Dickens and His Illustrators Part 17

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

This letter is the last (of those which have been preserved) having reference to George Cattermole's artistic a.s.sociation with "Master Humphrey's Clock." Of the one hundred and ninety-four ill.u.s.trations contained in this work, thirty-nine were designed by him, these comprising fourteen for "The Old Curiosity Shop," fifteen for "Barnaby Rudge," and ten for the "Clock" chapters; his signature, "G.C.,"

appended thereto has occasionally been mistaken for the initials of George Cruikshank, to whom some of these designs have been incorrectly attributed. There can be no doubt that George Cattermole's drawings greatly enhanced the popularity of the work, for nothing could be happier than his facile treatment of such subjects as the "Maypole" Inn, the interior of the Old Curiosity Shop, and Quilp's Wharf; while especially effective are his representations of the old church in the village where Little Nell died. This picturesque little structure really exists at Tong, in Shropshire, and, with its splendid carving and magnificent monuments, presents the same attractive appearance which inspired both d.i.c.kens and his ill.u.s.trator. The novelist was so much charmed with Cattermole's designs in "The Old Curiosity Shop" that he could not refrain from expressing to the artist his warm appreciation of them. "I have so deeply felt," he wrote, "your hearty and most invaluable co-operation in the beautiful ill.u.s.trations you have made for the last story, that I look at them with a pleasure I cannot describe to you in words, and that it is impossible for me to say how sensible I am of your earnest and friendly aid. Believe me that this is the very first time that any designs for what I have written have touched and moved me, and caused me to feel that they expressed the idea I had in my mind. I am most sincerely and affectionately grateful to you, and am full of pleasure and delight."

In concluding this account of George Cattermole's ill.u.s.trations for the writings of d.i.c.kens, it only remains to add that he prepared a special design as the frontispiece for the first cheap edition of "The Old Curiosity Shop" (1848), an admirable drawing on wood, excellently engraved by Thomas Williams, depicting "Little Nell in the Church."

On the completion of "Master Humphrey's Clock," the author commissioned Cattermole to make two water-colour drawings of scenes in "The Old Curiosity Shop," one representing "Little Nell's Home," while the other (now in the Forster Collection at South Kensington) portrays "Little Nell's Grave" in the old church, this being an enlarged version of the woodcut. These drawings are excellent examples of Cattermole's work, and were highly valued by the novelist, who, in a letter to the artist (dated December 20, 1842), expressed his sincere approval of them. "It is impossible," he said, "for me to tell you how greatly I am charmed with those beautiful pictures, in which the whole feeling, and thought, and expression of the little story is rendered, to the gratification of my inmost heart; and on which you have lavished those amazing resources of yours with power at which I fairly wondered when I sat down yesterday before them. I took them to Mac [Maclise] straightway in a cab, and it would have done you good if you could have seen and heard him. You can't think how moved he was by the old man in the church, or how pleased I was to have chosen it before he saw the drawings. You are such a queer fellow, and hold yourself so much aloof, that I am afraid to say half I would say touching my grateful admiration; so you shall imagine the rest...."

After two years of failing health and much acute suffering, George Cattermole closed an anxious and laborious life on the 24th of July, 1868, the end being undoubtedly hastened by the almost simultaneous deaths, in 1862, of a much-loved son and daughter. d.i.c.kens, who sincerely lamented the loss of this cherished friend, actively interested himself on behalf of his widow and young children (who were left in a very distressed condition) by starting a fund for their relief.

It needs but an examination of the correspondence that pa.s.sed between Charles d.i.c.kens and George Cattermole (in which, during later years, the novelist playfully addressed his friend as "My dear Kittenmoles") to prove how deep was their mutual affection. The artist's natural vivacity and good-fellowship caused him to be a great favourite, and those of his family who survive recall with delight the "red-letter" days when d.i.c.kens, Thackeray, Landseer, and other kindred spirits foregathered at the Cattermole residence in Clapham Rise, on which occasions the genial company retired after dinner to brew punch in the studio--a picturesque apartment adorned with armour and tapestry and carved furniture, indicative of the artist's tastes, and strongly reminiscent of his most characteristic pictures.

ILl.u.s.tRATORS

OF THE CHRISTMAS BOOKS

JOHN LEECH.

RICHARD DOYLE.

CLARKSON STANFIELD, R.A.

D. MACLISE, R.A.

SIR JOHN TENNIEL.

FRANK STONE, A.R.A.

SIR E. LANDSEER, R.A.

It was nothing less than an inspiration when, in 1843, d.i.c.kens conceived the idea of "A Christmas Carol," the composition of which induced in him such mental excitement, that when it was completed he "broke out like a madman." Its extraordinary popularity encouraged him to prepare a similar story for publication at the end of the following year, this being succeeded by three others, all of them appearing during the festive season, in a binding of crimson cloth embellished with gold designs.[35] Not the least interesting feature of these handsome little volumes is the ill.u.s.trations, mainly owing to the fact that they were designed by the leading black-and-white artists of the day, including three Royal Academicians and one a.s.sociate of the Royal Academy. Of this talented company only one member survives,--Sir John Tenniel, whose pencil is still actively employed in the pages of _Punch_. The following table denotes the number of designs supplied by each artist to the Christmas Books.

Footnote 35: The first issue of the "Carol" was bound in cloth of a brownish colour, the subsequent issues appearing in crimson.

a.n.a.lYSIS OF ILl.u.s.tRATIONS.

____________________________________________________________________

A Christmas The The The Battle The Artist Carol, Chimes Cricket of Life Haunted Total 1843. 1845 on the 1846 Man, 1848 Hearth 1846 ______________________________________________________________

Leech 8 5 7 3 5 28

Doyle ... 4 3 3 ... 10

Stanfield ... 2 1 3 3 9

Maclise ... 2 2 4 ... 8

Tenniel ... ... ... ... 6 6

Stone ... ... ... ... 3 3

Landseer ... ... 1 ... ... 1 ___________________________________________________ 8 13 14 13 17 65 ______________________________________________________________

The engravers were the Dalziel Brothers (14 subjects), T. Williams (11), W. J. Linton (10), Martin and Corbould (8), Smith and Cheltnam (5), Groves (3), Thompson (3), F. P. Becker (2), Gray (2), Swain (2), Green (1). Four designs were etched on steel by John Leech, thus making up the full complement of ill.u.s.trations.

JOHN LEECH

Leech's Early Attempts at Drawing--Medical Studies--First Published Work--Desires to Ill.u.s.trate "Pickwick"--Becomes Acquainted with d.i.c.kens--"A CHRISTMAS CAROL"--Sale of the Original Drawings--"THE CHIMES"--Leech Misinterprets his Author--"THE CRICKET ON THE HEARTH"--An Altered Design--The Artist's Humour Exemplified--"THE BATTLE OF LIFE"--Sale of Original Drawings--Unpublished Letters by Leech--A Grave Error--"THE HAUNTED MAN"--Leech's Method of Work--Artistic Value of his Sketches--Ruskin's Criticism--Leech as an Actor--A Serious Accident--d.i.c.kens as Nurse--Ill-health--A Fatal Seizure--Sir John Millais' Portrait of Leech.

John Leech, the leading spirit of _Punch_ for more than twenty years, was born in London in 1817, his father (an Irishman of culture) being a vintner, and at one time the proprietor of the London Coffee-House on Ludgate Hill, then the most important of the large City hotels. As the elder Leech showed some skill as a draughtsman, we may reasonably a.s.sume that from him the son inherited a talent for drawing, by means of which he was destined, before many years had pa.s.sed, to astonish the world by his humour and originality. When a mere lad, he exhibited such apt.i.tude and dexterity with the pencil, that Flaxman, the famous sculptor, p.r.o.nounced these precocious efforts to be wonderful, and exclaimed: "That boy must be an artist; he will be nothing else or less."

Notwithstanding this recommendation, young Leech (after a course of schooling at the Charterhouse, where he had William Makepeace Thackeray as a fellow-pupil) was entered by his father at St. Bartholomew's Hospital, with a view to his adopting the medical profession; but his _penchant_ for drawing and sketching proved irresistible, and he gained more repute among the students by means of his life-like (but good-natured) caricatures, than for any ability he may have displayed in hospital work. On leaving St. Bartholomew's, he was placed under an eccentric pract.i.tioner named Whittle (whom Albert Smith has immortalised as Mr. Rawkins), and subsequently under Dr. John c.o.c.kle, afterwards Physician to the Royal Free Hospital.

PLATE XLIII

JOHN LEECH

From the Water-colour Drawing by

SIR JOHN E. MILLAIS, P.R.A., 1854

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Leech, however, gradually relinquished his medical studies, and resolved to live by his pencil. He was only eighteen years of age when he published his first venture, "Etchings and Sketchings, by A. Penn, Esq.," comprising a collection of slightly caricatured sketches of various odd characters to be met with on the streets of London. Shortly after this maiden effort there appeared upon the scene the initial number of the celebrated "Pickwick Papers," and when, in the second number, the sad death was announced of Robert Seymour, the ill.u.s.trator, Leech immediately conceived the idea of seeking election as his successor. "Boz" at this time was absolutely unknown to him except by that strange pseudonym, so the ambitious young artist communicated his desire to the publishers, Chapman & Hall, to whom he sent as a specimen of his powers a clever drawing, delicately tinted in colour, of that familiar scene in "Pickwick" where Tom Smart sits up in bed and converses with the animated chair.[36] Thackeray (it will be remembered) also aspired to the position coveted by Leech, but neither possessed the necessary qualifications.

Footnote 36: Concerning this design, of which a _facsimile_ is given in the Victoria edition of "The Pickwick Papers,"

1887, a correspondent received the following interesting communication from a representative of d.i.c.kens's publishing firm:--

"_May 2nd, 1888._

"DEAR SIR,--The history of the drawing by Leech of 'Tom Smart and the Arm-chair' is, that at the time there was a difficulty about the artist for ill.u.s.trating 'Pickwick,' Mr.

Leech sent it in as a specimen of his ability to ill.u.s.trate the work. This was in the year 1836, and it was in the possession of my predecessor, Mr. Edward Chapman, until twenty-five years ago, when it came into my possession.--Faithfully yours,

"FRED CHAPMAN."

In those early years Leech designed numerous ill.u.s.trations for _Bells Life in London_, and concocted schemes of drollery with his literary friends which resulted in the publication of such humorous productions as the "Comic Latin Grammar," "Comic English Grammar," &c. In August, 1841, he contributed his first drawing to _Punch_ (the fourth number), this being the forerunner of many hundreds of pictures, chiefly of "life and character," bearing the familiar sign-manual of a leech wriggling in a bottle. The artist's connection with _Punch_ gave him a great opportunity, for he was thus enabled to come before the public, week after week, with an endless succession of scenes in high life and low life, now of the hunting-field and now of the river,--always with something that could not fail to delight the eye and to excite good-natured laughter. His deftness and versatility naturally brought many commissions from publishers anxious to secure the aid of his prolific pencil, so that besides his weekly contribution to _Punch_ he was occupied in preparing designs for other works, notably _Douglas Jerrold's Shilling Magazine_, _Hood's Comic Annual_, and "The Ingoldsby Legends."

[Sidenote: =A Christmas Carol, 1843.=]