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Dombey and Son

Dombey and Son is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps; he initially rejects his daughter's love before eventually becoming reconciled with her before his death.

The story features many Dickensian themes, such as arranged marriages, child cruelty, betrayal, deceit, and relations between people from different British social classes. The novel was first published in monthly parts between 1846 and 1848, with illustrations by Hablot Knight Browne ("Phiz").

Development
Dickens started writing the book in Lausanne, Switzerland, before returning to England, via Paris, to complete it.

The full title is Dealings with the Firm of Dombey and Son: Wholesale, Retail and for Exportation.

Plot summary
The story concerns Paul Dombey, the wealthy owner of the shipping company of the book's title, whose dream is to have a son to continue his business. The book begins when his son is born and Dombey's wife dies shortly after giving birth. Following the advice of Mrs Louisa Chick, his sister, Dombey employs a wet nurse named Mrs Richards (Toodle). Dombey already has a six-year-old daughter, Florence, but, bitter at her not having been the desired boy, he neglects her; following her mother's death, her main source of love is her young attendant, Susan Nipper. About six months later, the two servants take their charges on an unauthorised visit to the home of Mrs Richards, so that she can see her children briefly. On the long walk home, Florence becomes separated from them and is kidnapped for a short time by Good Mrs Brown before being returned to the streets. She makes her way to Dombey and Son's offices in the City and there is found and brought home by Walter Gay, a junior employee of Mr Dombey, who first introduces her to his uncle and guardian, the navigation instrument maker Solomon Gills, at his shop, The Wooden Midshipman.

Dombey’s son, named Paul after his father, is a weak and sickly child who does not socialise normally with others; adults call him "old fashioned". He is intensely fond of his sister, Florence, who is deliberately neglected by her father as a supposedly irrelevant distraction. Paul is sent to the seaside at Brighton for his health, where he and Florence lodge with the ancient and acidic Mrs Pipchin. Finding his health beginning to improve there, Mr Dombey keeps him at Brighton and has him educated at Dr and Mrs Blimber's school, where he and the other boys undergo an intense and arduous education under the tutelage of Mr Feeder, B.A. and Cornelia Blimber. It is here that Paul is befriended by a much older fellow pupil, the amiable but weak-minded Mr Toots.

Here Paul's health declines even further in this "great hothouse" and he finally dies. Dombey pushes his daughter away from him after the death of his son while she futilely tries to earn his love. In the meantime young Walter is sent off to fill a junior position in the firm's counting house in Barbados through the manipulations of Mr Dombey's confidential manager, Mr James Carker, "with his white teeth", who sees him as a potential rival through his association with Florence. The ship, The Son and Heir, is reported lost; Walter is presumed drowned. Solomon Gills departs London in search of his nephew, leaving his great friend Captain Edward Cuttle in charge of The Wooden Midshipman. Meanwhile Florence is left alone with few friends to keep her company.

Dombey goes to Leamington Spa to improve his health with a new friend, Major Joseph Bagstock. The Major deliberately sets out to befriend Dombey to spite his neighbour, Miss Tox, who has turned cold towards him owing to her hopes – through her close friendship with Mrs Chick – of marrying Mr Dombey. At the spa, the Major introduces Dombey to Mrs Skewton and her widowed daughter, Mrs Edith Granger. Mr Dombey, on the lookout for a new wife since his son's death, considers Edith a suitable match owing to her accomplishments and family connections. She has beauty; he has money. He is encouraged by both the Major and Mrs Skewton, but obviously feels no affection for her, nor she for him. They return to London and marry. Dombey has effectively bought the haughty Edith, since she and her mother are in a poor financial state. The marriage is loveless; his wife despises Dombey for his overbearing pride and herself for being shallow and worthless. Her love for Florence initially prevents her from leaving but finally she conspires with Mr Carker to ruin Dombey's public image by running away together to France. They do so after yet another argument with Dombey in which he once again attempts to subdue her to his will. When he discovers that she has left him, he blames Florence for siding with her stepmother, striking her on the breast in his anger. Florence runs away from home. Distraught, she makes her way to The Wooden Midshipman, where she lodges with Captain Cuttle as he attempts to restore her to health. They are visited frequently by Mr Toots and his prizefighter companion, the Chicken, the former having been desperately in love with Florence since their time together in Brighton.

Dombey sets out to find his runaway wife. He is helped by Mrs Brown and her daughter, Alice, who, as it turns out, had been seduced and abandoned by Mr Carker when she was young. After being transported as a convict, for criminal activities in which Mr Carker had involved her, she returns to England, reunites with her mother, and determines to seek her revenge. Mrs Brown arranges for Dombey to overhear her conversation with Rob the Grinder – whom Mr Carker has employed as a spy – about the whereabouts of the pair who have absconded. Dombey, accompanied by Major Bagstock, sets off to France in pursuit. In the meantime, in Dijon, Mrs Dombey informs Carker that she sees him in no better a light than she sees Dombey and that she will not stay with him, and she flees their apartment. Distraught, with both his financial and personal hopes lost, Carker flees from his former employer's pursuit. He seeks refuge back in England, but being greatly overwrought throws himself under a train and is killed.

Meanwhile, back at The Midshipman, Walter reappears, having been saved by a passing ship after floating adrift with two other sailors on some wreckage. After some time he and Florence are finally reunited – not as "brother and sister" but as lovers, and they marry prior to sailing for China on Walter's new ship. This is also the time when Sol Gills returns to The Midshipman. As he relates to his friends, he received news whilst in Barbados that a homeward-bound China trader had picked up Walter and so had returned to England immediately. He said he had sent letters whilst in the Caribbean to his friend Ned Cuttle c/o Mrs MacStinger at Cuttle's former lodgings, and the bemused Captain recounts how he fled the place and thus never received them.

After Carker's death it is discovered that he had been running the firm far beyond its means. This information is gleaned by Carker's brother and sister, John and Harriet, from Mr Morfin, the assistant manager at Dombey and Son, who sets out to help John Carker. He often overheard the conversations between the two brothers in which James, the younger, often abused John, the older, a clerk who early in his career abused his financial position at Dombey and Son but was retained by Dombey as an example and possibly because of his relationship to James Carker. It is unclear whether James worked at the firm at the time of John's downfall. As his nearest relatives John and Harriet inherit all Carker's ill-gotten gains, to which they feel they have no right. Consequently they surreptitiously give the proceeds to Mr Dombey through Mr Morfin, who is instructed to let Dombey believe they are merely something forgotten in the general wreck of his fortunes.

Florence and Walter depart and Sol Gills is entrusted with a letter, written by Walter to Florence’s father, pleading for him to be reconciled towards them both. A year passes and Alice Brown has slowly been dying despite the tender care of Harriet Carker. One night Alice's mother reveals that Alice herself is the illegitimate cousin of Edith Dombey (which accounts for their similarity in appearance when they meet). In a chapter entitled ‘Retribution’ Dombey and Son goes bankrupt. Dombey retires to two rooms in his house and all the house's contents are put up for sale. Mrs Pipchin, for some time the housekeeper, dismisses all the servants and returns to Brighton, to be replaced by Mrs Richards. Dombey spends his days sunk in gloom, seeing no-one and thinking only of his daughter:"He thought of her as she had been that night when he and his bride came home. He thought of her as she had been in all the home events of the abandoned house. He thought, now, that of all around him she alone had never changed. His boy had faded into dust, his proud wife had sunk into a polluted creature, his flatterer and friend had been transformed into the worst of villains, his riches had melted away, the very walls that sheltered him looked on him as a stranger; she alone had turned the same mild gentle look upon him always. Yes, to the latest and the last. She had never changed to him – nor had he ever changed to her – and she was lost."

However one day Florence returns to the house with her baby son, Paul, and is lovingly reunited with her father.

Dombey accompanies his daughter to her and Walter's house, where he slowly starts to decline, cared for by Florence and also Susan Nipper, now Mrs Toots. They receive a visit from Edith's cousin Feenix, who takes Florence to Edith for one final time: Feenix had sought Edith out in France and she had returned to England under his protection. Edith gives Florence a letter, asking Dombey to forgive her her crime before her departure to the South of Italy with her elderly relative. As she says to Florence, "I will try, then, to forgive him his share of the blame. Let him try to forgive me mine!"

The final chapter (LXII) sees Dombey now a white-haired old man "whose face bears heavy marks of care and suffering; but they are traces of a storm that has passed on for ever, and left a clear evening in its track". Sol Gills and Ned Cuttle are now partners at The Midshipman, a source of great pride to the latter, and Mr and Mrs Toots announce the birth of their third daughter. Walter is doing well in business, having been appointed to a position of great confidence and trust, and Dombey is the proud grandfather of both a grandson and granddaughter, whom he dotes on. The book ends with the lines: "Dear grandpapa, why do you cry when you kiss me?"

He only answers, "Little Florence! Little Florence!" and smooths away the curls that shade her earnest eyes.

Characters
In order of appearance:

Chapter 1
 * Mr Paul Dombey: The main character, about 48 years old as the novel opens. "In all his life, he had never made a friend. His cold and distant nature had neither sought one, nor found one". He is left a widower with two children by the end of Chapter 1. However he considers only his son, Paul, to be worthy of his attention; his daughter, Florence, is "merely a piece of base coin that couldn't be invested – a bad boy". The son's death shatters Mr Dombey's hopes for an heir. His neglect of his daughter, Florence, causes problems with his second wife, Edith, whom he essentially purchased. Owing to Edith's hatred for him and his own misplaced trust in James Carker, Dombey loses his business and his wealth. Dombey finally realises that his daughter was the only person who truly cared for him, even when he has nothing left. He reconnects with her in his later years and gains an heir through his son-in-law.
 * Mrs Fanny Dombey: Mr Dombey's first wife, mother of Florence and Paul; dies soon after Paul is born
 * Master Paul Dombey (Little Dombey): Born as the novel begins; he is weak and often ill. A gentle child, he is adored by his sister, Florence, and beloved of his schoolmates. He dies of an unspecified illness in Chapter 16.
 * Miss Florence (Floy) Dombey: Mr Dombey's daughter, about 6 years old as the novel begins. She dotes on her little brother. Despite her father's neglect, which amounts to emotional abuse, she loves him and longs for some return of her affection. During an unauthorized outing with Mrs Richards (Toodle) she is snatched from the street by Good Mrs Brown. After her father's wedding to Edith she bonds with her stepmother. Florence flees the house when she realizes that Edith has broken with her father, taking refuge with Captain Cuttle at The Wooden Midshipman. She eventually marries Walter Gay and bears him two children.
 * Dr Parker Peps: One of the Court Physicians, pompously confuses Mrs Dombey's name with the names of aristocrats whom he has treated
 * Mrs Blockitt: Nurse, "a simpering piece of faded gentility"
 * Mr Pilkins: Physician of the Dombey family, defers obsequiously to Dr Peps
 * Mrs Louisa Dombey Chick: Mr Dombey's sister; an anaemic copy of her brother, who is also the only person for whom she has any affection.
 * Miss Lucretia Tox: Friend of Mrs Chick until their falling-out, great admirer of Mr Dombey and neighbour of Major Bagstock

Chapter 2
 * Mr John Chick: Husband of Mrs Chick
 * Mr Toodle: A locomotive stoker
 * Mrs Polly Toodle (Richards): Fertile wife of Mr Toodle, engaged as nurse to young Paul. Mr Dombey wants her to use "an ordinary name, and convenient" while in his employ and thus requires her to answer to the name of Richards. During an ill-advised visit to her home in Staggs's Gardens, Florence is temporarily taken by Good Mrs Brown. Mr Dombey is undisturbed by the loss of his daughter in the urban crowd but is incensed that Mrs Richards dared to take his son "to such vile haunts" and summarily discharges her. Later she is brought back by Captain Cuttle to keep house at The Wooden Midshipman
 * Robin Toodle (Rob the Grinder, Biler): Son of Mr Toodle and Polly. Sent to the Charitable Grinders school through Mr Dombey's largesse, he cannot resist the lure of tending pigeons and plays truant. A pathetic boy, Rob is manipulated by the adults and cannot find a way to better his lot. He is forced by Mr Carker, the Manager, to spy on Captain Cuttle and report the comings and goings at The Wooden Midshipman. After Carker absconds late in the book, Rob is forced by Good Mrs Brown to bring her information concerning the location in France to which Carker and Mrs Dombey have fled.

Chapter 3
 * Miss Susan Nipper: Florence's spitfire loyal nurse, about 14 years old at the time of her introduction to the reader. She believes that "childhood, like money, must be shaken and rattled and jostled about a good deal to keep it bright". After about ten years she impudently berates Mr Dombey for his emotional neglect of his daughter and is summarily dismissed from the house. She is later joyfully reunited with Florence at The Wooden Midshipman and eventually marries Mr Toots.

Chapter 4
 * Solomon (Uncle Sol) Gills: "An elderly gentleman in a Welsh wig", maker of and dealer in ships' instruments, proprietor of The Wooden Midshipman. He goes missing while searching for his nephew Walter in the Caribbean but returns late in the book.
 * Walter (Wally, Wal'r) Gay: Nephew of Solomon Gills, employee of Mr Dombey, about 14 years old at the time of introduction to the reader. Vindictively sent to Barbados by Mr Carker, the Manager. Long feared to have been lost at sea, he reappears in Chapter 49. Bears a deep affection for Florence ever since rescuing her from Good Mrs Brown
 * Captain Edward (Ned) Cuttle: Retired hook-handed sea captain and friend of Solomon Gills. Terrified of his landlady, Mrs MacStinger, he sneaks out of her house and moves into The Wooden Midshipman. He loyally keeps the shop running during Walter and Uncle Sol's absence and provides refuge for Florence after she flees her father's house.

Chapter 6
 * Good Mrs Brown: An elderly rag dealer who briefly kidnaps the young Florence from a street crowd and steals her fine clothes. She refrains from cutting off Florence's hair only because she has a daughter of her own who is "far away", foreshadowing the appearance of Alice later in the book. Greedily provides Mr Dombey with Rob the Grinder's information on where his wife and Mr Carker the Manager have fled.
 * John Carker (Mr Carker the Junior): Older brother of James, disgraced himself by stealing from the firm of Dombey and Son during the time Mr Dombey's father was running it. "Not old but his hair was white; his body was bent or bowed" with "deep lines in his worn and melancholy face". Called "The Junior" to designate his place in the firm, not in relation to his (younger) brother

Chapter 7
 * Major Joseph Bagstock: Conceited retired army major. "Wooden-featured, blue-faced" with "long-flapped elephantine ears", he refers to himself annoyingly in the third person as Josh, Joe, Joey B., J.B., Old Joe, etc. He befriends Mr Dombey at Brighton, and fatefully introduces him to Mrs Skewton and her daughter. Bagstock convinces himself that Miss Tox finds him appealing when in reality she has eyes only for Mr Dombey.
 * The Native: Bagstock's servant who comes from an unspecified country, presumably a British colony, and has "no particular name, but answered to any vituperative epithet".

Chapter 8
 * Mrs Wickam: Replacement as young Paul's nurse after the disgrace and dismissal of Mrs Richards, "a meek woman, of a fair complexion, with her eyebrows always elevated, and her head always drooping"
 * Berinthia (Berry): Mrs Pipchin's unmarried niece and servant
 * Mrs Pipchin: Stern widow who keeps an "infantine Boarding-House of a very select description" in Brighton, where Paul is sent for his health. "A marvellous ill-favoured, ill-conditioned old lady, of a stooping figure, with a mottled face, like bad marble". An implacable enemy of Susan Nipper, she later heads the Dombey household
 * Master Bitherstone: Another child at Mrs Pipchin's, where he receives ill treatment from the proprietress. Much later a student at Doctor Blimber's
 * Miss Pankey: Another child at Mrs Pipchin's, "was shampoo'd every morning, and seemed in danger of being rubbed away altogether"

Chapter 9
 * Mr Brogley: Dealer in second-hand goods and broker. "A moist-eyed, pink-complexioned, crisp-haired man of a bulky figure, and an easy temper". He demands payment on a bond of Mr Gills's, forcing the latter to consider the desperate move of selling all his merchandise.
 * Mrs MacStinger: Lets rooms in her building in the docklands of the East End; Captain Cuttle's fierce landlady and nemesis

Chapter 11
 * Doctor Blimber: Operates a school in Brighton ("a great hot-house, in which there was a forcing apparatus incessantly at work") which Paul briefly attends
 * Mr P. Toots: The oldest student at Dr Blimber's school, "possessed of the gruffest of voices and the shrillest of minds", something of a dandy ("people did say ... that when he began to have whiskers he left off having brains"). Often becomes tongue-tied and strings together nearly nonsensical series of words. In love with Florence but miserably backs off upon learning of her attachment to Walter Gay. He finds happiness at the end of the book in marriage to Susan Nipper.
 * Mrs Blimber: Doctor Blimber's wife
 * Miss Cornelia Blimber: Doctor Blimber's bespectacled daughter, teacher at the school, later married to Mr Feeder

Chapter 12
 * Mr Feeder, B.A.: Doctor Blimber's assistant, teacher at the school and later its owner. "In the habit of shaving his head for coolness, and had nothing but bristles on it"
 * Briggs: Another boy at Doctor Blimber's school, 'the stony boy'
 * Tozer: Another boy at Doctor Blimber's school

Chapter 13
 * Mr Perch: Messenger in Mr Dombey's business, always hurries to prepare Mr Dombey's office when the latter comes through the front door. Considered an irritant by Susan Nipper
 * Mr Morfin: Assistant manager in Mr Dombey's business. He plays 'cello and participates in "quartettes of the most tormenting and excruciating nature ... every Wednesday evening". Brings aid to John Carker and his sister Harriett late in the book
 * James Carker (Mr Carker the Manager): Devious manager in Mr Dombey's business, smiles constantly in a way that exposes all his teeth. "Sly of manner, sharp of tooth, soft of foot, watchful of eye, oily of tongue, cruel of heart, nice of habit". He physically abuses Rob the Grinder and sends him to spy on the goings-on at The Wooden Midshipman. While appearing loyally to serve Mr Dombey for years, he has actually been self-dealing. He manipulates Edith Dombey into meeting him in France, but is shocked to learn that Mr Dombey has discovered his whereabouts and is pursuing him. He is killed by a train after seeing Mr Dombey on the platform.

Chapter 14
 * Sir Barnet Skettles: Attends Dr Blimber's dance with his wife and child where he converses with Mr Baps about the latter's work with "figures". Sir Barnet then learns from Dr Blimber that Mr Baps is in fact a dancing master, thus revealing that the "figures" referred to were not the ones Sir Barnet had assumed. He flies into "a perfect rage" and glowers at Mr Baps.
 * Lady Skettles: wife of Sir Barnet
 * Master Skettles: Brighton school pupil
 * Diogenes (Di): A large dog from Dr Blimber's school, befriended by Paul and adopted by Florence after Paul's death. Follows Florence when she flees her father's household

Chapter 18
 * Mr Towlinson: Mr Dombey's butler

Chapter 21
 * Mrs Skewton ('Cleopatra'): Seventy years old but dresses as if she were 20. Introduced to Mr Dombey by her old friend Major Bagstock at Leamington. Ambitious for herself and her daughter, she urges Edith to marry Mr Dombey. Has a stroke and later dies
 * Edith Skewton Granger: Chilly, haughty beauty, daughter of Mrs Skewton, widow of an army officer, lost a small son to drowning. Becomes second Mrs Dombey. The conflict between Edith's pride and Mr Dombey's is a key element of the story. She and her mother have had prior financial dealings with Mr Carker the Manager and Edith dislikes him intensely. She is determined that her unspoiled, innocent stepdaughter Florence will not suffer her fate of essentially being sold to men. After abandoning Mr Dombey in a rage of resentment, she is later partially reconciled to him through the intervention of Florence in a very poignant parting scene between Edith and Florence at the end of the book.

Chapter 22
 * The Game Chicken: boxer and rowdy companion of Mr Toots

Chapter 23
 * Jack Bunsby: captain of the Cautious Clara; taciturn but regarded as an oracle by Captain Cuttle, eventually wedded to Mrs MacStinger

 * Cousin Feenix: Relative of the Skewtons. Returning from the spa at Baden-Baden, he drunkenly toasts Edith's marriage to Dombey. The couple live in his house while the Dombey mansion is being renovated.

Chapter 33
 * Miss Harriet Carker: Sister of James and John, disowned by James for taking John's side in the wake of the latter's disgrace

Chapter 34
 * Alice: daughter of Mrs Brown, recently returned from transportation. Nurses a deep hatred of all the Carkers owing to having been once used as a sex object and discarded by Mr Carker the Manager, who then refused to aid her when she got in trouble with the law. Eventually reconciles with Harriet

Critical appreciation
Dombey and Son was conceived first and foremost as a continuous novel. A letter from Dickens to Forster on 26 July 1846 shows the major details of the plot and theme already substantially worked out. According to the novelist George Gissing,
 * Dombey was begun at Lausanne, continued at Paris, completed in London, and at English seaside places; whilst the early parts were being written, a Christmas story, The Battle of Life, was also in hand, and Dickens found it troublesome to manage both together. That he overcame the difficulty—that, soon after, we find him travelling about England as member of an amateur dramatic company—that he undertook all sorts of public engagements and often devoted himself to private festivity—Dombey going on the while, from month to month—is matter enough for astonishment to those who know anything about artistic production. But such marvels become commonplaces in the life of Charles Dickens.

There is some evidence to suggest that Dombey and Son was inspired by the life of Christopher Huffam, Rigger to His Majesty's Navy, a gentleman and head of an established firm, Huffam & Son. Charles Dickens's father, John Dickens, at the time a clerk in the Navy Pay Office, asked the wealthy, well-connected Huffam to act as godfather to Charles. This same Huffam family appeared later in Charles Palliser's 1989 The Quincunx, a homage to the Dickensian novel form.

As with most of Dickens's work, a number of socially significant themes are to be found in this book. In particular the book deals with the then-prevalent common practice of arranged marriages for financial gain. Other themes to be detected within this work include child cruelty (particularly in Dombey's treatment of Florence), familial relationships, and as ever in Dickens, betrayal and deceit and the consequences thereof. Another strong central theme, which the critic George Gissing elaborates on in detail in his 1925 work The Immortal Dickens, is that of pride and arrogance, of which Paul Dombey senior is the extreme exemplification in Dickens's work.

Gissing makes a number of points about certain key inadequacies in the novel, not the least that Dickens's central character is largely unsympathetic and an unsuitable vehicle and also that after the death of the young Paul Dombey the reader is somewhat estranged from the rest of what is to follow. He notes that "the moral theme of this book was Pride—pride of wealth, pride of place, personal arrogance. Dickens started with a clear conception of his central character and of the course of the story in so far as it depended upon that personage; he planned the action, the play of motive, with unusual definiteness, and adhered very closely in the working to this well-laid scheme". However, he goes on to write that "Dombey and Son is a novel which in its beginning promises more than its progress fulfils" and gives the following reasons why:

Impossible to avoid the reflection that the death of Dombey's son and heir marks the end of a complete story, that we feel a gap between Chapter XVI and what comes after (the author speaks of feeling it himself, of his striving to "transfer the interest to Florence") and that the narrative of the later part is ill-constructed, often wearisome, sometimes incredible. We miss Paul, we miss Walter Gay (shadowy young hero though he be); Florence is too colourless for deep interest, and the second Mrs Dombey is rather forced upon us than accepted as a natural figure in the drama. Dickens's familiar shortcomings are abundantly exemplified. He is wholly incapable of devising a plausible intrigue, and shocks the reader with monstrous improbabilities such as all that portion of the denouement in which old Mrs Brown and her daughter are concerned. A favourite device with him (often employed with picturesque effect) was to bring into contact persons representing widely severed social ranks; in this book the "effect" depends too often on "incidences of the boldest artificiality," as nearly always we end by neglecting the story as a story, and surrendering ourselves to the charm of certain parts, the fascination of certain characters.

Characters in the novel
Karl Ashley Smith, in his introduction to Wordsworth Classics' edition of Dombey and Son, makes some reflections on the novel's characters. He believes that Dombey's power to disturb comes from his belief that human relationships can be controlled by money, giving the following examples to support this viewpoint: "He tries to prevent Mrs Richards from developing an attachment to Paul by emphasising the wages he pays her. Mrs Pipchin's small talk satisfies him as 'the sort of thing for which he paid her so much a quarter' (p.132). Worst of all, he effectively buys his second wife and expects that his wealth and position in society will be enough to keep her in awed obedience to him. Paul's questions about money are only the first indication of the naivety of his outlook."

However, he also believes that the satire against this man is tempered with compassion.

Smith also draws attention to the fact that certain characters in the novel "develop a pattern from Dickens's earlier novels, whilst pointing the way to future works". One such character is Little Paul who is a direct descendant of Little Nell. Another is James Carker, the ever-smiling manager of Dombey and Son. Smith notes there are strong similarities between him and the likes of Jaggers in Great Expectations and, even more so, the evil barrister, Mr Tulkinghorn, in Bleak House:"From Fagin (Oliver Twist) onwards, the terrifying figure exerting power over others by an infallible knowledge of their secrets becomes one of the author's trademarks ... James Carker's gentlemanly businesslike respectability marks him out as the ancestor of Tulkinghorn in Bleak House and even of Jaggers in Great Expectations. And his involvements in the secrets of others leads him to as sticky an end as Tulkinghorn's. The fifty-fifth chapter, where he is forced to flee his outraged employer, magnificently continues the theme of the guilt-hunted man from Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist and Jonas's restless sense of pursuit in Martin Chuzzlewit. There is always a strong sense in Dickens of the narrative drive of discovery catching up with those who deal in darkness."

Gissing looks at some of the minor characters in the novel and is particularly struck by that of Edward (Ned) Cuttle."Captain Cuttle has a larger humanity than his roaring friend [Captain Bunsby], he is the creation of humour. That the Captain suffered dire things at the hands of Mrs MacStinger is as credible as it is amusing, but he stood in no danger of Bunsby's fate; at times he can play his part in a situation purely farcical, but the man himself moves on a higher level. He is one of the most familiar to us among Dickens's characters, an instance of the novelist's supreme power, which (I like to repeat) proves itself in the bodying forth of a human personality henceforth accepted by the world. His sentences have become proverbs; the mention of his name brings before the mind's eye an image of flesh and blood – rude, tending to the grotesque, but altogether lovable. Captain Cuttle belongs to the world of Uncle Toby, with, to be sure, a subordinate position. Analyse him as you will, make the most of those extravagances which pedants of to-day cannot away with, and in the end you will still be face to face with something vital – explicable only as the product of genius."

The growth of the railways
One theme is the destruction and degradation, of both people and places, caused by industrialisation, illustrated in particular by the building of the new railway through Camden Town (assumed to represent the London and Birmingham Railway constructed between 1833 and 1837). The novel reflects to some extent Dickens's concerns with railway travel and the "railway mania", "a fascination which had a strong ingredient of fear in it", and reflects ambivalence towards the effects of the railways – they generated prosperity and employment, but undermined older ways of living and encouraged speculation. In 1865, many years after this novel was published, Dickens was involved in a train crash. Soon after this incident he wrote two short stories, "Mugby Junction" and "The Signal-Man", which projected a morbid view of the railways.

Folklore, legends and myth
See Folklore, legends and myths in Dombey and Son

Dombey and Son draws heavily from popular literature inspired by legendary folklore, contemporary melodramas, and traditional pantomime. It also incorporates some fairy tales and ancient myths like Argus or the Cyclops.

Final thoughts
Gissing refers to Dickens's instinctive genius for reflecting the thoughts and morals of the common man in his writing. He observes that the author was in constant communication with Forster, "as to the feeling of his readers about some proposed incident or episode; not that he feared, in any ignoble sense, to offend his public, but because his view of art involved compliance with ideals of ordinary simple folk. He held that view as a matter of course. Quite recently it has been put forth with prophetic fervour by Tolstoy, who cites Dickens among the few novelists whose work will bear this test. An instinctive sympathy with the moral (and therefore the artistic) prejudices of the everyday man guided Dickens throughout his career, teaching him when, and how far, he might strike at things he thought evil, yet never defeat his prime purpose of sending forth fiction acceptable to the multitude. Himself, in all but his genius, a representative Englishman of the middle-class, he was able to achieve this task with unfailing zeal and with entire sincerity."

Karl Smith, in his turn, gives his specific reasons for what makes Dombey and Son – and the works of Dickens as a whole – worth reading again and again. He observes that this is based in part on Dickens's "recognition that solemn themes require humour and verbal vigour to accompany and complement them" and goes on to conclude: "Grim psychological realism, social commentary, comic absurdity and symbolic transcendence are here brought together more than in any previous novel with the possible exception of Oliver Twist. Dombey and Son not only prepares the ground for Dickens's later masterpieces, but demands to be enjoyed for its own energy and richness."

Adaptations
Theatre:
 * 1848 – a play adaptation by John Brougham that premiered at Burton's Theatre in July 1848 with William Evans Burton as Captain Cuttle

Television:
 * 1969 miniseries – starring John Carson as Paul Dombey and Derek Seaton as Walter Gay. First adaptation by the BBC.
 * 1974 – Dombi i syn a Soviet teleplay starring Valentin Gaft as Paul Dombey and Konstantin Raikin as Walter Gay
 * 1983 miniseries – starring Julian Glover as Paul Dombey and Max Gold as Walter Gay. Second and final adaptation by the BBC.
 * 2007 – Dombais et fils a French television mini-series starring Christophe Malavoy as Charles Dombais (=Paul Dombey)
 * Andrew Davies attempted to pen a new adaptation of Dombey after the success of Bleak House and Little Dorrit, but the BBC scrapped the plans, wanting to move away from "bonnet dramas"

Film:
 * 1917 – Dombey and Son a British Silent film starring Norman McKinnel as Paul Dombey and Hayford Hobbs as Walter Gay
 * 1931 – Rich Man's Folly a loose adaptation of the novel which is modernised and set in the United States. The named Dombey was also replaced with Trumbull

Radio:
 * 2007 – a twenty-part BBC Radio 4 adaptation, totalling four and a half hours, written by Mike Walker, with Alex Jennings as the voice of Charles Dickens, Robert Glenister as Dombey, Abigail Hollick as Florence, Helen Schlesinger as Edith, Trevor Peacock as Captain Cuttle, Adrian Lukis as Carker, Geraldine James as Mrs Brown and Sam Pamphilon as Toots.

Original publication
Dombey and Son was originally published in 19 monthly instalments; each cost one shilling (except for the last, which cost two shillings, being a double issue) and contained 32 pages of text with two illustrations by Phiz:

 * I – October 1846 (chapters 1–4);
 * II – November 1846 (chapters 5–7);
 * III – December 1846 (chapters 8–10);
 * IV – January 1847 (chapters 11–13);
 * V – February 1847 (chapters 14–16);
 * VI – March 1847 (chapters 17–19);
 * VII – April 1847 (chapters 20–22);
 * VIII – May 1847 (chapters 23–25);
 * IX – June 1847 (chapters 26–28);
 * X – July 1847 (chapters 29–31);
 * XI – August 1847 (chapters 32–34);
 * XII – September 1847 (chapters 35–38);
 * XIII – October 1847 (chapters 39–41);
 * XIV – November 1847 (chapters 42–45);
 * XV – December 1847 (chapters 46–48);
 * XVI – January 1848 (chapters 49–51);
 * XVII – February 1848 (chapters 52–54);
 * XVIII – March 1848 (chapters 55–57);
 * XIX-XX – April 1848 (chapters 58–62).

Dombey and Son appeared in monthly parts from 1 October 1846 to 1 April 1848 and in one volume in 1848.

title: Dombey and Son


text:
Harry Saltzman

Herschel "Harry" Saltzman (October 27, 1915 – 1915:10:27, September 28, 1994) was a Canadian theatre and film producer. He is best remembered for co-producing the first nine of the James Bond film series with Albert R. Broccoli. He lived most of his life in Denham, Buckinghamshire, England.

Early life
Saltzman was born in a hospital in Sherbrooke, Quebec, the son of Jewish immigrants Abraham Saltzman and Dora Horstein. He was raised in Saint John, New Brunswick for the first seven years of his life. His father was a horticulturalist and immigrated to the US in 1905 from Kozienice, Poland (then Congress Poland within the Russian Empire). He married Dora in 1909. The couple moved to Canada in 1910 where their four oldest children (Minnie, Florence, Harry and Isadore) were born. The family then moved to Cleveland, Ohio where their youngest son, David, was born. Harry ran away from home at the age of 15. Saltzman was 30 when he learned where he had actually been born.

Career
At about age 17, Saltzman joined a circus and travelled with them for some years.

In 1932, Saltzman moved to Paris to study political science and economics. However within a year, he was "hand-picking talent for 40 two-a-day vaudeville houses all over Europe." Saltzman claimed that he had worked as an assistant for French film director René Clair, who came to the United States in 1940 to make the film The Flame of New Orleans.

In 1942, Saltzman signed a booking contract with Fanchon & Marco Enterprises. Saltzman went to the West Coast to sign big picture names. Saltzman sought the Ritz Brothers, but due to film commitments, they could not sign. In 1943, Saltzman was managing The Gilbert Brothers' Combined Circus. According to an advert, the 1943 season began 26 May in Clifton, New Jersey, and was booked solid through the Eastern American states until mid-October.

Shortly after World War II began, he enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force in Vancouver. He received a medical discharge in Trenton, Ontario in 1943, and joined the U.S. Psychological Warfare Bureau, because he wanted to get back to Europe. Saltzmann was initially stationed at the North African theatre in 1943 before being reassigned to London.

In 1945, Saltzman helped Lin Yutang establish UNESCO's film division, which was initially focused on trying to mediate the Chinese Civil War between the Communist Party and the Kuomintang. He eventually quit due to "east-west differences" which to him seemed "so hopeless". Saltzman spent a year with the French government's Ministry of Reconstruction. At that point, he decided he wanted back in show business.

After the war, in Paris, Saltzman became part of the writer Colette's entourage. He worked as a talent scout for European productions on stage, television and in film, but gradually became more successful producing stage plays. He moved to the United States in the 1950s. In the late 1950s, Saltzman and Rhea Fink formed the Mountie Enterprises Corporation, to operate coin-operated hobby horses. The first hobby horses appeared in department stores, on floors where children's goods are sold. By February 1951 Mountie Enterprises Corporation and Saltzman's new company Rider Amusement Corporation reported brisk business, as both companies got contracts to install coin-operated hobby horses in major department stores in numerous American cities. Saltzman claimed to earn US$35 a day per hobby horse.(equivalent to $413.30 in 2023)

He became production supervisor on Robert Montgomery Presents and produced Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion. Judith Krantz claims that she and Saltzman briefly dated. Krantz's father liked Saltzman and found him an entertaining conversationalist. Krantz claims that Saltzman proposed to her. She declined, saying that he was not her physical type, which she regretted because she thought he was "a wonderful companion, with a fantastic imagination." He moved, what was by then his family of four, to the UK in the mid-1950s, where he again produced theatre. He entered the film business by producing The Iron Petticoat (1956), a play adaptation. Saltzman started Woodfall Film Productions with Tony Richardson and John Osborne, and produced other acclaimed social realism dramas such as 1959's Look Back in Anger and 1960's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning. Film director Anthony Mann noted the dichotomy in Saltzman's career: "Harry used to make great pictures; now he makes very successful ones. After all, you can't be an artist all your life."

In early 1961, excited by reading the James Bond novel Goldfinger, he made a bid to land the film rights to the character. Saltzman co-founded Danjaq, S.A. with Albert R. Broccoli in 1962. It was a holding company responsible for the copyright and trademarks of James Bond on screen, and the parent company of Eon Productions, which they also set up as a film production company for the Bond films. The moniker Danjaq is a combination of Broccoli's and Saltzman's wives' first names, Dana and Jacqueline.

In 1958, he had set up the production company Lowndes Productions, but he did not use it for film production until 1965, and used it for eight productions thereafter, among them his three Harry Palmer films with Michael Caine: The Ipcress File (1965), Funeral in Berlin (1966) and Billion Dollar Brain (1967). The company's last production came out in 1988, and it was dissolved in 1992.

Saltzman produced other films between the James Bond and Harry Palmer productions. These include his World War II pet project Battle of Britain (1969), and Call Me Bwana (1963), one of only three films to be produced by Eon Productions outside of the James Bond franchise. Saltzman also attempted to make a film about Canadian Métis leader Cuthbert Grant.

In 1969, Saltzman borrowed 70 million Swiss francs (US$40,000,000) from the Union Bank of Switzerland. In 1970, Saltzman won control of the Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation from chairman Patrick Frawley in a proxy fight. However, by 1972 Saltzman reportedly had to sell off 370,000 shares of Technicolor stock to repay his loan from the Union Bank of Switzerland. Film Bulletin also claimed that some of Saltzman's former allies in the 1970 proxy had forced Saltzman to sell the stocks — which they purchased — and were seeking to oust him from the Technicolor board. Saltzman filed several lawsuits against Technicolor executive board members, claiming conspiracy "seeking to retain his positions in the firm." Screenwriter Tom Mankiewicz claims Technicolor was selling at $30 per share, when Saltzman took control of the company in 1970; it was selling at $8 a share by 1972, at the time Saltzman was ousted. At some point, Saltzman defaulted on the interest payments to the Swiss Bank.

According to a 1978 court decision, Saltzman and Broccoli had allegedly agreed to dissolve Danjaq, S.A. in 1972, but Broccoli later allegedly refused to honour the agreement. Saltzman unsuccessfully attempted to have the Swiss courts dissolve the company. By autumn that year, Saltzman's financial situation was desperate. In March 1974, the Los Angeles Times reported that Saltzman was attempting to sell Paramount Pictures his 50% share of the Bond film franchise. On April 24, 1978, Sir Patrick O'Connor of the British High Court ordered Saltzman to pay an American law firm GB£13,000 (US$28,000) plus GB£5,000 (US$10,500) in post-judgment interest and court costs. Saltzman had retained the firm to resolve his financial difficulties.

Saltzman's productions in the 1970s also proved problematic. A science fiction musical, Toomorrow starring Olivia Newton-John, was withdrawn from release and resulted in several lawsuits. Also in 1970, Saltzman cancelled a planned film, several weeks before shooting was to begin, about the dancer Vaslav Nijinsky, starring Rudolf Nureyev. Director Tony Richardson believed that Saltzman had overextended himself, and did not have the funds to make the film. Throughout the 1970s, Saltzman struggled to make a film of The Micronauts — a "shrunken man", which was a science fiction story to have starred Gregory Peck and Lee Remick — investing much money into the doomed project, that was finally shelved in the late 1970s. Due to numerous financial difficulties, Saltzman sold his 50% stake in Danjaq to United Artists Corporation in 1975. Subsequently, his health also declined and he became depressed.

In 1980, Saltzman purchased the theatrical production company H.M. Tennent Ltd., becoming its chairman.

Saltzman all but retired from the movie business thereafter. He had long desired to produce a film on the life of Vaslav Nijinsky, based on biographies, the rights to which he had acquired in the 1960s. He has an executive producer credit on the film Nijinsky in 1980, and the 1988 British-Italian-Yugoslavian co-production Time of the Gypsies.

In 1992, Saltzman dissolved H.M. Tennant.

Personal life
Saltzman was married three times. He was briefly married in California. After World War II, Saltzman was in Paris, where he met Jacqueline Colin, a refugee from Romania, whom he subsequently married. Harry and Jacqueline Saltzman had three children: Hilary, Steven and Christopher. Hilary and Christopher attended the private Shorecrest Preparatory School in St. Petersburg, Florida during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

In the early 1970s, Saltzman's wife Jacqueline was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In 1972, the Saltzmans relocated to St. Petersburg, Florida, where Jacqueline's sister lived. In March 1977, Saltzman sold his English country mansion and moved full-time to St. Petersburg. Jacqueline Saltzman died of cancer on January 31, 1980.

In 1982, Saltzman sold his 15-room Venetian Isles, St. Petersburg, Florida home, and moved back to London. His two oldest children were out of school, and his youngest was studying in Switzerland.

Harry Saltzman subsequently married Adriana Ghinsberg.

He died of a heart attack on September 28, 1994, while visiting Paris.

List of Saltzman's productions
• The Iron Petticoat, 1956

• Look Back in Anger, 1958

• Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, 1960

• The Entertainer, 1960

• Dr. No, 1962

• From Russia with Love, 1963

• Call Me Bwana, 1963

• Goldfinger, 1964

• The Ipcress File, 1965

• And There Came a Man, 1965

• Thunderball, 1965 (credited as Executive Producer)

• Chimes at Midnight, 1965

• Un monde nouveau (a.k.a. A New World), 1966 (credited as "presenter")

• Funeral in Berlin, 1966

• Shock Troops, 1967 (credited as "presenter")

• You Only Live Twice, 1967

• Israel: A Right to Live, 1967 (documentary)

• Billion Dollar Brain, 1967

• Play Dirty, 1969

• Battle of Britain, 1969

• On Her Majesty's Secret Service, 1969

• Toomorrow, 1970

• Diamonds Are Forever, 1971

• Days of Fury, 1973

• Live and Let Die, 1973

• The Man with the Golden Gun, 1974

• Nijinsky, 1980

• Time of the Gypsies, 1988

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Harry Saltzman


text:
Talk:Alfred Nobel

Add — Preceding unsigned comment added by 45.206.10.213 (talk) 09:18, 27 February 2022 (UTC)

I have found proof that Nobel did not create the Nobel Prize because of a premature obituary...
Alfred Nobel's brother did die in 1888 and a French newspaper did publish a premature obituary but it didn't call him a "Merchant of Death". In fact, the term "Merchant of Death" was coined in 1932, 54 years after this obituary! I wrote up my evidence in my webpage, but I have a conflict of interest towards editing the page itself.

I hope I am doing this right,

Thanks,

Kathy

--Kathy Loves Physics (talk) 22:46, 21 April 2019 (UTC)

 * Yeah, it's almost certainly an urban legend. Here's an article from Smithsonian Magazine on it which, despite its title, essentially dismisses the story: . Here's a further discussion on Stack Exchange:   Mahousu (talk) 18:14, 27 November 2020 (UTC)

Please add his relationship with Sophie Hess
Alfred Nobel entertained a relationship for 15 years with Sophie Hess.

Google books

--Vanlister (talk) 17:54, 12 November 2020 (UTC)
 * It's already at Personal life ("Nobel's longest-lasting relationship was with Sofija Hess from Celje whom he met in 1876.") Of course the article seems to be incomplete in many aspects, and needs to be developed further. (CC) Tb hotch ™ 18:58, 12 November 2020 (UTC)

Picture of the knee-high sculpture of Alfred Nobel by Mihály Kolodko
Hello, Wikifolks. I have just uploaded my first image to Wikipedia. It's a photograph of the small (gnome-sized) sculpture of Alfred Nobel, by Hungarian sculptor Mihály Kolodko, which resides in a park in Stockholm (I mean the sculpture resides there, not the sculptor). The photograph was taken by a personal friend who is currently in Stockholm and has dual citizenship in Sweden and USA. She has verbally given whatever publication rights may exist to me as a (partial) birthday gift. So, other than assuring you (here) that no one other than me owns the copyright to this image (if there is a copyright to it), I'm not sure what else I need to do to officially put it here, copyright-wise. Is there some text I need to sign? I tried to look this up but all I see is notifications that some rule has changed in some way; the notifications seem to have been posted more than a decade ago.

Please advise, and, if I've somehow broken or bent a rule in my ignorance, feel free to revert this contribution and let me know what's wrong about it.

Thank you, HandsomeMrToad (talk) 15:45, 27 April 2021 (UTC)

DYK potential
If this hadn't already appeared on the main page, ... that Alfred Nobel created the Nobel Prize after reading an erroneous obituary condemning him as a war profiteer? would've made an excellent DYK. I hope DYK changes its rules to allow things like this someday. {{u| Sdkb  }}  talk 22:35, 30 November 2021 (UTC)
 * it seems this is an urban legend, and just hasn't been fixed in the article yet. See above. --Yurik (talk) 05:37, 16 January 2022 (UTC)

title: Talk:Alfred Nobel


text:
Longshan culture

The Longshan (or Lung-shan) culture, also sometimes referred to as the Black Pottery Culture, was a late Neolithic culture in the middle and lower Yellow River valley areas of northern China from about 3000 to 1900 BC. The first archaeological find of this culture took place at the Chengziya Archaeological Site in 1928, with the first excavations in 1930 and 1931. The culture is named after the nearby modern town of Longshan ( lit. "Dragon Mountain") in Zhangqiu, Shandong. The culture was noted for its highly polished black pottery (or egg-shell pottery). The population expanded dramatically during the 3rd millennium BC, with many settlements having rammed earth walls. It decreased in most areas around 2000 BC until the central area evolved into the Bronze Age Erlitou culture. The Longshan culture has been linked to the early Sinitic (of the Sino-Tibetan languages). According to the area and cultural type, the Longshan culture can be divided into two types: Shandong Longshan and Henan Longshan. Among them, Shandong Longshan Cultural Site includes Chengziya Site; Henan Longshan Cultural Site includes Dengfeng Wangchenggang Site in Wangwan, Taosi Site and Mengzhuang Site in Hougang.

History
A distinctive feature of the Longshan culture was the high level of skill in pottery making, including the use of pottery wheels, producing thin-walled and polished black pottery. This pottery was widespread in North China, and also found in the Yangtze River valley and as far as the southeastern coast.

Until the 1950s, such black pottery was considered the principal diagnostic, and all of these sites were assigned to the Longshan culture. In the first edition of his influential survey The Archaeology of Ancient China, published in 1963, Kwang-chih Chang described the whole area as a "Longshanoid horizon", suggesting a fairly uniform culture attributed to expansion from a core area in the Central Plain. More recent discoveries have uncovered much more regional diversity than previously thought, so that many local cultures included within Chang's Longshanoid horizon are now viewed as distinct cultures, and the term "Longshan culture" is restricted to the middle and lower Yellow River valley. For example, the contemporaneous culture of the lower Yangtze area is now described as the Liangzhu culture. At the same time, researchers recognized the diversity within the Yellow River valley by distinguishing regional variants in Henan, Shanxi and Shaanxi from the Shandong or "classic" Longshan. In the fourth edition of his book (1986), Chang moved from a model centered on the Central Plain to a model of distinctive regional cultures whose development was stimulated by interaction between regions, a situation he called the "Chinese interaction sphere". Also in the 1980s, Yan Wenming proposed the term "Longshan era" to encompass cultures of the late Neolithic (3rd millennium BC) across the area, though he assigned the Central Plain a leading role.

Agriculture
The most important crop was foxtail millet, but traces of broomcorn millet, rice and wheat have also been found. Rice grains have been found in Shandong and southern Henan, and a small rice field has been found on the Liaodong peninsula. Specialized tools for digging, harvesting and grinding grain have been recovered.

The most common source of meat was the pig. Sheep and goats were apparently domesticated in the Loess Plateau area in the 4th millennium BC, found in western Henan by 2800 BC, and then spread across the middle and lower Yellow River area. Dogs were also eaten, particularly in Shandong, though cattle were less important.

Small-scale production of silk by raising and domesticating the silkworm in early sericulture was also known.

Ritual
Remains have been found in Shaanxi and southern Henan of scapulae of cattle, pigs, sheep and deer that were heated as a form of divination. Evidence of human sacrifice becomes more common in Shaanxi and the Central Plain in the late Longshan period.

Early period
Excavations in the 1950s in Shanxian, western Henan, identified a Miaodigou II phase (3000 to 2600 BC) transitional between the preceding Yangshao culture and the later Henan Longshan. A minority of archaeologists have suggested that this phase, which is contemporaneous with the late Dawenkou culture in Shandong, should instead be assigned to the Yangshao culture, but most describe it as the early phase of the Henan Longshan. Some scholars argue that the late Dawenkou culture should be considered the early phase of the Shandong Longshan culture.

Miaodigou II sites are found in central and western Henan, southern Shanxi and the Wei River valley in Shaanxi. The tools and pottery found at these sites were significantly improved from those of the preceding Yangshao culture. Agriculture was intensified, and the consumption of domesticated animals (pigs, dogs, sheep and cattle) greatly increased. Similarities in ceramic styles of central Henan Miaodigou II with the late Dawenkou culture to the east and the late Qujialing culture to the south suggest trade contacts between the regions. There were also expansions from middle and late Dawenkou sites (3500-2600 BC) toward central Henan and northern Anhui which coincides the era of maximum marine transgression.

Late period
The late period (2600 to 2000 BC) of the Longshan culture in the middle Yellow River area is contemporaneous with the classic Shandong Longshan culture. Most scholars regard the Chalcolithic to have begun during the Longshan culture from 2600 to 2000 BC.

Several regional variants of the late middle Yellow River Longshan have been identified, including Wangwan III in western Henan, Hougang II in northern Henan and southern Hebei, Taosi in the Fen River basin in southern Shanxi, and several clusters on the middle reaches of the Jing River and Wei River collectively known as Kexingzhuang II or the Shaanxi Longshan.

As the Neolithic population in China reached its peak, hierarchies of settlements developed. In physically circumscribed locations, such as the basin of the Fen River in southern Shanxi, the Yellow River in western Henan (confined by the Zhongtiao Mountains and Xiao Mountains) and the coastal Rizhao plain of southeast Shandong, a few very large (over 200 ha) centers developed. In more open areas, such as the rest of Shandong, the Central Plain (in Henan) and the Wei River basin in Shaanxi, local centers were more numerous, smaller (generally 20 to 60 ha) and fairly evenly spaced. Cities were linked to large networks of surrounding towns and villages, indicating the ability of urban elites to exert control over the countryside and its agrarian wealth.

Settlements developed into cities with clearly demarcated sections for different classes and occupations, as well as large elite residences and ritual structures. Signs of considerable population growth and rising social stratification indicate that the Longshan culture began forming into competing chieftainships, ruled by dynastic lineages with the support of elite kin networks. The technology of well construction in cities improved, while some large houses included rudimentary plumbing through clay pipes. Walls of rammed earth have been found in 20 towns in Shandong, 9 in the Central Plain and one (Taosi) in southern Shanxi, suggesting conflict between polities in these areas. The introduction of the dagger-axe, a purely military weapon that cannot be used for hunting, indicates a heightened prevalence of warfare.

This period also saw increasingly widespread and skilled manufacturing of copper tools, rings and bells, alongside a few bronze and brass objects, paving the way for the emergence of the later Bronze Age cultures.

Shandong Longshan
The center of Shandong is a mountainous area, including Mount Tai (1,545 m) and other several other peaks over 1000 m. Longshan settlements are found on the plains surrounding this massif. To the north are four evenly spaced walled centers, Chengziya, Dinggong, Tianwang and Bianxianwang (from west to east), with the largest, Chengziya, enclosing only 20 ha. A pottery sherd inscribed with 11 symbols was found at Dinggong, but scholars disagree on whether it should be dated to the Neolithic period.

The largest sites yet found in Shandong are Liangchengzhen (273 ha) and Yaowangcheng (368 ha). Both sites are near the southeast coast in the Rizhao area, with Yaowangcheng about 35 km to the south of Liangchengzhen. Each site is surrounded by a hierarchy of economically integrated settlements, but there are relatively few settlements in the area between the two, suggesting that they were political centers of rival polities. Production of pottery, stone tools and textiles was common. There is also evidence suggesting the production of fermented beverages and prestige items made from jade and metal. Since both jade prestige items and utilitarian goods such as stone tools and pottery have been found at the sites, this suggests that they were also regional centers for production and exchange of goods. At Liangchengzhen, rice, foxtail millet, broomcorn millet and wheat were grown. Foxtail millet was the most important crop in terms of the amount grown, however it was primarily used for animal fodder. Rice was the preferred food for human consumption.

Relative to other Longshan-era cultures, the gap between rich and poor in the Shandong Longshan was far less pronounced and there seemed to be less violence compared to other Longshan sites. The Shandong Longshan developed out of the Dawenkou culture and was succeeded by the Bronze Age Yueshi culture.

Hougang II
The Hougang II variant of Longshan culture is located in northern Henan and Southern Hebei. The sites of this Longshan subtradition are densely distributed along the rivers in this region, many of the sites being less than 1 km apart. Walled sites include Hougang (10 ha) and Mengzhuang (16 ha). The Hougang II variant is known for having the first wells in the Yellow River area and the method they employed continued to be used by early bronze-age states in the region.

Wangwan III
The Wangwan III variant of the Longshan culture is located in western and central Henan province. The number of sites in this region triples from the Yangshao period, developing into multi-centered competitive systems. There is evidence of metallurgy at the Wangchenggang site, though it is possibly attributed to later layers. The Wangwan III variant is said to have given rise to the Erlitou culture; specifically a 70 ha walled center at Xinzhai is said to lead "typologically directly to early Erlitou".

Taosi
At 300 ha in area, the walled site at Taosi in the Linfen Basin in southern Shanxi, is the largest Longshan settlement in the middle Yellow River area. Mortuary practices indicate a complex society with at least three social ranks.

In the late Taosi period, the rammed-earth wall was destroyed, and there are indications of violence and political upheaval. At around the same time, the new large center of Fangcheng (230 ha) was built 20 km to the southeast of Taosi, on the other side of the Chong Mountains.

Sanliqiao II
Sanliqiao II sites are located on both sides of the Yellow River in western Henan, southwestern Shanxi and eastern Shaanxi. There are nearly a hundred settlements belonging to this regional variant which show three level settlement hierarchy. The largest site (Xiaojiaokou, 10 km southeast of modern Sanmenxia) is 240 ha in area, whereas local centers range from 30 ha to 70 ha.

Dwelling types of Sanliqiao II culture include both aboveground and semi-subterranean type houses as well as homes horizontally dug into loess cliffs with walls frequently coated with plaster.

There is noted similarity between the ceramics of this variant and that of the Kexingzhuang II variant.

Kexingzhuang II
Kexingzhuang II sites are scattered across the Wei River valley in southern Shaanxi. The largest site in this area is 60 ha, which is less than half the size of the largest Yangshao-era site in this region. A population decline is also noted during this period, which scholars attribute to migration caused by environmental changes. Out of 718 identified sites, 25 would be considered "medium sized" centers surrounded by small village settlements in three-level settlement hierarchy.

Decline
Towards the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the population decreased sharply in most of the region and many of the larger centres were abandoned, possibly due to environmental change linked to the end of the Holocene Climatic Optimum. This was matched by the disappearance of high-quality black pottery found in ritual burials. In contrast, there was a rapid growth of population and social complexity in the basin of the Yi and Luo rivers of central Henan, culminating in the Erlitou culture. The material culture in this area shows a continuous development, through a Xinzhai phase centred on the Song Mountains immediately to the south. In the Taosi area, however, there is no such continuity between Longshan and Erlitou material culture, suggesting a collapse in that area and later expansion from the Erlitou core area.

Significance of the discovery of Longshan culture
During the 19th and early 20th centuries, there were opposing views on the origin of Chinese culture and civilization: Western origin versus native origin. One of the most representative of "Western Origin" for the culture of prehistoric China was put forward by J. G. Andersson (1874–1960), who excavated the Neolithic site of Yangshao, Henan, in 1921. Many of the unearthed ceramics from Yangshao were painted potsherds. Andersson believed that the Yangshao painted pottery originated from the west, with connections with Anau in Central Asia and Trypillia in Eastern Europe. Heavily flawed, this view has been long abandoned in academia.

The Longshan culture period is an important period in history. The use of bronze ware, the emergence of a large number of city sites, and the wide application of thin-bodied black pottery and quick-wheel pottery-making techniques indicate that the social productive forces achieved unprecedented development during this period, which led to the polarization of the rich and the poor within the society; thus the emergence of class antagonisms.

The Longshan culture had individuals of extraordinary stature who have been dubbed the "Longshan giants". Some samples of Longshan culture males recovered from Shandong fell between the 180 cm to 190 cm height range, making them taller than any other Neolithic population in the world. Modern day inhabitants of Shandong have the tallest heights of any Chinese province. The tallest Longshan individual discovered so far is a 193 cm male, aged approximately 16-18 years old, from Shaanxi.

title: Longshan culture


text:
User talk:Ta bu shi da yu/Archive4

Ta bu shi da yu
Oh alright, I'll bite... what does it mean? Zerbey 01:34, 28 Sep 2004 (UTC)

No idear. It kind of looks like Mandarin pinyin. I'm incredibly bad at most foreign languages (even though both my parents are Asian, especially at Chinese), but I'll venture a guess. Does it mean "He is not a big fish"? =( Nile 09:22, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Hey, I won a prize!
Wheee!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, thanks. Is that some official honour, or just a 'citizens' choice' award? :D -Randwicked 12:16, 29 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Cyclone Tracy info
Hi. I got the info out of this chunky (550 pages) book I've got which chronicles Australia's history from European settlement until now. There is no author or editor information present, as far as I can see.
 * Title: "Australia Through Time", 7th edition
 * Publication year: 1999
 * Place of publication: Sydney
 * Publisher: Random House Australia
 * Page: 441

I hope this helps. I plan to contribute more, when I get the time. :) - Mark 04:12, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

 * Actually upon re-inspection I found both the ISBN and the author/editor info. Unfortunately, there are eight writers listed and an associate editor and eight production editors. Which names should I give you? The ISBN is 0 091 83815 0. - Mark 04:22, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

 * Oh, and there is a managing editor too. - Mark 04:23, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

No mention of who wrote that. There are many thousands of articles in here, so it would be enormous. Here are the editors:

 * Managing Editor: Margaret Olds
 * Associate Editor: Gabrielle Chan
 * Production Editors:
 * Kate Etherington
 * Marie-Louise Taylor
 * James Young
 * Deb Brown
 * Jacqueline Kent
 * Dalys Newman
 * Dawn Cockle
 * Stephanie Campion

Hope that's a help. I'd be inclined to do Olds, M. et al. - Mark 04:33, 30 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Cyclone Tracy
It's a good article and I'm glad to support it. Nice to see some FACs coming from a Regional wikipedian notice board. Filiocht 13:53, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * And thanks for the ICOTW shortcut. Filiocht 13:55, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Congratulations on FA status (and to all the other Aussies involved). Filiocht 08:30, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Howdy Ho
New recruit here. You seem very active in the Aussie side of wikipedia.

I'm up in Queensland, and if there's any projects and crap you want to tell me about that I could help on (I'm big on Science - including aussie critters, Music and Media) just drop a line on my talk page. i should be getting a bit more active next month after my final exams.--ZZ 04:09, 1 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Sydney suburbs
Hi TBSDY (can I call you that?), good idea, actually I thought of the same thing. I've had a look around. Some councils have maps of their suburbs which I can easily adapt into line maps, however others don't. I migh be able to extract the data from the Lands Dept's geoserver online, but it would take ages to assemble manually as I don't have any GIS software.

But I'm interested, anyway. I'll be busy over the next month (honours thesis to complete!), but come Nov or Dec I'll have some free time to waste :). Randwicked 05:38, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Tracy References
I think it looked better before they were broken up. IMO, there's not enough to split them up into sections. Ambi 10:52, 2 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Sesame Street
Thanks for you support, and compliment! -- user:zanimum

Re: Margin of error
Thanks for your comments, TBSDY. I edited the opening paragraph after you made your first comment, have you looked at the edited version? Statistics is one of those fields that many people have a visceral reaction to, and my goal in presenting the concept is to make it as accessible as possible. As I noted in my earlier response, I think that you were right the article sounding too didactic the first go-around. Do you think that it's better now? To answer the "importance" question, if the margin of error is misinterpreted in the ways I note in the article, people may assume that Kerry and Bush (or whatever) are "statistically tied" when in fact the probability that Kerry (or Bush) is leading is very, very high. Let me know how it reads now; I'm happy to make more changes. Best, Andrew (Fadethree) 05:32, 5 Oct, 2004

strathfield
leave it in if you want, but it obviously isnt a stub any more. I just think its a bit silly to leave it like that. Yes maybe a different tag is appropriate ie. (This article is currently undergoing major revisions to raise it to feature article satus, as part of the sydney city wikiproject. Please help by fact checking, wikifying and adding extra content.) or something. do you know how to make tags? Cuase i think this would be a good sort of tag to add to any of the sydney/australian articles which are on the way from stub to feature article. The bellman 09:22, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Cyclone Tracy Photo
Good photo and I noticed you got it from the National Archives. I'm wondering whether Fiona Burn would want her name and email address on Wikipedia. Do you think we could remove the name (or at least her email address) from the image page or is it necessary to retain them? Sorry, I'm not trying to be difficult; just careful about people's privacy. --Roisterer 04:16, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * It's not her personal email address. It's a work email address and she deals with the general public on a day-to-day basis. It should be fine to have this on the web. - Ta bu shi da yu 04:20, 7 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Strathfield
Two things about this: firstly, I don't really agree with keeping the stub notice on when it clearly isn't a stub. I think it's a great goal to aim for featured article status - but there's plenty of articles on Wikipedia that aren't featured articles and that aren't stubs either.

Secondly, I still think the article reads as quite muddled between whether its talking about the suburb or the municipality. We seem to be going to break Sydney down into suburbs as well (i.e. Summer Hill), so IMO, trying to merge them both is just messy. Ambi 10:01, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * OK, consensus (as far as I can see) is that these are not stubs any more. I think I'll remove the stub status from the article and keep working on it. - Ta bu shi da yu 12:20, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * It's your call. :) I just think it'd be a lot clearer if the municipality stuff was broken off into a smaller article, and Strathfield left as a suburb article, like Summer Hill. Alas, there's not really an example of a good municipal article - Surf Coast Shire (which I wrote), is the only Australian one that I know of that isn't a substub, and is a pretty poor article anyway. Thanks for reminding me about the WikiStress-o-meter - I hadn't adjusted it since Rex071404 finally quit in a huff, to the mass relief of about twenty of us! Ambi 13:44, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

 * Ah, ic! Good to see you aren't too stressed... I thought my changes might have something to do with it for a second there! - Ta bu shi da yu 13:53, 8 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Wha????
You moved that references thing from where? i thought the only place that it existed was User:The_bellman/rfc. i am really confused. i started writing it to put on the village pump or the mailing list or something for general comment, but i didnt get around to finishing it so i hadnt posted it yet. I wasnt aware that it was posted anywhere else.

Victor Chang & DYK
I can't find any Victor Chang info on the Template:Did you know page.

Did it mysteriously get deleted? Just thought you should know. --ZZ 06:55, 10 Oct 2004 (UTC)

title: User talk:Ta bu shi da yu/Archive4


text:
Ogulin

Ogulin is a town in north-western Croatia, in Karlovac County. It has a population of 7,389 (2021) (it was 8,216 in 2011), and a total municipal population of 12,251 (2021). Ogulin is known for its historic stone castle, known as Kula, and the nearby mountain of Klek.

Toponymy
There are several proposed etymologies for the name of Ogulin. Firstly that the surrounding woods needed to be cleared for a better defence of the town, so Ogulin received its name because of the resulting bare area ("ogolio" in Croatian) around it. There were a lot of lime-trees along the road from Ogulin towards Oštarije, and the people used to peel the bark, in order to get bass. It is suggested that Ogulin got its name from the verb to peel ("guliti" in Croatian). Neither proposal is historically confirmed.

History
Ogulin's history dates back to the fifteenth century, when it struggled against the Ottoman Turks. The exact timing of the building of the Ogulin tower has not been established. However, a document issued by Bernardin Frankopan in his town of Modruš at around 1500 AD marked off the boundaries of new castle between Modruš and Vitunj, and this is, at the same time, the first historical mention of Ogulin. Ogulin is known for the legend of Đula (also Zuleika or Zula) who threw herself into the abyss of the River Dobra because of an unhappy love affair. In the sixteenth century, it became a military stronghold against the Ottomans.

For a brief time, between 1809 and 1813, Ogulin was a part of the Illyrian Provinces.

Until 1918, Ogulin was part of the Austrian monarchy (Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Modruš-Rijeka County, after the compromise of 1867), in the Croatian Military Frontier. It was administered by the Oguliner Grenz-Infanterie-Regiment N°III before 1881.

Geography
The town of Ogulin is situated in the very centre of mainland Croatia, between Zagreb and Rijeka. It was founded in a large valley formed by two rivers: the Dobra and Zagorska Mrežnica. The administrative constitution of the town of Ogulin covers the area of 543.32 km2, and has about 14,000 inhabitants according to 2011 census.

This is a kind of transitional micro-region neighbouring the larger regions of Croatia - Gorski Kotar, Lika, Kordun and Gornje Pokuplje. The Ogulin-Modruš valley is the northern section of the Ogulin-Plaški valley, which finishes towards the south where the Modruš hills pass into the second largest field of the area under Kapela-Plaški Polje. This comprises a completed geographical whole border on the western side by the mountain massif of Velika Kapela dominated by Klek (1181 m). Its eastern edges are bordered by the mounts of Krpel (511 m), Brezovica (565 m) and Hum (863 m). The valley then passes to the hilly are dominated by Klekinja (504 m) and Trojvrh (599 m). This valley is also called Ogulin's Plain (in Croatian: Ogulinsko Polje). This is the fifth largest karst valley in Croatia (60 km2), and it lies 320 m above sea level. Its elongated form lies in the direction northwest-southeast, and it is 16 km long (Ogulin-Trojvrh) and 9 km wide (Desmerice-Skradnik). The Dobra River runs through and disappears in the center of the town.

Approximately three kilometers south of the town centre is an artificial lake Sabljaci, formed with the purpose of accumulating water from the Zagorska Mrežnica river, and for the sake of generating electricity in the Hydroelectric power plant Gojak. The lake is connected with the town's other artificial lake, lake Bukovnik, via a tunnel. Lake Bukovnik is approximately one kilometer away from lake Sabljaci, and is connected to the hydroelectric power plant Gojak also with a tunnel, approximately 10 km long. The surface area of lake Sabljaci is around 170 ha, which makes it the 11th Croatian lake when compared by size. The lake contains many kinds of fish species, and it is also used for swimming and various water sports.

 * Elevation: 323 m (1060 ft) above sea level
 * Latitude: 45° 15' 59"
 * Longitude: 15° 13' 44"

Population
According to the 2011 census, Croats comprise 80.2% and Serbs 17.7% of the municipality population. Serbs form a majority in many villages, most of them are upland.

The settlements in the municipality are:

 * Desmerice, population 262
 * Donje Dubrave, population 199
 * Donje Zagorje, population 230
 * Drežnica, population 516
 * Dujmić Selo, population 142
 * Gornje Dubrave, population 90
 * Gornje Zagorje, population 297
 * Hreljin Ogulinski, population 549
 * Jasenak, population 226
 * Marković Selo, population 56
 * Ogulin, population 8,216
 * Otok Oštarijski, population 381
 * Ponikve, population 98
 * Popovo Selo, population 46
 * Potok Musulinski, population 91
 * Puškarići, population 439
 * Ribarići, population 337
 * Sabljak Selo, population 254
 * Salopek Selo, population 246
 * Sveti Petar, population 651
 * Trošmarija, population 127
 * Turkovići Ogulinski, population 249
 * Vitunj, population 98
 * Zagorje, population 115

Parish Church of the Extolling Saint Cross
This church was built in 1781 in the middle of the town, in the Park of King Tomislav. Consecrated on June 1, 179, it reflects the spirit of the time with its pleasing external appearance and the richness of various sculptural decorations. The town of Ogulin celebrates September 14 as the fest day of its patron Saint of Extolling of the Cross.

Saint Bernard Chapel
Bernardin Frankopan, the son of Stjepan, and the founder of the town of Ogulin, erected a chapel in 16th century both for nobleman and ordinary people within the castle. It is devoted to St Bernardin. This chapel was the parish church from 1521 until the building of the church of St Cross in 1781. Today, only the altar has been preserved.

Saint Rocco Chapel
This chapel was built at the entrance to the town in the first half of 19th century as a votive church against cholera.

Frankopan Castle
The Castle was built between 1493 and 1500 above the gorge of the River Dobra - Đula's abyss. The founder of the town was Bernardin Frankopan, one of the mightiest people of his time, and the feudal master of Modruš, Plaški, Vitunj, Tounj, Zvečaj, Bosiljevo, Novigrad and Dubovac. The Frankopans resided in the castle until 1533, when it was relinquished to the soldiers of the Military Frontier.

It belongs to the period of Renaissance castles. The town walls surrounded the courtyard area on three sides, while on the fourth there was a three-storey building with towers at the sides.

The County Museum
The County Museum of Ogulin was opened in July 1967 in several of the Frankopan Castle halls that were being renovated and prepared between 1960 and 1967. At the time of opening it hosted a collection of works related to the workers movement, and NOB, while today it is hosting collections of various kinds: collection of stone monuments, collection of Croatian War of Independence, ethnographic collection, the memorial room of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić (a renowned Croatian fairy-tale author), mountaineering, archaeological collection, Cell number 6, and an exhibition of the academic painter Stjepan Galetić born in Ogulin. The museum also collects objects related to old crafts and trades, old weaponry, old photographs, and the collection of postcards and greeting cards.

Considering that the County Museum of Ogulin is the only museum in the entire area between the cities of Rijeka and Karlovac, it is the only institution that works on preserving the valuable cultural and historic heritage of that wider area, and as such its task is to collect, process, present and publish the historical and cultural works, documents, and other artistic artefacts from the area of Ogulin and its neighbouring areas.

King Tomislav Monument
The monument was erected in 1925, for the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the Croatian kingdom. It stands in the Park of King Tomislav which was planned and arranged in the 18th century. The monument was made according to the design of the Slovenian architect Vitburg Meck, and was repaired in 1990.

Cesarovac Fountain
This classic building is also erected in the Park. It represents a memorial to the Ogulin aqueduct and was built by colonel Stevan Šuplikac from Ogulin in 1847. Water flowed from the spring through wooden tubes which were lately replaced by the clay, and in 1882 by the iron tubes. For Cesarovac source is connected and a legend. Water flows into the source, comes from a source located at the foot of the mountain Klek. And as on the mountain Klek lived a witch, so the water is magical. Legend says, that women who drink the water from the springs, will remain forever young. And men who drink water from springs, water will be captured to forever remain in this city, who you will fall in love with a woman from Ogulin, and by the end of life remain to live in Ogulin.

Transportation
The town is connected via A1 freeway and state road D45. It also has a bus station and a train station on M202 railway.

Notable people

 * Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić - writer
 * Vladimir Goldner - physician, academic and professor
 * Josip Kregar - lawyer and politician
 * Elza Polak - horticulturist
 * Ema Pukšec (also known as Ilma De Murska) - opera singer
 * Barbara Radulović - television host
 * Petar Stipetić - general
 * Ante Pavić - tennis player
 * Luka Cindrić - handball player
 * Ivan Gošnjak

title: Ogulin