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