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131<ul><li>Curiosity Shop</li></ul></li>
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155<!--Journey's End -->
156      
157<h3 id="journeys-end"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tong,_Shropshire" target="_blank">Journey's End</a></h3>
158       
159<p>In describing the journey Nell and her grandfather take through the English countryside Dickens creates a dream landscape in which no place names are used. The village where Nell dies is thought to be <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tong,_Shropshire" target="_blank">Tong, Shropshire</a>, a place Dickens had visited. A wreath is still placed every year outside St. Bartholomew's church at the supposed grave of Little Nell.</p> 
160
161<p>BBC - <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/local/shropshire/hi/people_and_places/religion_and_ethics/newsid_8468000/8468580.stm" target="_blank">Verger in Tong faked grave of Dickens' Little Nell</a></p>  
162   
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164
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177
178<br />
179     	  
180<!--Astley's -->
181      
182<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astley%27s_Amphitheatre" target="_blank"><h3 id="astleys">Astley's Theatre</h3></a>
183
184<a href="images/astleys-poster-large.jpg"><img src="images/astleys-poster-small.jpg" width="150" height="217" alt="Astley's Theatre"/></a>
185
186<p>Kit takes his mother to <a href="charles-dickens-london-map.html#astleys">Astley's theatre</a> on the Surry side of the Thames on Westminster Bridge Road. Astley's mixed theatre with circus including equestrian performances. Philip Astley, who opened the amphitheatre in 1794 after his original tent structure of 1769 burned down, is considered a pioneer of the modern circus. After being rebuilt several times the structure was demolished in 1893 <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#london-encyclopaedia">Weinreb et al, 2008, p. 30</a>)</span>.</p>
187      
188<br />
189
190     
191<!--Description of the Curiosity Shop -->
192
193<h3 id="the-curiosity-shop">The Curiosity Shop-Dickens' Description</h3>
194
195<p><em>One of those receptacles for old and curious things which seem to crouch in odd corners of this town and to hide their musty treasures from the public eye in jealousy and distrust. There were suits of mail standing like ghosts in armour here and there, fantastic carvings brought from monkish cloisters, rusty weapons of various kinds, distorted figures in china and wood and iron and ivory: tapestry and strange furniture that might have been designed in dreams</em> <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#oxford-ocs"><em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em>, p. 4-5</a>)</span>.</p>    
196
197<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001PU8MZO/ref=as-li-tl?ie=UTF8&tag=davidperdue04-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B001PU8MZO&linkId=41237d376f0601ec5c34ab22d7bb45a4"><img src="images/the-old-curiosity-shop2007.jpg" alt="The Old Curiosity Shop" width="120" height="169" border="0" /><br /><strong>The Old Curiosity Shop</strong></a> (2007)
198Sophie Vavasseur, Derek Jacobi
199 
200<img src="images/spacer.jpg" width="50" height="910" alt="formatting graphic" />       
201<!-- end left column --></div>
202
203<!--right column --> 
204 
205<div id="rightCol">
206
207<!--Punch and Judy -->
208
209<h3 id="punch-and-judy">Punch and Judy</h3>
210
211<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punch_and_judy" target="_blank"><img src="images/punch-and-judy-cruikshank-sm.jpg" alt="Punch and Judy" width="220" height="220" border="0" /></a><br />
212
213Charles Dickens' fascination with the theatre, and his firm belief that the lower classes must have their amusements, lead to a love of <a href="http://www.sagecraft.com/puppetry/traditions/punch.dickens.html" target="_blank">Punch and Judy shows</a>. This familiar street entertainment finds it way into 
214<em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em> by way of <a href="dickens-characters-c-d.html#codlinandshort">Codlin and Short</a>, a traveling Punch show that Nell and her grandfather meet on their travels.
215
216<p><a href="images/children-watch-punch-and-judy-cutout-large.jpg"><img src="images/children-watch-punch-and-judy-cutout-small.jpg" width="220" height="284" alt="Children watching Punch and Judy show" border="1" /></a></p>
217
218<p>Herb Moskovitz's excellent article <a href="punch-and-dickens.html"><em>Punch and Dickens</em></a>.</p> 
219
220<!--Mr Slum-->
221
222<h3 id="mr-slum">The Advertising Jingles of Mr Slum</h3>
223
224<p><div class="boxImage100Right"><a href="images/mr-slum-kyd-large.jpg"><img src="images/mr-slum-kyd-small-cutout.jpg" width="100" height="192" alt="My Slum by Kyd"/></a>Mr Slum by Kyd</div>When <a href="charles-dickens-family-friends.html#John-Dickens">John Dickens</a> was imprisoned for debt in the <a href="charles-dickens-little-dorrit.html#marshalsea">Marshalsea debtors' prison</a> his 11-year-old son Charles was sent to work at <a href="charles-dickens-london-map.html#warrens">Warren's Blacking Factory</a> at Hungerford Stairs, washing and glueing labels on pots of boot blacking, to help support the family. Dickens never mentioned this traumatic period of his childhood to anyone during his lifetime except for his friend, and future biographer, <a href="charles-dickens-family-friends.html#forster">John Forster</a> who revealed it after Dickens' death <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#forster-life">Forster, 1899, v. 1, p. 22-39</a>)</span>. Dickens, however, did manage to weave the blacking experience into his fiction, and Warren's Blacking is mentioned, and alluded to, multiple times in his works.</p> 
225
226<p>Robert Warren, owner of one branch of the business, was famous for placing rather bad verse in the advertisements for his product. According to Forster Dickens based the character of <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#slum">Mr Slum</a>, the advertisement jingle writer for <a href="dickens-characters-h-k.html#jarley">Mrs Jarley's</a> Waxwork in <em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em>, on the writer of such jingles for Robert Warren <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#forster-life">Forster, 1899, v. 1, p. 39</a>)</span>. It is even supposed that Dickens himself, when he was a young journalist, wrote some of the advertisement poems for Warren's Blacking <sp
226an id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#slater-charles-dickens">Slater, 2009, p. 36</a>)</span>.</p> 
227
228<a href="images/warrens-blacking-ad-large.jpg"><img src="images/warrens-blacking-ad-small.jpg" width="220" height="212" alt="Warren's Blacking Ad 1832"/></a>
229
230
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250<div class="box01" id="life">
251			<span class="smallheader">Charles Dickens' life during the serialization of <em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em></span><br />Apr 1840 - Feb 1841
252            <hr />
253            
254            <p>Dickens' age: 28-29</p>
255            
256            <p><strong>April 1840</strong></p>
257            
258            <p><strong>July 1840</strong></p>
259            
260            <p>Travels by train to Devon to visit his parents in the house he bought for them principally to get <a href="charles-dickens-family-friends.html#John_Dickens">his father</a> out of London, where his constant borrowing was an embarrassment to Dickens <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#slater-charles-dickens">Slater, 2009, p. 155</a>)</span>.</p>
261            
262            <p><strong>August 1840</strong></p>
263            
264            <p>Visits Bevis Marks, in the city, to look for a house for <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#brass-sampson">Sampson Brass</a>, a character in <em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em> <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#pilgrim2">Letters, 1969, v. 2, p. 118</a>)</span>.</p>
265            
266            <p><strong>January 1841</strong></p>
267            
268            <p>Begins again writing <a href="charles-dickens-barnaby-rudge.html"><em>Barnaby Rudge</em></a>, which he started and then gave up, in January 1839 <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#schlicke-companion">Schlicke, 1999, p. 29</a>)</span>.</p>
269            
270            <p><strong>February 1841</strong></p>
271            
272            <p>Son <a href="charles-dickens-family-friends.html#walter-dickens">Walter Savage Landor Dickens</a> born <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#slater-charles-dickens">Slater, 2009, p. 162</a>)</span>.</p>
273            
274</div>
275
276<br /><br />
277
278<!--My Mother -->	  
279      
280<h3 id="my-mother">My Mother</h3>
281
282<p><img src="images/ann-taylor.jpg" width="100" height="155" alt="Ann Taylor" class="fltlft" />One of the quotations used by the loquacious Dick Swiveller, in this case referring to Kit's mother, is &quot;<em>Who ran to catch me when I fell, and kissed the place to make it well? My Mother</em>&quot; <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#oxford-ocs"><em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em>, p. 289</a>)</span>.</p>
283
284<p>This is from the popular poem <em>My Mother</em> by Ann Taylor (1782-1866). Ann's sister Jane (1783-1824) wrote <em>Twinkle Twinkle Little Star</em>.</p>
285
286<h3>My Mother</h3>
287
288<p class="caption2">
289Who fed me from her gentle breast,<br />
290And hushed me in her arms to rest,<br />
291And on my cheek sweet kisses prest?<br />
292My Mother.<br /><br />
293
294When pain and sickness made me cry,<br />
295Who gazed upon my heavy eye,<br />
296And wept, for fear that I should die?<br />
297My Mother.<br /><br />
298
299Who dressed my doll in clothes so gay,<br />
300And fondly taught me how to play,<br />
301And minded all I had to say?<br />
302My Mother.<br /><br />
303
304Who ran to help me when I fell,<br />
305And would some pretty story tell,<br />
306Or kiss the place to make it well?<br />
307My Mother.<br /><br />
308
309And can I ever cease to be<br />
310Affectionate and kind to thee,<br />
311Who was so very kind to me?<br />
312My Mother.<br /><br />
313
314- Ann Taylor</p>
315
316<br /><br />
317
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319<!-- end right column --></div>
320
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323<!-- Begin#mainContent -->
324  
325<div id="mainContent"> 
326
327<div class="boxLevel2Background">
328
329<h1 id="page-title">Charles Dickens'<br /><br />The Old Curiosity Shop</h1>
330</div>
331
332<h2 id="page-tagline" style="line-height: 1.2;">The Old Curiosity Shop - A Tale</h2>
333
334<p><strong>The Old Curiosity Shop</a></strong> - Published in weekly parts Apr 1840 - Feb 1841</p>
335
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340 
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348
349<p><div class="boxImage175Left"><a href="images/nell-and-grandfather-copping-lg.jpg"><img src="images/nell-and-grandfather-copping.jpg" width="175" height="207" border="0" alt="Nell and her Grandfather by Harold Copping" /></a><br />Nell and her grandfather by Harold Copping</div>Charles Dickens' fourth novel was illustrated by <a href="charles-dickens-illustrations.html#cattermole">George Cattermole</a> and <a href="charles-dickens-family-friends.html#phiz" title="Learn about Charles Dickens' illustrator Hablot K Browne (Phiz)">Phiz</a>, with a single illustration each from <a href="charles-dickens-illustrations.html#williams">Samuel Williams</a> and <a href="charles-dickens-illustrations.html#maclise">Daniel Maclise</a>.</p>
350
351<p>This installment novel, published in <a href="charles-dickens-journalism.html#clock"><em>Master Humphrey's Clock</em></a>
351, was so popular that its weekly sales rose to a hundred thousand <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#patten-publishers">Patten, 1978, p. 110</a>)</span>. It tells the story of <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#trent-nell">Nell Trent</a> and <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#nells-grandfather">her grandfather</a> as they wander the English countryside, northwest of London, trying to evade <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#quilp">Daniel Quilp</a>, probably Dickens' most evil villain. Nell's grandfather has borrowed money from Quilp to support a gambling habit and has lost everything, including the curiosity shop.</p>
352
353<p>The tale is richly populated with the interesting and bizarre cast of characters Nell and her grandfather meet along their journey.</p> 
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368
369<p>As the conclusion of the story neared Nell is exhausted from the travel and lack of food. Dickens was inundated with letters begging him to spare Nell's life <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#slater-charles-dickens">Slater, 2009, p. 158</a>)</span>. Dickens confided to <a href="charles-dickens-illustrations.html#cattermole">George Cattermole</a>, one of the illustrators of the book, that &quot;<em>I am breaking my heart over this story</em>&quot; <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#ackroyd-dickens">Ackroyd, 1990, p. 318</a>)</span>.</p>
370
371<p>With the final installment arriving by ship, crowds in New York shouted from the pier &quot;<em>Is Little Nell dead?</em>&quot; <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#ackroyd-dickens">Ackroyd, 1990, p. 319</a>)</span></p>
372
373<br /><br />
374
375<!--Master Humphrey's Clock-->
376
377<h3 id="master-humphreys-clock">Master Humphrey's Clock</h3>
378
379<p><img src="images/master-humphreys-clock-small.jpg" width="144" height="222" alt="Master Humphrey's Clock" class="fltlft" />Dickens began the serialization of <em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em> in his weekly miscellany <a href="charles-dickens-journalism.html#clock"><em>Master Humphrey's Clock</em></a>, the plan being to continue the tale from time to time amidst other articles as the mood took him. The story, however, captured the imagination of both Dickens and his readers and soon took over the entire publication. Dickens, feeling rather cramped within the confines of the <em>Clock</em>, allowed the story to burst out beginning with chapter four <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#slater-charles-dickens">Slater, 2009, p. 152</a>)</span>. Thus, at the end of chapter three, he has Master Humphrey, heretofore acting as narrator, inform the readers:</p>
380
381<p><em>And now that I have carried this history so far in my own character and introduced these personages to the reader, I shall for the convenience of the narrative detach myself from its further course, and leave those who have prominent and necessary parts in it to speak and act for themselves</em> <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#oxford-ocs"><em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em>, p. 28</a>)</span>.</p>
382
383<p>In the original serialization of the novel the grandfather's brother, the <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#simmons-henrietta">single gentleman</a>, turns out to be none other than Master Humphrey himself.</p> 
384
385    
386	<h3 id="char">Complete List of Characters:</h3>
387	<span class="caution">Character descriptions contain spoilers</span><br />
388	
389<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="0" width="525">
390		<tr>
391          <td width="140" valign="top">
392          
393          <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#bachelor">Bachelor, The</a><br />
394          <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#barbara">Barbara</a><br />
395          <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#bobby">Bobby, Lord</a><br />
396          <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#brass-sally">Brass, Sally</a><br />
397          <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#brass-sampson">Brass, Sampson</a><br />
398          <a href="dickens-characters-a-b.html#brown5">Brown, Mr</a><br />
399          <a href="dickens-characters-c-d.html#cheggs-alick">Cheggs, Alick</a><br />
400          <a href="dickens-characters-c-d.html#cheggs-miss">Cheggs, Miss</a><br />
401          <a href="dickens-characters-c-d.html#chuckster">Chuckster, Mr</a><br />
402          <a href="dickens-characters-c-d.html#codlin">Codlin, Tommy</a><br />
403          <a href="dickens-characters-c-d.html#david2">David</a><br />
404          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#edwards-miss">Edwards, Miss</a><br />
405          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#evans-richard">Evans, Richard</a><br />
406          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#foxey">Foxey, Old</a><br />
407          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#garland-abel">Garland, Abel</a><br />
408          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#garland-mr">Garland, Mr</a><br />
409          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#garland-mrs">Garland, Mrs</a><br />
410          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#george6">George</a><br />
411          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#george-mrs">George, Mrs</a><br />
412          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#green-mrs">Green, Mrs</a><br />
413          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#grinder">
413Grinder, Mr</a><br />
414                    
415          </td><td width="185" valign="top">          
416          
417          <a href="dickens-characters-e-g.html#groves"> Groves, James (Jem)</a><br />
418          <a href="dickens-characters-h-k.html#harry3">Harry</a><br />
419          <a href="dickens-characters-h-k.html#jarley">Jarley, Mrs</a><br />
420          <a href="dickens-characters-h-k.html#jerry">Jerry</a><br />
421          <a href="dickens-characters-h-k.html#jiniwin">Jiniwin, Mrs</a><br />
422          <a href="dickens-characters-h-k.html#jowl">Jowl, Joe</a><br />
423          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#list">List, Isaac</a><br />
424          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#marchioness">Marchioness, The</a><br />
425          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#marton">Marton, Mr</a><br />
426          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#mat">Mat</a><br />
427          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#maunders">Maunders</a><br />
428          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#mizzler">Mizzler, Marquis of</a><br />
429          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#monflathers">Monflathers, Miss</a><br />
430          <a href="dickens-characters-l-m.html#morgan">Morgan, Becky</a><br />
431          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#nells-grandfather">Nell's Grandfather</a><br />
432          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#nubbles">Nubbles, Christopher  (Kit)</a><br />
433          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#nubbles-jacob">Nubbles, Jacob</a><br />
434          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#nubbles-mrs">Nubbles, Mrs</a><br />
435          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#owen">Owen, John</a><br />
436		  <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#packlemerton">Packlemerton, Jasper</a><br />
437          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#quilp-betsy">Quilp, Betsy</a><br />
438          <a href="dickens-characters-n-q.html#quilp">Quilp, Daniel</a><br />
439		                                
440          </td><td width="200" valign="top"> 
441          
442          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#scott-tom">Scott, Tom</a><br />
443          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#short">Short (Short Trotter, Harris)</a><br />
444          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#short">Simmons, Henrietta</a><br />
445          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#simmons-henrietta">Single Gentleman, The</a><br />
446          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#slum">Slum, Mr</a><br />
447          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#stetta">Stetta, Violetta</a><br />
448          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#swiveller-rebecca">Swiveller, Rebecca</a><br />
449          <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#swiveller">Swiveller, Richard (Dick)</a><br /> 
450          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#thigsberry">Thigsberry, Duke of</a><br /> 
451          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#tomkinley">Tomkinley, Mr</a><br /> 
452          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#trent-fred">Trent, Frederick</a><br />
453          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#trent-nell">Trent, Nell</a><br />
454          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#vuffin">Vuffin, Mr</a><br /> 
455          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#wackles-jane">Wackles, Jane</a><br />
456          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#wackles-melissa">Wackles, Melissa</a><br />
457          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#wackles-mrs">Wackles, Mrs</a><br />
458          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#wackles">Wackles, Sophy</a><br /> 
459          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#west">West, Dame</a><br />
460          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#william-sweet">William, Sweet</a><br /> 
461          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#witherden">Witherden, Mr</a><br />  
462          <a href="dickens-characters-t-z.html#withers-old-luke">Withers, Old Luke</a><br />  
463		
464		</td></tr></table>
465
466<h3>Old Curiosity Shop Links:</h3>
467            
468<a href="http://www.victorianweb.org/authors/dickens/curiosityshopov.html" target="_blank">The Victorian Web</a><br />
469<a href="http://www.bartleby.com/223/1006.html" target="_blank">Bartleby.com</a><br />
470<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Old_Curiosity_Shop" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a><br />
471Herb Moskovitz's excellent article <a href="punch-and-dickens.html"><em>Punch and Dickens</em></a><br />
472            
473<!--Back to top-->
474<p align="right"><a href="#top">Back to Top <img src="images/up-arrow.gif" width="17" height="9" border="0" alt="Up Arrow" /></a></p><br />
475
476<!--The Old Curiosity Shop on Portsmouth Street-->
477
478<div class="box05a">
479
480<h3>The Old Curiosity Shop-Holborn</h3>
481
482<p><img src="images/curiosity-shop-london-sm.jpg" alt="Curiosity Shop" width="200" height="150" border="0" class="fltlft" /></p>
483
484<p>The Old Curiosity Shop on Portsmouth Street in Holborn, dating from 1567 and said to be constructed from salvaged ship wood, survived both the Great Fire of London in 1666 and the Blitz during World War II. It is erroneously thought to be the inspiration for the shop in the novel although evidence seems to show that the name was changed after the book was published <span id="citation">(<a href="https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/charles-dickens-museum/the-old-curiosity-shop-a-genuine-fake-by-lee-jackson" target="_blank">
484Charles Dickens Museum</a>)</span>.</p>
485
486</div>
487
488<!--Mapping Little Nell's Journey-->
489
490<h3 id="map-nells-journey">Mapping Little Nell's Journey</h3>
491
492<a href="nells-journey.html"><img src="images/mapping-the-route.jpg" width="500" height="122" alt="Mapping Little Nell's Journey"/></a>
493
494<p class="caption"><a href="nells-journey.html">Explore a map</a> of the probable route along with some evidence to support it.</p>
495
496<br />
497
498<!--Pain No Longer-->
499
500<h3 id="pain">Pain no longer?</h3>
501
502<p>The inspiration for Nell is believed to be Charles Dickens' sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth. Dickens was devoted to his wife's younger sister and when she died suddenly in 1837 at the age of 17 he was devastated. He took a ring from Mary's finger and wore it the rest of his life, he also said that he wanted to be buried in the same grave as Mary.</p> 
503	
504<p>However, several passages in <em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em> perhaps reveal a coming-to-terms with the loss of Mary three years earlier. In chapter 17 the old woman visiting the grave of her husband who died a young man tells Nell that early in her grief she came there to cry and mourn and hoped to die too but that now it is &quot;pain no longer, but a solemn pleasure&quot; to visit the grave.</p> 
505	
506<p><a href="illustrations-web/The-Old-Curiosity-Shop/The-Old-Curiosity-Shop-54.jpg"><img src="images/nell-pain-no-longer.jpg" alt="Nell and her grandfather among the graves" width="224" height="148" hspace="10" border="0" class="fltrt" /></a>
507In chapter 26, as Nell is visiting the graves of children in the churchyard, the narrator says that she did not sufficiently consider to what a bright and happy existence those who die young are borne, and how in death they lose the pain of seeing others die around them.</p>
508 	
509<p>In chapter 54, as Nell laments the uncared-for graves in the churchyard, the sexton tells her that at first the graves are tended every day by &quot;tender, loving friends&quot; but later the tending falls to once a week, then once a month, and later not at all. As Nell says she grieves to hear it, the old man says that on the contrary, he takes it as a good sign for the happiness of the living.</p>
510	
511<p>Later in chapter 54 Nell is speaking with the schoolmaster in the neglected churchyard and says she &quot;grieves to think that those who die about us are so soon forgotten&quot; he tells her that the unvisited graves are the inspiration of good actions and good thoughts of those who remember the dead and have chosen to go on living.</p>
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525
526<!--Deathbed of Little Nell-->
527
528<h3>Deathbed of Little Nell</h3>
529      
530<p>Charles Dickens' instructions to George Cattermole for the illustration <em>The Death-Bed of Little Nell</em>:</p>
531      
532<p><div class="boxImage300Left"><a href="illustrations-web/The-Old-Curiosity-Shop/The-Old-Curiosity-Shop-71.jpg"><img src="images/Cattermole-death-bed-of-little-nell.jpg" alt="Cattermole - The Deathbed of Little Nell" border="0" /></a><br />The Deathbed of Little Nell by George Cattermole</div> &quot;<em>The child lying dead in the little sleeping room, which is behind the open screen. It is winter-time, so there are no flowers; but upon her breast and pillow, and about her bed, there may be strips of holly and berries, and such free green things. Window overgrown with ivy. The little boy who had that talk with her about angels may be by the bedside, if you like it so; but I think it will be quieter and more peaceful if she is alone. I want it to express the most beautiful repose and tranquility, and to have something of a happy look, if death can...I am breaking my heart over this story, and cannot bear to finish it</em>&quot; <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#pilgrim2">Letters, 1969, v. 2, p. 171-172</a>)</span>.</p>
533      
534
535
536<!--Thomas Moore--> 
537
538<h3 id="thomas-moore">Thomas Moore</h3>
539
540<p><div class="boxImage100Left"><img src="images/thomas-moore.jpg" width="100" height="159" alt="Thomas Moore" class="fltlft" />Thomas Moore</div> Charles Dickens loved to quote or allude to popular songs and poems in his work. These are easy to miss today but would have been easily spotted by Victorian readers. In an article entitled <em>Charles Dickens and Thomas Moore</em> by Donal O'Sullivan (1948) O'Sullivan counts five such poems or songs from Robert Burns alluded to or quoted in Dickens, five from John Gay, and several poets responsible for one or two. But far and away the poet that Dickens quoted the most, with more than thirty, was Irish poet Thomas Moore (1779-1852). Among Dickens' characters who quote Moore none are more prolific than <a href="dickens-characters-r-s.html#swiveller">Richard Swiveller</a> from <em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em>.</p> 
541
542<p>O'Sullivan gives the following example of Swiveller quoting from Moore's <strong><em>Holy Be the Pilgrim's Sleep:</em></strong></p>
543
544<p>In chapter 65 Dick Swiveller, recovering from brain fever, is being tenderly nursed by the faithful little Marchioness, who has run away from Sampson Brass's: <em>Having eaten and drunk to Mr. Swiveller's extreme contentment, given him his drink, and put everything in neat order, she wrapped herself in an old coverlet and lay down upon the rug before the fire. Mr. Swiveller was by that time murmuring in his sleep, <strong>'Strew then, oh strew a bed of rushes. Here will we stay, till morning blushes.</strong> Good night, Marchioness!'</em> <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#oxford-ocs"><em>The Old Curiosity Shop</em>, p. 488</a>)</span></p>
545
546<p>As a testament to Dickens' love of Thomas Moore, Peter Ackroyd reports in his biography, <em>Dickens</em>, that in order to protect his voice during the 1858 reading tour, Dickens &quot;<em>dosed himself regularly with barley water and mustard poultices</em>&quot; and sang Moore's <em>Irish Melodies</em> as he walked along <span id="citation">(<a href="bibliography.html#ackroyd-dickens">Ackroyd, 1990, p. 836</a>)</span>.</p> 
547
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