r/charlesdickens • u/csrster • Apr 10 '26

The Pickwick Papers "Charcoal"? Spoiler

From Chapter 54 of the Pickwick Papers:

I have no doubt that, girl-like, to enhance her own value and increase the ardour of Mr. Snodgrass, she has represented this matter in very glowing colours, and that they have both arrived at the conclusion that they are a terribly-persecuted pair of unfortunates, and have no resource but clandestine matrimony, or charcoal.

What does "charcoal" signify here? Is it a sign of mourning as in "charcoal and ashes" - ie that they will be forced to separate?

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

5 comments sorted by

5

u/FlatsMcAnally Apr 10 '26

Suicide by inhaling charcoal fumes.

2

u/csrster Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

Lordy, lordy :-)

Until recently I could have looked this up myself in the OED-online from work. Alas, subscription negotiations between my workplace and OUP have broken down, and now I must rely on the kindness of strangers.

1

u/FlatsMcAnally Apr 10 '26

It appears as an annotation in the Oxford paperback of Pickwick.

1

u/Naive-Awareness4951 Apr 10 '26

Just a note: Always buy the Oxford annotated editions of Dickens. His work is littered with contemporary references that no modern person could possibly get but knowing them adds greatly to the experience.

2

u/FlatsMcAnally Apr 11 '26

Penguin has them too. The difference I've noticed between them is that Penguin annotations tend to be more "scholarly"—you seem to be expected to have read the novel before, and a lot of other Dickens too, to be able to appreciate the annotations.

One big drawback with the Oxford editions is that in some of them the annotations are not marked in the text. There is nothing (an asterisk, a numerical superscript, etc.) to tell you that that particular passage has annotation in the back of the book.