Bleak House Illustrations

Illustrations by Hablot Browne

Hablot Browne (Phiz) provided all 40 illustrations, etched on steel, for Bleak House published in monthly parts Mar 1852 - Sep 1853.

In order to help set the dark mood of the novel Browne incorporated a technique called 'dark plate' on ten of the illustrations. The dark plate technique involved using a ruling-machine (operated by an assistant) which cut a close-spaced criss-cross pattern of lines into the plate, thus creating an overall dark cast on the resulting print.

The illustration depicting Toms-all-Alone's, the slum that is home to the crossing-sweeper, Jo, is perhaps the most striking example of the dark plate technique.

Bleak House and Little Dorrit: Iconography of Darkness - From Dickens and Phiz by Michael Steig. (Steig, 1978, p. 131-172)

Click on an image to obtain a larger version of the illustration.

The little old Lady	Miss Jellyby	The Lord Chancellor copies from memory
Coavinses	The visit to the Brickmaker's	In Re Guppy. Extraordinary proceedings
Mr. Guppy's desolation	The family portraits at Mr Bayham Badger's	The Dancing School
Consecrated ground	Caddy's flowers	The little church in the park
Mr Guppy's entertainment	The Smallweed family	A model of parental deportment
Mr Chadband 'improving' a tough subject	Visitors at the Shooting Gallery	The Young Man of the name of Guppy
Nurse and Patient	The appointed time	The old man of the name of Tulkinghorn
Mr Smallweed breaks the pipe of peace	Lady Dedlock in the Wood	The Ghost's Walk
Attorney and Client, fortitude and impatience	Sunset in the long Drawing-room at Chesney Wold	Sir Leicester Dedlock
Tom-all-Alone's	A new meaning in the Roman	Friendly behaviour of Mr Bucket
Light	Shadow	Mrs Bagnet returns from her expedition
The lonely figure	The Night	The Morning
Magnanimous conduct of Mr Guppy	The Mausoleum at Chesney Wold	Frontispiece
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