Mr Dick begins copying legal documents for pay

Mr. Dick begins copying legal documents for pay when Thomas Traddles finds a way to put his neat handwriting to practical use without letting his recurring difficulty with his own manuscript derail the work. The arrangement gives him a concrete task, a first wage, and the chance to help Betsey Trotwood: a modest piece of employment becomes a visible source of pride and purpose.

Background and the problem of the manuscript

David Copperfield and Thomas Traddles know that Mr. Dick writes well, but his own papers present a particular obstacle. He cannot reliably keep references to King Charles the First out of his writing, and the unfinished Memorial remains a persistent distraction. Traddles first asks whether Mr. Dick might copy documents if he could obtain them for him. When David indicates the difficulty, Mr. Dick asks him to explain the problem with the Memorial.

Traddles then distinguishes between Mr. Dick’s own unfinished writing and documents already completed by someone else. Because the legal copy would be set before him in finished form, Mr. Dick would not have to compose or continue his own text. Traddles proposes trying the arrangement rather than assuming the difficulty makes paid work impossible. That distinction is central to the episode: the task is adapted to the conditions under which Mr. Dick can succeed, rather than treated as a test he must fail.

The copying arrangement

Thomas Traddles obtains a legal document concerning a right of way and brings it to the Buckingham Street rooms. On one table by the window, he lays out the copying work; on another, he places the last unfinished original of the Memorial. Mr. Dick’s instructions are to reproduce the document exactly, without departing from it. If the urge to refer to King Charles the First arises, he is to turn instead to the Memorial.

David and Thomas Traddles leave Betsey Trotwood to observe how the arrangement works. At first Mr. Dick divides his attention between the two tables, in a manner David’s aunt later compares to someone playing the kettle-drums. The competing tasks confuse and tire him. With the legal copy plainly visible before him, however, he settles into it in an orderly, businesslike way and puts the Memorial aside for a more convenient time. His success depends not on the disappearance of the difficulty but on a practical separation of tasks, clear instructions, and someone trusted to watch over the attempt.

Wages and a promise of support

The work is kept within limits judged suitable for Mr. Dick. Although he does not begin at the start of the week, he earns ten shillings and ninepence by the following Saturday night. The amount makes the episode concrete: his new employment produces actual money, not merely praise for his penmanship. The account does not describe a permanent post or an independent livelihood; it records a bounded piece of paid copying that he completes successfully.

Mr. Dick takes the earnings to the shops in the neighborhood to have them changed into sixpences. He then presents the coins to Betsey Trotwood, arranged in the shape of a heart on a waiter. Tears of joy and pride accompany the gesture. The careful conversion and arrangement make the wage itself part of the scene: money earned through his own work is transformed into a gift for the person who cares for him. Mr. Dick says he will provide for her, and flourishes his fingers as if they were banks. His boast exceeds the small sum, but the sum gives the promise its first material footing.

Significance

The success alters the emotional meaning of useful work for Mr. Dick. David describes him as seeming under the influence of a charm from the moment he is employed, and recalls the Saturday as a night of exceptional happiness for him. The pleasure belongs both to the work completed and to the recognition that he can contribute to Betsey Trotwood’s well-being. Thomas Traddles and David are pleased as well, but the episode centers Mr. Dick’s own achievement: he follows the instructions, finishes the copy, and brings home his earnings.

The legal document also connects this small domestic scene to David’s professional world. David has chosen to enter Doctors' Commons, where ecclesiastical law handles matters including wills, marriages, and disputes involving ships; the offices of Spenlow and Jorkins are crowded with legal papers and evidence. Mr. Dick’s copying is not presented as a legal appointment or as a formal position there. Instead, Traddles secures a particular piece of clerical work for him, turning documents from the legal world into an accessible opportunity. The result is deliberately modest: a right-of-way paper copied, ten shillings and ninepence earned, and a heart-shaped gift that makes employment a form of care.