wait to dig into this one!
I do have a question about British currency as related to Ralph Nickleby's interest rate of "two-pence for every half-penny". Am I interpreting this to mean he charged 400% interest?
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Yes, quite correct!
As Chris said, I liked the idea of "A quiet game of love". I also like how Dicken's beliefs and passions shine through without being overbearing. Nicholas Sr thinking of throwing himself off the monument reminded me of a scene in Little Dorrit. It reminds how money can become such a fixation and burden at times.
Re. Ralph's lending routine, Dickens always seemed to find pithy ways of commenting on topics on which he felt strongly, in this case usury. I'm reminded of Mr. Micawber's advice on managing one's finances: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty-pound ought and six, result misery."Although Dickens himself seems not to have been able to follow Micawber's formula.
I won't be starting yet, because a library book I had reserved came in and I'm hurrying thru it to be able to give Mr Dickens my full attention. But I hope to begin tomorrow and have been reading a lot of the comments already. So, I will be back soon!
I loved Dickens' words: Speculation is a round game; the players see little or nothing of their cards at first starting; gains MAY be great--and so may losses. The run of luck went against Mr Nickleby. A mania prevailed, a bubble burst, four stock-brokers took villa residences at Florence, four hundred nobodies were ruined, and among them Mr. Nickleby.
It was the perfect reminder how Dickens seemed to speak to and for the lower class in his writings. I know that it's not the same, but it reminded of the court case, Jarndynce v Jarndynce in Bleak House with the similar treatment of the 'common man', and how they do not get proper representation. Who spoke for those that lost their investments? The stockbrokers fled avoiding the responsibilities of those that had invested. In Bleak House, the lower class had no one to speak for them either, the court avoiding the responsibility to hear their cases. To me, and maybe no one else, the similarities were striking.
But also, with Dickens it was said with such wit, with every word pertinent to the story. One of the reasons why I love his writings.
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Oh yes, a great example of how he developed the idea in a later novel. Well spotted and expressed, Laura!
And Jenny too! I love how you are both identifying themes from later novels we have read, to reveal how he made an early mention of them here 😊
Lois - keep scooting through! You know how hectic it can get here ...😆
Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "I do have a question about British currency as related to Ralph Nickleby's interest rate of "two-pence for every half-penny". Am I interpreting this to mean he charged 400% interest?"My interpretation was that he demanded a repayment of two pence for every half-penny loaned, an interest rate of 300% but it's pretty eye-watering either way you interpret it! One has to wonder what he was using as his muscle for enforcement?!
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Paul wrote: "Shirley (stampartiste) wrote: "I do have a question about British currency as related to Ralph Nickleby's interest rate of "two-pence for every half-penny". Am I interpreting this to mean he charge..."Oops... yes, I was thinking in terms of having to repay the borrowed 1/2 penny + an additional 1-1/2 penny. But as Jean said, it was definitely extortion from people who needed a break.
Tara wrote: "One of the things I love about Dickens is that I find I'm forced to slow down my reading to capture all of the depth and richness in his language. I think a lot of modern writing is dumbed down to ..."I agree - so much is dumbed down. Reason to skip a lot of stuff being published now. Thanks for posting. peace, janz
Sam wrote: "This is a fascinating first chapter with enough matter for a week's discussion if we wished. I have not read the novel previously but I was also struck by the tone and humor, some of the driest I h..."Sam, to remark on your third motif, fate (but is it fate, or simple luck?) -
I think back to this sentence (which made me smile because of its construction and how it said so much in one short sentence, but also feel terrible for Mr. Nickleby of course): "The run of luck went against Mr Nickleby; a mania prevailed, a bubble burst, four stockbrokers took villa residences at Florence, four hundred nobodies were ruined, and among them Mr Nickleby."
Fate, or destiny, seems to be a running theme, as some are fated to be prosperous and others aren't?
Chris wrote: "Well my comments are not as erudite as Sam's, which I totally appreciated. I wonder how old Godfrey Nickleby was when he got married ( rather late in life) and why he thought he had to. Of course w..."I see a few of us commented on the sentence about the mania, bubble, etc. The same thought crossed my mind that some things never change.
Dickensians!
Books mentioned in this topic
The Artful Dickens: The Tricks and Ploys of the Great Novelist (other topics)Dickens and the Artists (other topics)
Nicholas Nickleby (other topics)
Oliver Twist (other topics)
David Copperfield (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
John Mullan (other topics)Paul Schlicke (other topics)
Sybil Thorndike (other topics)
Paul Schlicke (other topics)
Charles Dickens (other topics)
More...
You may have noticed that I’ve moved this thread to “current”, as Boz has a special proclamation to make! He was heartily sick of plagiarists stealing his story of Oliver Twist, and wanted to make sure it never happened again. Well he didn’t manage to do that, but his jokey billboards here made sure his new serial called:
"The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings and Complete Career of the Nickleby Family, edited by Boz"
received more notice than ever before, and the first number sold nearly 5,000 copies! Our small tribute to him, with our 21st century attempt to capture his real-time reading now has 51 readers, and since this is world-wide, it shows just how phenomenally popular Boz was becoming.