The dummy books of Tavistock House and Gad's Hill
71 titles in 232 volumes found
One of the most famous features of Gad's Hill is the door to its library, cleverly disguised with shelves containing dummy books with humorous titles created by Dickens. This door was specially commissioned by Dickens from a Mr. T. R. Eeles and installed at Tavistock House in 1851, subsequently being moved in 1857 to Gad's Hill where it remains in situ today. A list of the original titles appears in a letter from Dickens to Eeles of 22 October 1851, reproduced as an appendix to volume 6 of the Pilgrim Edition of the Letters of Charles Dickens (1850-52), and further titles were added on the move to Gad's Hill. These dummy books were included in Henry Sotheran's circa 1872 valuation and later also documented by Charles Rubens in his 1934 work 'The Dummy Library of Charles Dickens at Gad's Hill Place'. There are some differences (most likely transcription errors) between the three sources and it appears that a number of volumes had been removed by the time of Mr. Rubens's visit to Gad's Hill.
| Title | Volumes | Sotheran ref | Pilgrim ref | Rubens ref | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captain Parry's Virtues of Cold Tar | 1 | P6c851.12 | R19.02 | ||
| The Art of Cutting the Teeth | 1 | P6c851.29 | R19.07 | ||
| Orson's Art of Etiquette | 1 | P6c851.08 | R19.09 | ||
| Steele, by the Author of 'Ion' | 1 | P6c851.17 | R20.04 | 'by the Author of The Delphin Oracle' in Rubens | |
| King Henry the Eighth's Evidences of Christianity | 5 | V22.01 | P6c851.25 | 3 vols in Sotheran | |
| Richardson's Show of Dramatic Literature | 12 | V22.02 | P6c851.34 | R19.20 | |
| Kant's Eminent Humbugs | 10 | V22.03 | P6c851.13 | R19.28 | 3 vols in Rubens, 9 in Sotheran, 10 in Pilgrim |
| The Gunpowder Magazine | 4 | V22.04 | P6c851.16 | R19.27 | |
| Bowwowdom, a Poem | 1 | V22.05 | P6c851.14 | R19.30 | |
| Drowsy's Recollections of Nothing | 3 | V22.06 | P6c851.18 | R20.05 | |
| Strutt's Walk | 1 | V22.07 | R19.25 | ||
| Socrates on Wedlock | 1 | V22.08 | R19.26 | ||
| Catalogue of Statues to the Duke of Wellington | 10 | V22.09 | R20.03 | ||
| Malthus's Nursery Songs | 1 | V22.10 | P6c851.30 | R20.01 | Name given as Matthews in Pilgrim |
| Treatise on the Tape Worm by Tim Bobbin | 1 | V22.11 | R20.02 | Title given as Treatment of Tape Worm in Rubens | |
| Downeaster's Complete Calculator | 1 | V22.12 | P6c851.09 | ||
| The Delphin Oracle | 1 | V22.13 | |||
| The Cook's Oracle | 1 | V22.14 | |||
| Munchausen's Modern Miracles | 4 | V22.15 | P6c851.33 | ||
| Cribbs Edition of Miller | 2 | V22.16 | R19.15 | ||
| Hoyle on the Turnip | 1 | V22.17 | R19.16 | Name given as Boyle in Rubens | |
| Noah's Arkitecture | 2 | V22.18 | R19.13 | ||
| Butcher's Suetonius | 1 | V22.19 | R19.14 | ||
| Forty Winks at the Pyramids | 2 | V22.20 | P6c851.02 | R19.08 | |
| A Carpenter's Bench of Bishops | 2 | V22.21 | P6c851.06 | R18.24 | |
| Groundsel, by the Author of Chickweed | 1 | V22.22 | R19.01 | 2 vols in Rubens | |
| Chickweed | 1 | V22.23 | R19.10 | 2 vols in Rubens | |
| Morrison's Pills Progress | 2 | V22.24 | P6c851.27 | R19.04 | |
| Jonah's Account of the Whale | 1 | V22.25 | P6c851.11 | R19.05 | |
| Miss Biffin on Deportment | 1 | V22.26 | P6c851.26 | R19.06 | |
| Hansard's Guide to Refreshing Sleep | 31 | V22.27 | P6c851.35 | R18.13 | 19 vols only in Rubens, 'As many volumes as possible' in Pilgrim |
| General Tom Thumb's Modern Warfare | 2 | V22.28 | R19.17 | ||
| Mag's Diversions | 4 | V22.29 | R19.18 | ||
| Life & Letters of the Learned Pig | 6 | V22.30 | R19.29 | ||
| Adam's Precedents | 2 | V22.31 | |||
| Hudson's Complete Failure | 1 | V22.32 | |||
| Burke (of Edinburgh) on the Sublime & Beautiful | 2 | V23.01 | P6c851.23 | R18.01 | |
| Commonplace Book of the Oldest Inhabitant | 2 | V23.02 | P6c851.20 | R18.02 | |
| Had Shakespeare's Uncle a Singing Face | 4 | V23.03 | R18.03 | 5 vols in Rubens | |
| Was Shakespeare's Father Merry? | 6 | V23.04 | R18.04 | ||
| Mr. Green's Overland Mail | 1 | V23.05 | P6c851.04 | R18.05 | Name given as Grun in Rubens |
| Phrenology of Italian Organs | 1 | V23.06 | R18.06 | ||
| Paxton's Bloomers | 5 | V23.07 | P6c851.31 | R18.07 | |
| Cats' Lives | 9 | V23.08 | R18.08 | ||
| Teazer's Commentaries | 1 | V23.09 | P6c851.24 | R18.09 | |
| Captain Cook's Life of Savage | 2 | V23.10 | P6c851.05 | R18.10 | |
| History of the Middling Ages | 6 | V23.11 | P6c851.10 | R18.11 | |
| Five Minutes in China | 3 | V23.12 | P6c851.01 | R18.12 | |
| The Quarrelly Review | 4 | V23.13 | P6c851.15 | R18.18/R19.12 | Vol. I missing in Rubens |
| Cockatoo on Perch | 1 | V23.14 | |||
| Lady Godiva on the Horse | 1 | V23.15 | P6c851.28 | R20.06 | |
| The Wisdom of our Ancestors. Vol. I Ignorance, Vol. II Superstition, Vol. III The Block, Vol. IV The Stake, Vol. V The Rack, Vol. VI Dirt, Vol. VII Disease | 7 | V23.16 | R18.14 | Vol. VII missing in Rubens | |
| The Books of Moses and Sons | 2 | V23.17 | P6c851.22 | R18.15 | |
| The Scotch Fiddle. Burns | 1 | V23.18 | R18.22 | ||
| Shelley's Oysters | 1 | V23.19 | R18.21 | ||
| The Pleasure of Boredom. A Poem | 1 | V23.20 | R18.23 | ||
| Water Works by Father Mathew | 1 | V23.21 | R18.17 | ||
| The Woods & Forests by Peter the Wild Boy | 3 | V23.22 | R18.20 | ||
| Swallows on Emigration | 2 | V23.23 | R18.16 | ||
| History of a Short Chancery Law Suit | 20 | V23.24 | R18.19 | Vols. VIII, IX and XIV missing in Rubens | |
| Index to History of a Short Chancery Law Suit | 1 | V23.25 | R18.19 | ||
| Drouets Farming | 5 | V24.01 | R19.19 | ||
| Was Shakespeare's Mother Fair | 4 | V24.02 | R19.21 | ||
| Toots's Universal Letter Writer | 2 | V24.03 | P6c851.07 | R19.22 | |
| Growler's Gruffiology, with Appendix | 4 | V24.04 | P6c851.21 | R19.23 | |
| Heavisides Conversation with Nobody | 3 | V24.05 | P6c851.19 | R19.24 | Name given as Heavysydes in Sotheran |
| The Locomotive Engine explained by Colonel Sibthorp | 1 | V24.06 | R19.32 | ||
| Optics by Hooks and Eyes | 1 | V24.07 | R19.31 | ||
| Acoustics by Cod's Sounds | 1 | V24.08 | R19.33 | ||
| Abernethy on the Constitution | 1 | V24.09 | P6c851.03 | R19.03 | |
| On the Use of Mercury by the Ancient Poets | 1 | V24.10 | P6c851.32 | R19.11 |