A STUDY IN THE METHODS OF DICKENS BY W. ROBERTSON NICOLL HODDER AND STOUGHTON LONDON   NEW YORK   TORONTO PRINTED IN 1912 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE EARL OF ROSEBERY K.G.   PAGE PREFACE ix INTRODUCTION xvii PART I.—THE MATERIALS FOR A SOLUTION CHAPTER I   THE TEXT OF ‘EDWIN DROOD’ 3 CHAPTER II EXTERNAL TESTIMONIES 20 NOTES FOR THE NOVEL 56 CHAPTER III THE ILLUSTRATIONS ON THE WRAPPER 69 CHAPTER IV THE METHODS OF DICKENS 82 PART II.—ATTEMPT AT A SOLUTION CHAPTER V WAS EDWIN DROOD MURDERED? 109 C

The first serious discussion of The Mystery of Edwin Drood came from the pen of the astronomer, Mr. R. A. Proctor.  Mr. Proctor wrote various essays on the subject.  One appears in his Leisure Readings , included in Messrs. Longmans’ ‘Silver Library.’  A second was published in 1887, and entitled Watched by the Dead .  There were, I believe, in addition some periodical articles by Mr. Proctor; these I have not seen.  Mr. Proctor modified certain positions in his earlier essay included in Leisure

The three mysteries of Edwin Drood are thus stated by Mr. Cuming Walters: ‘The first mystery, partly solved by Dickens himself, is the fate of Edwin Drood.  Was he murdered?—if so, how and by whom, and where was his body hidden?  If not, how did he escape, and what became of him, and did he reappear? ‘The second mystery is—Who was Mr. Datchery, the “stranger who appeared in Cloisterham” after Drood’s disappearance? ‘The third mystery is—Who was the old opium woman, called the Princess Puffer, an

The materials for the solution of the ‘Edwin Drood’ problems must first of all be found in the text of the unfinished volume.  Hitherto it has not been observed that the book we have is not precisely what it was when Dickens left it.  Three parts had been issued by Dickens himself.  After his death the remaining three parts were issued by John Forster.  Dickens had corrected his proofs up to and including chapter xxi.  The succeeding chapters xxii. and xxiii. are untouched.  I discovered to my g

We now proceed to give such external testimony as exists of the plans and intentions of Dickens.  The chief authority is, of course, the Life by Forster.  We have in addition the testimony of Madame Perugini, whose first husband, Charles Allston Collins, designed the wrapper.  To this we add the testimony of Charles Dickens the younger as conveyed to his sister.  Through the kindness of Miss Bessie Hatton I have been able to read the text of the unacted play written by Joseph Hatton and Charles

Dickens has left us one-half of his last story.  It was to be completed in twelve parts, and six parts were published.  We can only infer and guess at the way in which the author would have completed it.  Would he have brought many new characters on the stage, or are we to believe that the main characters are already there, and that it is through the revealing of their secrets that the end is to be reached?  To give a positive reply is impossible, and yet we may learn something of Dickens’s meth

I reply in the affirmative, and for the following reasons: 1.  The external testimonies as given in a previous chapter are all explicit as far as they go in their testimony that in the intention of Dickens Edwin Drood was murdered.  There is first the testimony of John Forster.  To him Dickens plainly declared that a nephew was to be murdered by his uncle.  The murderer was to discover that his crime was useless for its purpose, but he was not to be convicted in the ordinary way.  It was by mean

In discussing this problem we have no aid from external evidence.  It seems that the question was not raised by the critics of the time.  We are thrown upon internal evidence, and not only the internal evidence of the book, but the evidence given by a study of Dickens’s methods.  We have also, as I hope to show, some help given indirectly from Dickens’s own biography, and in particular from a book by Wilkie Collins. It will be convenient at this stage that we should discuss the exact position of

One opposing theory is that Datchery was Drood.  With all respect for the scholars who have propounded it, this appears to me a purely comic notion.  It is the most fantastical of all fancies as to who was Datchery.  As Dr. Blake Odgers points out, every one at Cloisterham knew the murdered man: a mere white wig would be no disguise at all.  I may add that if Jasper had discovered him he would almost be justified in finishing the murder this time.  For what would be Drood’s object?  The theory i

How Edwin Drood was to end is a problem which can only be solved to a certain extent.  We find we are left in the middle, and as much mystery remains as fully justifies the title.  We do not know the precise manner in which the murder was accomplished.  In particular, we are left ignorant as to the way in which the crime is to be brought home to the victim.  We cannot define the relations of the opium woman to Drood and Jasper and the Landlesses.  We do not know the history of Jasper’s early yea

The Mystery of Edwin Drood .  By Charles Dickens.  Parts 1–6.  With 12 illustrations by Sir Luke Fildes, R.A.  1870. How Mr. Sapsea ceased to be a Member of the Eight Club .  Fragment found by John Forster.  See his Life of the Novelist.  Added to the ‘Biographical,’ ‘National,’ and ‘Centenary’ editions of the novel. The Cloven Foot : An Adaptation of the English Novel to American Scenes, Characters, Customs and Nomenclature.  By Orpheus C. Kerr (R. H. Newell).  New York: Carleton.  1870. The My

[63]   This was originally marked IX. [67a]   Scored out in Dickens’s MS. [67b]   Scored out in Dickens’s MS. [67c]   Scored out in Dickens’s MS. [67d]   Scored out in Dickens’s MS. [90]   Charles Dickens as Editor, p. 386. [91]   Letters of Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins, p. 123. [92a]   Studies in Prose and Poetry . [92b]   Letters of Charles Dickens to Wilkie Collins , p. 103. [104]   It was known to that thorough scholar, Mr. Swinburne.  See Studies in Prose and Poetry , p. 114. [113]   B