Detail from The Canal, Amsterdam, 1889, James McNeill Whistler, The Hunterian, University of Glasgow

Home  > Catalogue > People > Charles Dickens (related works) > Catalogue entry

M.0136
Valentine

Artist: James McNeill Whistler
Date: 1853
Collection: Private Collection
Accession Number: none
Medium: pen and black ink on white paper
Support: white paper
Size: 9 5/6 x 7 1/4" (236 x 185 mm, sight)
Signature: none
Inscription: 'The Valentine.'

Valentine

Sitter

Valentine, Private Collection
Valentine, Private Collection

This probably shows Mary, a housemaid, reading a valentine from Sam Weller, in The Pickwick Papers (The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club) by Charles Dickens (1812-1870), which was first published in book form in 1837. Whistler had read the edition in the USMA library, West Point.

Last updated: 24th March 2021 by Margaret