...you're welcome for the Dickens reference.
I have a blue hardback collection of his works he had commissioned a few years before his death. It has one volume named 'Christmas Stories' including 'Christmas Carol.' The read is everything, much more intense than the films. A stark and uncompromising visit to Scrooge town, complete with etching prints like the one above.
...more:
Dickens had lost his previous illustrator to infirmity and was seeking an artist who could bring his words to life. Dickens commissioned Fildes to illustrate The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Twelve illustrations had already been completed when Dickens invited Fildes to join him at Gad’s Hill, Dickens home, in order to see first hand the inspiration for the book. With his bags packed and about to start his journey to visit Dickens, Fildes learned of the author’s death. Dickens’ family invited Fildes to come and finish the work he and Dickens had started. While there, Fildes drew “The Empty Chair, Gad’s Hill – Ninth of June 1870″ showing Dickens’ empty desk and chair. The drawing was published in Christmas 1870 edition of The Graphic.
Thousands of prints of The Empty Chair were sold and many English homes hung the prints in their homes. Fildes would later paint a watercolor of the drawing and the drawing was republished several times to mark the passing of prominent personalities. The concept of The Empty Chair depicting the absence or loss of someone was inspiration to later artists including Vincent Van Gogh and Robert William Buss (1804-1875) who painted “Dicken’s Dream” depicting Dickens surrounded in his study by the characters of his imagination.
http://www.thefamousartists.com/luke-fildes
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