Part 5 (1/2)

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 s.h.i.+llings 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 s.h.i.+llings 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._