English: Cover by Phiz (Halbot K. Browne) for Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities, as published in All the Year Round (July 1859), No. 2.
The cover for the novel which was fairly well received at the time of its publication, depicts the two cities at the heart of the novel: at the top, London with its iconic dome of St Paul’s Cathedral and before it lies the Thames with its associated industry and commerce evident in the forms of the barrels and packages foregrounded. In contrast, the depiction of Paris and Notre Dame lies at the foot of the page conveying disorder, conflict and chaos in the representation of the guillotine and the peasants brandishing weapons. The blasted tree in the middle of the page suggests tumultuous events and could form a link with the Plane tree of the Frontispiece or a symbolic tree of life which is truncated by violence and revolution. In defence of Browne’s achievements with the illustrations, he seems to have managed to interweave the plot and its central themes into his drawings, in some cases in a striking and moving way. It has been argued that it is the novel itself which does not lend itself to illustration to the same extent as other Dickens texts. As Elizabeth Cayzer notes, “Where Dickens creates moments of excitement or tension Browne responds. Where the story is flat . . . Browne responds correspondingly. His accuracy is, by and large, accurate.” This view is echoed by Michael Steig who concludes, “The most plausible reason for the falling-off is that Dickens himself was no longer concerned with illustration and provided fewer interesting subjects than usual. . . it is conceivable that Browne simply found A Tale of Two Cities less inspiring than Dickens’ other books.” The period of the publication of the novel was a tumultuous time in Dickens’ private life following a marital break-up the previous year which saw him separate not only with his wife but also those friends who sympathised with her; the Garrick Club row; parting with his publishers, Bradbury and Evans; embarking on a gruelling series of public readings of his work. Perhaps the shedding of friends and collaborators was symptomatic of a desire to slough off the past and its associations, especially associations with his wife. It appears that the disintegration of the partnership that was “Phiz and Boz” was part of a much grander scheme of conflict in the life of Charles Dickens.