Dickens and His Illustrators Part 5

Seymour's method of work was to sketch with pencil or pen the outline of his subject, and add the shadow effects by means of light washes of a greyish tint. A precision and neatness of touch characterise these "Pickwick" drawings, the most interesting of which is undoubtedly that representing Mr. Pickwick addressing the Club, a scene such as Seymour may have actually witnessed in the parlour of almost any respectable public-house in his own neighbourhood of Islington. Here we have the first delineation of the immortal founder of the famous Club, "that happy portrait," as d.i.c.kens said of it, "by which he is always recognised, and which may be said to have made him a reality." Seymour originally sketched this figure as a long thin man, the familiar presentment of him as a rotund personage having been subsequently inspired by Edward Chapman's description of a friend of his at Richmond named John Foster, "a fat old beau, who would wear, in spite of the ladies' protests, drab tights and black gaiters." It is curious, however, that in "The Heiress," ill.u.s.trated by Seymour six years previously, we find in the second plate a character bearing a striking resemblance to Mr. Pickwick, and in "Maxims and Hints for an Angler"

(1833), the artist similarly portrayed an old gentleman marvellously like him, both as regards physique and benignity of expression; indeed, this seems to have been a favourite type with Seymour, and thus it would appear that, in making d.i.c.kens's hero short and comfortable, he only reverted to an earlier conception.

PLATE XIX

FIRST STUDY FOR

"THE DYING CLOWN"

_Facsimile_ of the Original Drawing for "The Pickwick Papers" by

R. SEYMOUR

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The drawing which ranks second in point of interest is the artist's first idea for "The Dying Clown," ill.u.s.trating "The Stroller's Tale."

The original sketch is a slight outline study in pen-and-ink of the figures only, the facial expressions being cleverly rendered. In the Victoria edition of "The Pickwick Papers" a _facsimile_ is given of a later and more developed version of the subject; this differs from the published etching, the alterations being the result, doubtless, of the criticism bestowed upon the drawing in the following letter addressed by d.i.c.kens to the artist,--apparently the only written communication from him to Seymour which has been preserved:--

"15 FURNIVAL'S INN,

"_Thursday Evening, April 1836._

"MY DEAR SIR,--I had intended to write to you to say how much gratified I feel by the pains you have bestowed upon our mutual friend Mr. Pickwick, and how much the result of your labours has surpa.s.sed my expectations. I am happy to be able to congratulate you, the publishers, and myself on the success of the undertaking, which appears to have been most complete.

"I have now another reason for troubling you. It is this. I am extremely anxious about 'The Stroller's Tale,' the more especially as many literary friends, on whose judgment I place great reliance, think it will create considerable sensation. I have seen your design for an etching to accompany it. I think it extremely good, but still it is not quite my idea; and as I feel so very solicitous to have it as complete as possible, I shall feel personally obliged if you will make another drawing. It will give me great pleasure to see you, as well as the drawing, when it is completed. With this view I have asked Chapman and Hall to take a gla.s.s of grog with me on Sunday evening (the only night I am disengaged), when I hope you will be able to look in.

"The alteration I want I will endeavour to explain. I think the woman should be younger--the dismal man decidedly should, and he should be less miserable in appearance. To communicate an interest to the plate, his whole appearance should express more sympathy and solicitude; and while I represented the sick man as emaciated and dying, I would not make him too repulsive. The furniture of the room you have depicted _admirably_. I have ventured to make these suggestions, feeling a.s.sured that you will consider them in the spirit in which I submit them to your judgment. I shall be happy to hear from you that I may expect to see you on Sunday evening.--Dear Sir, very truly yours,

"CHARLES d.i.c.kENS."

In compliance with this wish, Seymour etched a new design for "The Stroller's Tale," which he conveyed to the author at the appointed time, this being the only occasion on which he and d.i.c.kens ever met. Whether the novelist again manifested dissatisfaction, or whether some other cause of irritation arose, is not known, but it is said that Seymour returned home after the interview in a very discontented frame of mind; he did nothing more for "Pickwick" from that time, and destroyed nearly all the correspondence relating to the subject. It has been stated that he received five pounds for each drawing, but it is positively a.s.serted, on apparently trustworthy evidence, that the sum paid on account was only thirty-five shillings for each subject,[9] and that the artist never relinquished the entire right which he had in the designs.

Footnote 9: R. W. Buss, the successor of Seymour as ill.u.s.trator of "Pickwick," records that ten shillings was the price accorded to the artist for each plate.

As in the case of "The Stroller's Tale," there are noticeable differences between the drawing and the etching of the last of Seymour's published designs, depicting Mr. Winkle and the Refractory Steed. In this plate it will be observed that, although the general composition is identical with that in the drawing, the positions of the horse's forelegs are reversed, and trees have been introduced on the left of the picture.

PLATE XX

"THE RUNAWAY CHAISE"

_Facsimile_ of an Unused Design for "The Pickwick Papers" by

R. SEYMOUR

This Drawing ill.u.s.trates an incident in the fifth chapter.

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

An examination of Seymour's etchings for "Pickwick" shows that, in the application of the dilute nitric acid to corrode the lines produced by the etching-point, the artist was greatly troubled, and, in order to save his designs and keep faith with the publishers and the public, he was probably compelled to apply for help in his need to one of the artist-engravers residing in his neighbourhood. It has been suggested that certain faults in his plates caused by defective "biting" were remedied by means of the engraving tool; but, so far as I have been able to discover, there is no evidence of this. His plates possess the quality of pure etching; indeed, in that respect they are superior to those by "Phiz" in the same work. It should, however, be noted that there are extant very few copies of "Pickwick" containing impressions from Seymour's own plates; perhaps in not more than one copy out of a hundred will they be found, and this scarcity is explained by the fact that when the plates suffered deterioration through printing, the artist's death prevented him from duplicating them, so that the subjects had to be copied and re-etched by "Phiz." Seymour reversed his designs upon the steel plates, so that when printed they appear exactly as originally drawn. There is reason to infer, from an entry in the artist's memorandum-book, that the first four subjects were etched before he showed them to d.i.c.kens, and that they were afterwards re-etched and modified in some degree to suit the author's views.

Besides these ill.u.s.trations, Seymour is responsible for the design appearing on the green wrapper of the monthly parts, which was engraved on wood by John Jackson. A glance at this at once convinces us how strongly the "sporting" element was at first intended to predominate, for here are displayed trophies of guns, fishing-rods, and other sporting implements; at the top of the page is seen the veritable Winkle aiming at a sparrow, while below, seated on a chair in a punt, peacefully reposes Mr. Pickwick with his rod, watching for a "bite"; in the background of the picture may be recognised Putney Church, as well as the old wooden bridge which once spanned the Thames at this point.

PLATE XXI

"THE PICKWICKIANS IN MR. WARDLE'S KITCHEN"

_Facsimile_ of an Unused Design for "The Pickwick Papers" by

R. SEYMOUR

This Drawing ill.u.s.trates an incident in the fifth chapter.

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

After the publication of "The Pickwick Papers" many veracious reports as to its origin were circulated. In some of these statements d.i.c.kens was entirely deprived of the credit of its inception, and partly to a.s.sert his claim, but princ.i.p.ally because he believed his readers would be interested in the truth of the matter, he related the facts in the already-quoted Preface to the first cheap edition. About two years later he was considerably annoyed by the appearance of a pamphlet purporting to give "An Account of the Origin of the Pickwick Papers," the author of which was the "widow of the distinguished artist who originated the work." Mrs. Seymour printed in her _brochure_ a distorted version of d.i.c.kens's Preface, and attempted a reply thereto, by which she endeavoured to show the fallacy of his statements. The following extract from this privately-printed pamphlet sufficiently indicates the tenor of Mrs. Seymour's attempt to prove that the honour belonged exclusively to the artist: "Mr. d.i.c.kens edited a work called 'The Pickwick Papers,'

which was originated solely by my husband in the summer of 1835, and but for a cold (which brought on a severe illness) which he caught on Lord Mayor's Day, on taking his children to view the procession from the Star Chamber, would have been written, as well as embellished, by himself; this cause alone prevented him from doing so, as the numerous periodicals he was constantly engaged upon had greatly acc.u.mulated during his illness."[10] Although such a claim, so seriously maintained, necessitated immediate refutation, d.i.c.kens allowed a considerable time to elapse before making a formal denial thereof. With a view to future action, however, he wrote to Edward Chapman for his recollections of the primary events in the history of the work, and accordingly received from him the following reply, dated July 7, 1849: "In November [1835] we published a little book called 'The Squib Annual,' with plates by Seymour, and it was during my visit to him to see after them that he said he should like to do a series of c.o.c.kney sporting plates of a superior sort to those he had already published. I said I thought it might do if accompanied by letterpress and published in monthly parts; and this being agreed to, we wrote to the author of 'Three Courses and a Dessert' (a Mr. Clarke). I proposed it; but receiving no answer, the scheme dropped for some months, till Seymour said he wished us to decide, as another job had offered which would fully occupy his time.

And it was on this we decided to ask you to do it.... I am quite sure that from the beginning to the end n.o.body but yourself had anything whatsoever to do with it."

Footnote 10: In 1889 Mrs. Seymour's own copy of this exceedingly scarce pamphlet (of which only three copies are known to exist) was purchased by Mr. Daly for 74 at Sotheby's. It contains a few slight corrections by Mrs.

Seymour.

Further publicity was bestowed upon the subject in a letter contributed to the _Athenaeum_ of March 24, 1866, by Seymour's son, who not only repeated the princ.i.p.al arguments adduced by the pamphlet, but promised further particulars in a subsequent communication. Whereupon d.i.c.kens, rightly considering that the opportunity had now arrived for emphatically repudiating the whole story, forwarded the following letter for publication in the ensuing number of the _Athenaeum_:--

"As the author of 'The Pickwick Papers' (and of one or two other books), I send you a few facts, and no comments, having reference to a letter signed 'R. Seymour,' which in your editorial discretion you published last week.

"Mr. Seymour the artist never originated, suggested, or in any way had to do with, save as ill.u.s.trator of what I devised, an incident, a character (except the sporting tastes of Mr. Winkle), a name, a phrase, or a word, to be found in 'The Pickwick Papers.'

"I never saw Mr. Seymour's handwriting, I believe, in my life.

"I never even saw Mr. Seymour but once in my life, and that was within eight-and-forty hours of his untimely death. Two persons, both still living, were present on that short occasion.

"Mr. Seymour died when only twenty-four [twenty-six] printed pages of 'The Pickwick Papers' were published; I think before the next three or four [afterwards corrected to "twenty-four"] were completely written; I am sure before one subsequent line of the book was invented."[11]

Footnote 11: The unpublished sketch by Seymour in Mr. Daly's collection, depicting the Pickwickians in Mr. Wardle's kitchen, ill.u.s.trates a scene described on page 50, so that d.i.c.kens's memory was slightly at fault.

[Here follows the account of Mr. Hall's interview with the novelist, as given in the Preface of the 1847 edition, and the letter thus continues:]

"In July 1849, some incoherent a.s.sertions made by the widow of Mr.