"A Melancholy Clown" -- the Relationship of Robert Seymour and Charles Dickens

"A melancholy clown" -- The relationship of Robert Seymour and Charles Dickens

The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters

Citation Cohen, Jane R. 1971. "A melancholy clown" -- The relationship of Robert Seymour and Charles Dickens. Harvard Library Bulletin XIX (3), July 1971: 250-279.

Citable link https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37364245

Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA "A Melancholy Clown"- The Relationship of ltobert Seymour and Charles Dickens* Jane R. Coben

ICKEN s' first illustrator ir nme asurab1 y aidc d his literary as- cent; his second inadvertently skyrocketed him to fan1e.. If the young ,vriter found ,vorking \Yith established vet- erans a mixed hlessing~the consequences for the arrisrs \vcre tragic~ Cruiksha.nk~s extended re]2tJonsl1ip,virh Dickens contributed to his 1nental dernnge111ent;Robert Scyn1our's hrie.f jnvolve,nent ,vith the author fatally· unbah1nced a long-disturbed 1nind. Seyn1011r,,vho ,vas kno,vn in the early 183o's for his hu1norous sporting .sl~etches., is ren1em here d no, v 1112i 111} 7 ns th c first of Pickwick"s t hrcc illustrators; his heirs., like Cruikshank, clai1ncd the artist originated u "~ork of Dickens. Un]i ke Crniksh~nk, Scyn1our recci vc d n1orc attention f ro1n Dickens after his deatl1 than during· l1is nbbrevjatcd Jifetin1e, but less frorn posterity· -asan original genius in his o,vn right. A first no\1'elhas its vulnerabilities as ,vell ns its imn1nnities, Forster might have added. Ccrtainl)T one of the distinctions benveen Tbe Pick'(,vickPnpers 2nd the rest of Dickens' ,vrjtings "appears in ,vhat

• All ciuni on s to the '-''or k of Char I es DI c kens, Robert Seymour i <'l.ndGeorge Cruikshank., given p~rcnthcticnHy in the text of this study, refer to their ]ocations j n T/J e Non f s-uc-li Dickens, c d+Arthur V? aug h, Hugh \\ 1alp oiei lV '1.ltcr Dexter! and Th 0111'cls Hatton ( ll loon1s b\uy ! r 9 3 8) . ,:~/hen rele\Tan t, the or igjnal date and place of publication of a Dickens ,vork ~re !;npplied in a ~eparutc footnotci as are all the sources of Djckens 1 correspondence. and of the reproduced illustrated nlatter. The follo\ving a.hhrevi:nions: h:nTcbeen u~cd: NL,l,ll,lll The Letters of Cbarles Dickensi etl~ Vlalter Dexter (Bloomsburyt 1 938) '-"hich \V ill be .superseded by pj]grimJ 'P/Je Letter~ of C!JarlesDir.kJns., ed. i\-iadeUne House nnd Gndi:.=i.tn Storey ( Oxford, 1965-). \T oh.1rnes I and 11, coYerjng the yea.rs r820--184r t h::nTcappe~red at this date of \\Ti ting~ Unpub, Pjlgrjm - ''.i\iS Files of the PHgrim Ed1tion of Charles Dickens"' Lettcrsj'i ed. 1\.:Iade] ine House and Graham Storey.

:2.50

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) hgs been said of jts origin.. n 1 llobert Scyn1our indisputably· initiated ,vhat became the in1111ortal ta1e of i\1r .. Pick,vick and his friends; to ,vhut extent the a.rtist orjgi11nted the book rc1nains the central proble1n in dealing ,vith Dickens and his second illustrator. The issue is further co1np]icated by the lack of reliable inforn1ation about tl1c artist. ''Considering the great a1nount of ,vork produced by Scyn1our, and the \videspread popularity· enjoyed by hin1 in his da.)T/'-observed the Atbenneu1J1in r 887, "it js ~stonishing that .so little should be kno,vn of hirn in our time.'~>2 Eight) 7 years later~ 1itt]e n1ore is k no, vn. I(n O\V ledge of the artise s ,var k ,vith Dick ens still d crivcs from the biased accounts of the increasingly exacerbated author 3 and rhc surviving Pickwick pub]isher,4 ,vhich contr~dict those of the ar- tises aggrieved ,vido,v 6 and son G 3s ,vcll as the report of Scy1nour's tempo nu y l)ickwi ck success or, Rob crt Buss. 7 These circu n1stantial

records~ all ,vrittcn long after the events they .set forth 1 are hardly dis-

1 John Forster, Tbe Life of C/Jffrles Dickens, ed. J. ,~v~T. Ley (London> ,928)t p. 88 . .::[Ch\lrlc.s Johnson], ~,.:.pjck,vick~ and lts IHustn1tors,.'1 Tbe Atbe~ure1nn, No. 3110 (4 June 1887), 737.

a Charles Dickens 1 Preface to the 1847 First Cheap Edition of The Pickwick

I'apers1 reprinted in J\lonesuch Pickwick Papers~pp. x,Tii-xix; "''History· of 'Pick- ,vick,'" 1,!'JeAtbcnactnn, No~ 2005 (3 1 1\1:arch 1866 ), 430, reprinted in Nonesuch

Collected PnJ~ers, f 1 ) n8'-:no; ~nd Prcfoce to x868 The CliarJeg Dickens edtdon of Tbe Pickwick Papers, reprinted in Nonesuch I'ick•r.vick Papers,.pp. xxi-xxiii, 4 Ed\vard Ch~ptnan, Letter to Charles Djc"kcns~9 J alr 1849, i.vhich Dickens uti- Jizcd in his 1866 Atbe1uteuHt anide and g~ve for safekeeping in 1867 during hjs second trjp to America to Forster, \vho reprinted ir, perlrnps only jn part, pp. 74-76. i1rs. Jane Holmes Scyn1our, An Arr-ouut of tbe Origin of the upJck'4.1,,ickPa- pers'' (London:· private1y printed, 18 54), reprinted in '''~ l\1illcr und E. H .. Strange, A CentnMry Bibliograpby of tbe I'ick'l.vjck Papei·s (London, 1936), pp. J S~i I4. - The =iuthor's O1vn copy is contained in the '\"\'jden~r Collcctjon. Page numbers refer b cth to th c ori gina] copy fl nd to the xe printed one in rvJil I er and Strnn ge [in brackets J . i Robert Seymour, ''Seymour 1s-Sketches,'' Tbc Atbenaeuni, Nor 2004 ( 24 .i\-1arch r866)., 398-399, reprinted jn Mi11er and Str~ngc, pp. ;n6-z r7, rrnd see fRobett Scy-- mo,1rrJ uTh e Life of Roh crt Seymour, ,:i, S eJ11r1our! s S ket e !:ns (London, 1 86 7), pp.

3-8 1 -and footnote 83 lJe]ov,/~ 7 1 Robert \V. Iluss 1 "' J\'fy Conncxjon ,vith Tbe I'lckwick Paper.rt :z 1\1a.rch 187z, first pu bUsh cd in "ll/ alter Dexter c1n d J. \\'. T. Ley, T be Orig in of Pickr..vic k (Lon- don, 1936)t pp. r 09-139. Iluss•s [account is useful as hcing sy1npathetic to the Sey- mou rs, though h-a.rdly id en ti ca1 to theirs~ His a cc oun t~ probably bc1sed on i n.forma~ ti on prov j dcd by the Seymours or their symp arhjzersi ga 1ns crcdi bi lity :a.sit ,vas not '-"Vritten for p u bli ca rj on, but for hjs chi Id ren. His defense of S cymour :seen1s some- i.·vhat gratuitous, ho,veve.r, as his o\vn compfoint, in contrfl.st to t'hat of Sey-moues

f~n1ily1 is agai[1st the pub]ishers Iather than Dickens~

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 252 Harvard Library B11lleti11

interested. The sole uudisputcd fact of tl 1e ilI ustrator ts asso ci ati on \vith Boz remains) as Forstcr blandly put it, that 1bet\veen the first and

~ec.ondnun1ber of Pick·wick, the artist, l\1r. Scy111our1 d1ed by hfa o,Yn h-and_,.,s Dicken_scould 11ot kno,v that the origin of Tbe Pickwick Papers ,vas as rooted in Sey-i11our~stroubled beginnings as the ,vork's dc,Tcl- optnent ,vas in his o,vn. The book proved no exception to the artist' .s long experience that each apparent success \Vas but a failure in dis- guise. The 1 'posthun1ous~~ child of Son1crset '~gentleman~'' ~s the \lictorians cuphc1nistically termed ]1is jllcgitin12te hirth, Scy1nour had received such a scanty education jn the care of his mother that, according to Buss, he Jong continued "''to 1nurder the Queen's Engl1sh.. n ° If the Roy-alA.cademy's acceptance of h1sc~nvas of a subject fron1 T,asso in· 1 8 2 2 seemed to justify Seymour"'shaving quit an -apprenticeshipto a pattcrn-draftsn1an, its rejection of his subsequent ,vorks left hinl Oill)7 ,vith a frustrated desire to pursue ' 1I-Iigh J\.rt."'' This failure and the need of pouring Hthe blessings of lifen around J'd.ne I-Iolmes, his

:fir.stcousin a.ndt fron1 i 827 1 his ,vife, ,vho unahashedl)r ,vrote that her ''sn1iles and fro,vns,~ had al,vays been ' 1the clouds -and sunshincu of his Jife,1uforced Se37n1our to revert to illustrating for a livelihood~ His clear, minute style of drtnving, gained during the despised apprentice- .ship, enabled him to 1naster qnickl) 7 the techniques of ,,~cod-engraving and lithography. Learning to etch on stcel-plntcst ho,vever~ the artist not only drc,v his inspiration fron1 the style and manner of Cruik~hank, but even affixed the 1101n de phn11e of Shortshanks to .so1neof his earlier caricatures until his Islington neighbor protestcd.:11 B)r 1834 Sey-- n1our ,vas fully established as a popular cnrican1r1stin his o,vn right, but never in his o"\'vnmind, to judge by· his nun1erous brc-a.kdo,vns.12

r. Forster! p, 77. ri Russi p. 111 .. 10 .J\1r~.Se.y1nour, p. 3 5 [:i 14], 11 [RoLcrt Seymour?] i p. 4, notes the artist's use of -i:ishortsh'J.nll'.:s:"'in ''A lvfusical

Gcnins 1 ~ ~nd ,iA j\f'J.nof T~stc and Feelcng.~' See also H enr:vBohn, Introduction to Seyn1aur"tsJ-J1m1orous Sl'etcbe:; (Londonj 1888), p+ v., ,vho cites Scyn1our's Hlustra-

rions for Sh!;tfton [Beck] 1 Vagaries in Quest of t/Je 11-"ildand 11.r01iderful; Grnham Evcrkt, E11glisb Caricaturisu and Graphic lf~nnourirts of t]J~ 1-lineteent1J Century (London, 18~}3), p. 209~ -andFrederic G. Kitton, Dickens and His lllurtrators (Lon- don~ 1 899), P· 3 J .. Sec '~Coroner's lnqucstt (anon.) Tintes (2 2- Aprtl 1836), 7 \rhere Seymour's ncphe,v"tJohn Mead. testifies tlrnt '"'ten ye~rs ago he attempted to destroy hi1nsclf.. ftnd on ti,·o accasions since he h:ls -alsomade attemptst\ cf. [Rohen Scy1nour?J, p. S, w·ho stress es his f ~ther's unvarying gnod tempetam ent.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 1 A 1lieln11cbolyClo 1vu .2 5 3 In 1834 Scy1nour unkno\vingly began his association ,vith Charles Dickens. An1ong other projects, the artist ,vas illllstrating the Coulic Albuuz, a small v.olun1c of previously published extracts. In chaos~ ing to iJlustrate "The On1nibus.," as one of these extracts ,vas cn- titled/i Seymour un,vittingl )" became the first artist to cn1bellish Dickens' ,vriting~ for these fe,\r paragraphs ,vcrc taken fron1 the au~ th or's ''BIo 01nsbury Christening,'' 1v hi ch had -app cared anon y·n1 o us l y in the .i~1011tbl)1 111agaz.ineand ,vhich ]atcr ,vas included in Sketcbes by 11oz (pp .. 465 [469~472] 480) .. The course of Sey"mour'sfuture association ,vith Dickens on Tbe Pickwick Papers, ho\vevcr, ,vas far 111oreinfluenced by his i!11hroglio,vith Figaro in the same Jrear4 Since 1831 Seyn1our hnd been iHustrating Fig((TOiu Lo11do11,a chenp ,vcckl y. Th c pa per reflected the clc-~rerhut abusive character of its o,vncr-cditor, Gilbert A'Beckctt) later a Puncb staff n1embcr and a parti cipant in Dick ens' itrst th eatrica l. 14 The paper"s chief 111cri t , vas- S cym our' s front-page caricature, ,vhich Ileckctt ackno,vlcdged ,vith extrava ga n t puffing.15 v\ 'hen, ho,v ever, Beekcte s thcatri ca I specul a- ti ons left hi1n unable to pay'"the-artist, ,vho fin-atly·quit, he published Scy1nour,s last \Voodcut \Vith cxccssivel1r jnsulting retnarks. Not con-

1~ See Kathle~n Tillotson, 1'Sey1nour ll1ustnning Dickens in I R34ji~ Dickensian, LIX (Jnnuary 1958), I 1..

u Kittoni C/J11rlesDickens by Pen and Pencil ( 1889-1890 ), 111 :ro8.. H~1rs. Scyn1our, P· i.7 rioS-J1 quotes "from a letter of Sey1no,1r to Beckett: ~CI 1night ha \'C si id it - that the bad ptj n ting, engr:1 l-'ing, and cxtrava gAnt puffing of my humb]e descgns in the tFjgaro/ \Vere calculated to do inc more harm than good as

~n artist." For ex-an1ples, ~ce: Figaro in Loudon 1 111(J ~nuary-Augus:ti 1834): No. I IO (Ir J anr ), 5: 1'°Seymour~ \"\'"]10js 1:1. pcrf cct mole in ferreting out the foun- . dations: of every thing ... i~ 1 No. n 1 ( 18 Jan. )1 9: ~Thc caricature of Seymour is jn itself an artide- and Sey- 1nour h~s .sl10\vn ho,v jnsignificant arc tl1c d~shes of our pen compared

1 \\'it h the superhuman di gs of hi~ iron-vci nc d penciJ. ] 11 No. 1 l 4 ( 8 FcL.) :1- 11: r ... glorjo,us jJlustrcltiun 4 4 \\·here the pencil has been

so po,\'erful! the pen mly ·well bo hid ~side r - ." No. 1 u5 (ii Feb.), 19: 'tSeyn1our's pend] gives a more ,rivjd picture " " . than \ve could possjbly hn·vc had the intention to concr:jvc, or the po\ver to execute.'' No. 1 z 3 ( 11 Apr.), 57: ~'The caricature ·which SE:yn1our]ms this ,veek shot forth fron1 hi~ hrain is about as magnjficcnt a thunderbolt · as ever ,vas issued _ agJ. i ost folly f ro1n the force of his gcni us.i)

No. 1 2 9 (]. 4 l\1a y) t 81 : ''"\~'ith his customary ta ct j n these n1attc.rs 1 Scyn1our h a:s

been determined to :spare our Jabour1 and has sent forth to the world a d-csig:n that is j ts o,v n Cfl minan d. i) No. 132 ( 14 June), 93: " ... the happy d~sign-of the astute S('.yJnour_, .. 1' Nu. J 40 (9 Aug.), I :i6: cc_ •• masterly style , ... ~i

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 2 54 Hnrvnrd Library Bulleti1l tent ,vith having hired Cruikshnnk 1s brother llobert to replace Sey- mour, Bee kett gratuiton sly libeled his for 1ner artist in subseq u ent -nun1bcrs fron1 a spurious "To Corrcspondentsu colu1nn. Scyn1our had no cirnc to relish the success attendant on the Noven1hcr publication of his Couiic Alb'lnn'Jfor Beckett rin1ed his n1ost vicious slanders to appear in the san1c ntonth. (ilt is not true that Seymour has gone out of his mind,'' B cckc tt ans\v ere d o nc sup po sc d correspond cnt~ '' bc- ca use he never had 311)7 to go out of."' To another ,vritcr purportedly asking ,vhy Seymour could not ,vritc his o,vn na1nc, he replied that '"jn the year 1815, a subscription \Vas raised a1nong a fe,v friends of civilization, and enen1iesof idiocy·,to teach Seymour to spell', but these endeavors could not surniount his jnnate '~IGNORANCE.', ,, 7ith-

out r"Tigaro"spatronage 1 according to Beckett, the artist could not sell his ''1niscrablc c2ricatt.1rcs,, for it ,vas ~'a ,vell-kno,vn fact, that the ideas for the· caricatures in Figaro \Vere al\Y3)7 S supplied by the Editor, he (Scyn1our) being a perfect dolt., except in the mechanicnl use of his pcnc1."'l ,, T ra nsparen t · as th cse calti 111 ni es seem., no\v as th en :t the timid artist ·perceived the partial validity in the references to his mental instabilit)7 , defective edu cati oni and Jack of otiginaliry. The F igtrroattacks ceased ,vhcn Beckett abruptly· quit that suddenly Htedio11s,'enterprise~ The paper , vas tu ken over bj7 Henr) 7 ?viay·hc,v,,vho not only restored Sey- mour to his for1ner post but conspicuously adt"ertiscd his name on the title page.1c But the damage had been done. Even l\1rs. Sc3rmour-ab-

u HTo Correspondent~'~ Figaro in London .. 111~No. 154 (15 November 1834),

l 84; also quoted jn Bohn, ppr ix-x 1 culmin~tes the attacks ,vhich began on 30 August and ccAscd only ,vjth Beckett's resignation in Decemh~r, No. I 43 (30 A·ug.) 137! ''"The ~hove caric~rurc i~ so purely hicroglypl1ical that ,ve decline ~ny atten1pt at exp b in.ing j t. The art• st . . . must ha v·e been under some strange and p o,vcr f nl influence . . . Seymour has under gone a sort of men rnl crud fixion, nnd the rcsu1 t is the ;t'\.Vf nl :sketch "\\'h ich h cal~s th c prescn t nu n1b er of our periodical . ,,recan only pay a tribute of reverence to the arrjsfs over-excited imagimnion and morbid fancy.'' · No. 145 ( 13 Sept.)":"r 48! ''l\1r. Scrn1ourt our ~x-artistt is n1ueh to be pitied for his extrcn1c anguish at our h ~ving to co1nc to tc nns '"ith th c ccJe bra ted Rob- ert Cru ikslunk. Seymour has been ,·enti ng his rage: in a manner so pofnt- 1ess o.s it fa splcne tic,. :;ind ,ve ure sorry for h in1 + + .. lV c must r n gage -first-rate abiHty . . regret that a person ,vhotn ,vc have so n1uch ~d- vanced should have been .so un gratcf l 11.ti NO+146 ( 20 Sept.)• 152 : ''SEYlvIO l.JR 1S INSA!\TJTY . .. . , );/c see no dire ct proof of our e}.;'.-~rtist be Lng in th c state alluded to • . . ,ve see no direct proof of insanity in Seymour's hld spelling, Lccause our \,·orthy exc~ricarurjst

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A (Jo7.v11 A1elancboly 2 55 solved Djckcns frorn blarnc for her husband's suicide t\vo yc-arslater, connecting it Jnstead ,vith this earlier feud ,vith Beckett. None perceived, ho,vevcr, that it probab]y· ,vas Seyn1our's experience \Vith Dickens and 1.,be Pickwick Papers,vhjch conflr1ned the urtises sus- picion th Rt he ,vas ''a pcrf cct dolt, except in the n1echanicaluse of his pencil.'~ Throughout these vicissitudes, Sey1nonr found re]axation and con- solation in Islington., ,vhere l'om 3nd Ruth Pinch ,vcrc also to find both chcap 2nd plea~nt acco1nn1odations ( A1artin (,/JuzzlMvit, pp. 579-5 80). I he couid ,vork undistracccd in his garden studio, quietly· itnprove his n1ind by reading, and exercise his talents ns a .sp orts,nan. ll ural Islington \vas a con vcnient place for artists ]i k e Scyn1our and Cruikshank to Jive, it ,vas a.]so a natural spot for cock- llC)7S to vjsit on Sundays and holiday·s. Sey1nour,s dra,vings-attest to his un2bate d observation of th csc overeq uipped and undcrtrained sportsmen, bagging cats, sparro\vs, :1nd even stray· pigs. If Seyn1our th c acco1np lishe d sportsn1a n ,vas irri t-a.ted h y these absnrd spectacl cs,. Sey1nonr the artist utilized thc1n for numerous and profitable caricatures. Depicting the misadventures of cockney sportsn1cn provided him \vith an en1otionul outlet as \Veil. The artist could harmlessl}Tsneer at others in a \V3.) 7 , v hi c 1[ r eplcnishe d both hi 5 purse and his cgo. By 183 5 the pain of the Fignro hun1iliation ,vas part1)7 soothed by" the success of his sporting sketches~ Fnr from feeling that he had ex- hausted this matcria]t Sey·rnour, ,v110 ,vas unrivaled in this gratifying vein, ,vantcd to \vork it further. [Jc conceived a ph1n for a series of plates depicting the n1ishaps of a club of cock~e}Tsportsmen, ,vh~ch he sho,vcd to friends and possible publishers. 17 '''hen the publishers

'-'·~s ahvay.s ren1:.1rk~hie for: his high disdain of r •• orthography .... 1'rc rcai ly ,,lj sh people \"roa] d not run him d ow11 so j n their letters to u sT As .,..J..,eexalted him, so can \\.Tesufficicn tl y d cbase him v: hen \VC f cc1 disposed 1.Jut,ve think he is t p rese:n t humbled sufficientl r.'' Then came the 15 ;1ttac1q then ]n No. 160 (:27 Dec.), 2055 Beckett announced he \vas q1litting Figflro, no,,· 4 'an ir'kso1neinterruption to othor business.'' The title 7 7 page of \ o1. 1\ , No. 161 (3 J~n. [83;), no,,T under J\-leyhe\\·'s dircction 1 read: Figaro in London/\ 1lith Engr.n-Tings by Seyn1our. See also i\1r.s. Sey1nour, pp. 25~ 31 [106-:z II J, for her account of the feud ,,,hich jibes ~-jrb the facts and \v·hich is devoid of the hysterj a '"hi ch ch a ra c tc rizcs h c r discussion of Dickens' offcnses. 21 In subs-eq 11 en t decades, those m:a.intain ing that Seymour orj g•n tcd Piek'l.vick might have bolstered their argun1ents hy citing the number of people to ,vhom the artist reportedly sho,ved his pl a:n b cf ore D j c1.:cn s ever heard of it, THrs. Seymour, p+5 [ r 90], p. 7 [ 197]~ ~nd p. 3 5 [2 14], says he sho\vcd it to 1\1:oncrictlc ~nd i\1ayheiv

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) Harvard LibrarJ 1 Bul/eth1 ,verc indifferent,, Sey1nour beca1ne even111orc attached to bis coucep~ tion ,vhich he had originated.. In Novc1nher., ,vhcn Ed \vard Chapman conferred "~irh the artist about the plates for "a little book called the Squib Annual,' 1 s~yn1our broached his schen1c to the young publisher. Chapman appreciated Seyn1our's idea of doing "n .series of cockney sporting plates of a superior sort to those he had already published."' He 11thought they n1ight doi jf a.ccon1paniedby letterpress and published in monthly partsL,i16 The nc\vly established publishing firn1 of Chapman and Hall doubtless ,velcon1ed nny ,vork of a popular artisL They settled the terms of pay1ncnt,vith the artist H) and set about find~ ing ~n ~uthor to compose the acco1npanying letterpress. Charles Djckcns \Va~ b)T no means the inevit~ble choice of anyone concerned in the en terpr isc Scy·m our initiated. Chap1nan first proposed the collaboration ,vith Seyn1our to "\\1illia1n Clarkcj ,-vhO had recently· amused J..,ondon,vith his text 3CCompanying George Cruikshank's illustrations in Tbree Coursesand a Desserttbut

-and to (tthree ]Adtcsi one Jatcly dead, the other t'\Vo unicqu:}inted ,vith one another.u Robert Seymour in Tbe Atbe11aeuu1 (:24 i\1arch 186rS)1 398i says he sho,ved it· to ·spooncr., fo! ·whom he ,vas already illustrating Tbc Book of C/Jrirt1nnr~\\rho proposed that 111codore Hook do the letterpres..~; -and in his hiogri1phical introduction to· Sey1nour's Sk~tcbe.r, p~ 7, s~ys the artist told l\.1cLean of his pl-an1 ,vhich, according to surviving friend, orjginally invoh·cd the misfortune.'i of an amateur _gar- dener., rather than sportsincn, ~howed it to Spooner and thought of sho,·ving it to 1\1:gyhc,vor 1\1:oncrieffeif Spooner didn 1t a.ct; s~ymour did four phi.tcsfor Spooner, 'but the latter ,-vastoo in 1lolved with Tbe Rook of Cbristiuas which appeared a n1onth late ·due to I '1c nTey"s dlJa tor iness-. It is odd that none of the pub 1is.hers m entioncd _Seymour~s plan~ the inuldplicky· of n~mes ~Imos.t defeats the purpose of the artist's h d rs in sped fyang them, 8 ~ Chapman, p. 741 cf, 1\1 rs. Seymourt pp. 4-5 [ 190], e.nd [R ohcr t Seymou:r? J, p. 7t ,vho say"Ch'1 pn1 an Yisited the a rdst hi February 1 8 :;6 regarding an j l1ustrato r for ·a · ,.,;,,Toodcut,. by ,d1ich time Seymour had finish c d four plates "for her pet scheme ,\r hich ,vcre fater modi ficd ~nd re- etched for Pick1vick; cf. i\1.rs. Seymour I p. 3 [ 1 8 9], ,vho jnsisted that an gccompanying letterpress ,iras ~n. :.=i.fte.rthoughtdecided by Seymour and Spoon er '\V hich the artist "but for a cold ( \V hie h hrou gh t on -a severe illness) ,vhich he caught on Lord 1'1ayor1s day, jn taJ.:ing his children to visit the pro cession f ron1 the Smr CIt~ m b er i ,vould have ·wri ncn I fJs \Ve1l as cn1h cHi shed hy himself' 1; ~nd cf. Mrs. Seyn1ourl p+5 [191], ,vho m;aintainsth:It Ch~pman and Hall

·'-·vanted to puhlish the "\York ja t\\'"O ,·olumes 1 but her husband insisted on its being issued in n1onthly p·arts. · · 19 [Robert Seymour?].; p+ Sj ~ays the.artist r~c.::eivcd£1.+15.0· p~r dralving ~nd the I:'.' copyI ight, c L Rohn, p. vii 1 ~, ho ""rccr::ntIy -assertedr:r the artist rccci ,;,,"cd£ s pc pl atc. N .H, Se;rmour's stress on the cop yr jgh t ,vhich he f e] t Il ohnt ,v h O had publishcd his fathcr"s dra\·dngs the previous year, viofo.ted. •

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elnucbolyCl or-u;n 2 57 '' re ceiviug no ans\Ver,. the sch en1e dropped for son1cn10 nths.'' 20 S cy· - n1our preoccupied hin1self,vith Tbe Rook of C...,brist1nns,,vhich he ,vas illustrating for Spooner; its post-hoHdaypublication accounted for its disappointing reception and per 11aps for the urtise s re ne, v ed dcsi tc to sec hi~ latest plan n1atcrializc~ He urged Cbapn1an 'to decide about the project., as "another joh h~d offered ,vhich ,v.ould fulJy occupy his tin1e. '' ~1 Not ,vanting to offend Scyn1011rnor lose a probable profit, Chaprnan again cast about for an author. The position can1c to Charles Dickens almost by chance and only at the end of an increasingly involved chain of circun1stanccs+ The subsequent fan1c of the letterpress, ho\,~cver~caused all concerned to clain1 the honor of having se- lected the then unkno,v11,,,riter. An1ong their enterprises Chap1nanand Hull h-ad begun a Library of Fiction for ,vhich they· ,vanted a contribution from the anonymous a.nthor of the sketches that had appeared in the A1onthlJ' iliagrtz.h1e. Chapman , 1.7astotally ignorant of Dickens' name, but Charles l?i'hite- head/2 "an old .i\1onthly·n1an 'J and the. ne,v]y appointed editor of the

~11Chapmani p. 74. Sec I-Ienry \Tizetelly, Glances lfrtck TbrouglJ Seventy JrearJ {London, 1893), Ii t6 and note., VrThoexpfains th~t Clarke's engagc111cnt Ydth his f ami I y:i-s pub Jish i ng fi rn1 prevented the author fro r11accepting if not replying to - the offer; cf. 1\1rs.Seymour,, p. 5 [ 191J and p. 3 1 [:u 1 Jt ,vho maintains that Scy- u1ou r ,u did not p rm j t"'' Cl arkc to ,vrite the book as: the publishers proposed 'J.nd Il oh n, p. v j i ·whose ~rroncou s cc oun t that th ere had hccn a quarrel henvc en Scy- mou r ~nd Cl~ rke, rcspcc ting some 1.JjlI of cost~ ,v hl ch CJ arke h 'J.d sent. to the 3 rt ist for ,vho1n he acted as .solicitor~ is doubtless based on misleading inforniadon provided by the Seymour family. There certainly is no authority for Duss'.sst:itemcnt, p. 114 1 that Ch

often discussed i.vkh her ''ho,v to get rid of thcn1 ,i,khout offendjng thcn1. l) Sey- m oa r)s taking the i ni dative in suggesting :ln d then pursuing his sc h~1ne until th G Jirm actc d on it appc a rs to disprove hi~ w•j f c 's sta.tc rn en ts. See K. J. Fieldjng, iicharlcs ,vhitcl1c8:d 3nd Chnrles Dick n.s. 111 (April 195l ), 14J-l 541 ,vho con,Tincingly proves that there is no authority· for the \vidcsprcAd story that ,\ 1hitchc;ld, hin1self declined ~n invfration from the ·publishers to ,vrjte the letterpress for Seymoar 1s sl:ctches on th c ground he '\Vas too busy to suppl r copy on a reg ul r Lasis, recom1ncnd cd his young friend Di ck ens, or that his pref~c e to Jack K etc /J suggested T be Piek-wlc k Pnperr. Fjelding nore:i;:,hov.·cvcr 1 that in June 18'3:6\Vhitehead applied to the Literary

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) Harvard Library B1tlletin Library, "recollected it.no I-le got Boz to \Vrite "The Tuggs,s at Ran1s- gatc" ,vhich ,vas to appear in the .spring ,vith illustrations by Scyn,our (Sketches by Boz, pp. 3 32-35 5) .2a "Having opened -already a con .. neccion ,vith y·ou/~ Chapn1an ,Yas to reH Dickens, '\ve naturally applied to you to do the Pickwick; but ] do not thinl{ \Ve even 1ncn- cioncd our intentions to I\1r. Seymour.'~ ~4 Chapman n1a) 7 understand- ably be sin1plifying events recalled thirteen y·cars later (and only five since the author had stopped publishing his \vorks under the aegis of his firm). Surely the publisher scanned the recently published Sketcbes by Boz to refresh his n1cn1ory regarding the ability of the \vritcr ,vhosc nan1e he did nor kno,v~ Certainly he and I-Iall ,vere ple3 scd to note chat the obscure auth or had b cen .il1 ustrate d by th c fa- l nous Cruikshank. It is plausib] e, as lvlrs. Sey1n our and B nss n1a in ta in.,iti that t11e publishers consulted Seymour before approaching Dickens~

Fund, st~6ng he \v.as unable to meet a bill because: he had been ,i~md

letterpress and the l~ibrriry cditorship 1 ,vhich he seems to have Jost at this time 1 and notes Djckens' later endeavors to help \;\.7hitehcad.

2:: Sec Pilgri1n, It 648'1 Chapn1~n and T-Tallto Djckcnst 11 February I 836, and Bnz [CharJcs ,Dicken~]., ' 4Th~ Tuggs~s at Ra1nsgatc/' Tbe Library of Fiction (Londont 1836), 1, 1-l 8. Of Scymour 1s first illustration! representing: the l'uggs fan1ily "'ith the l~laters on the be~ch ( Library, f

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A 111ela11cbolyCJow11 2 59 "f o Fur11ival's Inn on the 1norning of Io Fchruary 1836 cantc 1.Jrisk, bird likc ,i\l illia1n I-Ia 11to pro pose the collab oration t.o Ch ad cs Dick ens..

"'\'hen I opened n1y door,H recalled the author 1 ''I recognized in hin1

the person f rotn \v hose hands I ha cl uou gh t 1 t\ v o or rhre e years pr c- viou sl)T, -and,vhom I had 11ever seen before or since~ ITI}7 first copy of the lVlagazinei,in ,vhich his "first effusion', had appeared "in all the glory of print. n lG Both n1cn, hailing the coincidence as r1nauspicious Hon1en/' settled do,vn to business.. ~r·he Jroung ,vrjrer, vvhose first book had just heen published ,virh illustrations by the n1ost fa1nous caricaturist of the time, ,vas far f rorn being over \vheln1ed by Hallt s of- f er to ,vork ,vith another popular artist. On the contrary, he had 1nany objections to supplying the prose "vehicle" for Seyn1our's plates of cockney \vou1d-be .sportsrnen~ Cheap il1ustrated serja]s issued 1nonth1y·,vcre becoming vcr)7 fash- jonable in the r83o's for reprjntjng literary classicsor circulatjng fad- dish sporting adventures, but \vere unheard of as a means of present- ing nc"r fiction. l""he onl)7 n1cthod of publication suitable to the

dignity of a man of lcttcrs1 Dickens' friends argued~ ,vas the thrcc- volnn1e nov-cl selling for a guinea and a half. The interest in the plan Hall Jaid out centered in the artist's plates; the letterpress ,vould be n1ainly "padding'' to gjvc the other\vjse disconnected part~ a rnore coherent narrative. Boz doubtless rationalized that the requisite text could easil)r be done on a month]y· basis and ,vonld not con1pror11ise his ftmbitions. l ~ittle did he or his f ricnds snspcct that the subordinate letterpress ,vould gro,v into a major book \Vhose author ,vou Id thus inaugurate nn entirely ne\\' ,va.yof introducing .fiction to the public. ''I-Io,v rig11t n1y friends turned out to be, everybody no,v-kno"rst,, Dickens could chuckle by r 84 7, though he continued denigrating and chafing against the restrictions of the 1nonthl) 7 mode of publication he had popu1adzed. l\1ore in11ncdiatel)~ pertinent ,vas Dickens' objection to the intended subject matter insisted upon by either the artist or the publisher "(I forget \Yhich)'~; the nuthor's casual diction and lapse of memory is

una ni n1ousl y de dared I ttha t no other ,vri tcr ca u 1d carry out Sey1no t,1r's plan i;,yfrh a chance of success 'Jt all cqu-nHngthat of Djck~ns .. This point l)cjng s:etded. at the very next visit paid by Seymour to Chapman an.d Hall, they ,~;.rercurged Ly aH n1eans to co1nn1unicat·e :as early as possible v.·ith Dickens, and propose to him to furncsh the kttcr-press ro Se_rn1011r"'sdesign.'!iT'' Sec ~!s-ol\~. 11, 19-io, Brownr .. 15 1\·larch 18.;7, and the nctinn:;i.l version jn Dnvid Copperfield, p. 61 z.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 260 1--Jarvard I,libr ar y Bulletin notable- perhaps pmposcful-in the light of l\1rs.. Sey·n1our'slater clainls, Dickens kne,v that the ''11otion"'' of a Nimrod Club z7 ,vhosc sporting n1en1bers ,·vould be "getting then1selves into diflicuities through their ,vant of dexterit_y-,'',vould be the ''best n1c~ns of introducing'' Sey'n1our's plates. 1 ..he ,vritcr protested that though "born and partly bred" in the conn tr)T, h c \Vas nearly as ignorant of such acti vi- ties as any n1c1nber in the proposed Club. Sporting n1isadvcntures might be Seyn1our's forte, but they· did not afford Dickens the be-st stage for his particular talents~ In any case, the author tellingly ob- servcdt the Hnotion'' ,vas not "1novel. n Combe, Ro\v Jandson, the Cruikshanks, Egan, and above al], Surtccs, had inspired innurncrable co1nic annuals and sporting n12gazincs full of amateurs stun1bling through idiotic 111ishapsin field and stream. Dickens, even at this early· point in his career, ,vas a person little .fitted or disposed to act the part of \~1illinm Con1be to Seymour's rolc ·of Thon1as Ro,vlandson. After thus deriding the substance of the artist)s plan, the author then reversed its raison d'etre. 1-lis ~bjections culminated in an as- sured counter-proposal that instead of his follo,ving Seymour's lcadl Seyn1our should iltustr_atehis ,vork. It ,vould be "infinite!y better/, Dickens convinced Hal1, ''for the plates to arjse naturally out of the text.'' He ,vanted to go his Ho,vn ,vay," rangjng frec1)7 a1nong n1orc varied English scenes and people. In facr, he ,vas 'tafraidn he should ultirnate]y· do so, ,vhatcyer course be might "'prescriben to hitnself at the start .. There is no record of I-Ia~l'srcactio:n to this intervic,v, ,vhicl1 I~d to Pickwick"s en1anations (ro1n Dickens' pen rather than Scy- n1our"'spencit Dickens, recalling tpcir conversation n1orc th-an a decude Jater.,doubtless exaggerated his o,vn ·ro]e. Yet it is jndjsputablc that Dickens' response to the offer to do \Vhat many b.ettcr-kno-\vn

N.B. that Dickens is the only one of the concerned pardes ,Yho ever calls the Club uNimrotr'; Mrs. Seymour calls it Pick"·ick~ Bus-scalls it Chaprnan docs not name it. i\1onroe Engel, in The Afnturity of Dickens (C:unbridge, j\-fass., 1959 )T pp. 75-77, notes the parallels benv·ccn Seyn1our 1s idea and Surtccs' ]or-rock's Jaunt~ and JoUitier (Londonl J H38), ,,Thich first appeared in the Ne=u..1 Sporting Afagnrz,lnF~July 1831--Septcmbcr, J B34~ One of Surtc~s' ch3r~cters is, in f.:ictl cRlled Nimrod. His and his f rj en ds 1 ,. dvc:ntu res tu d i -nto n1i d \Tentu res b ec aus e they didn't re2Uy J...>nowho\v to shoot] :.:i.nd\Vere simply u-yjng to in1itate their social betters.'"~ Engel forrhcr- notes char~ctcl'istics shared LyJ orrocks and Pick,vick: both arc heavy, carry telescopes, love to cat and drjnk, and lc:ld cirde of younger rr1en. Die kc-ns, wTiting his 184 7 P .r:eface, 1ni gh t ha "e seized on th C'. first para Bel that came to 1nindt one he knc·w· his rt·1ulcrs \vould also be fR1niliar\vfrh, to make his point that the proposed "notion~ 1 ;,.·vasa ;s•om one or perhaps he \Vas p:1yjng oblique hom- age to the source of his inspiration for the:: de\o~eloprncntof Seymour's idea.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elancboly C...,Jown men than hi1nself ,\rould be glad to have done ,vas unique but charac- teristic. The obscure young ,vriter ,vho had not hesitated to say chat Cruikshank required a ''touch of the spur'' did not intend to be subordinate to Seymour or to anyone else. The ''In.itnitable Boz'' had an ind on1itable , vjll and f ron1 this ti tn c" his vie,vs about Tb e Pickwick Papers~\vcrc deferred toa (pp. xviii~xix). Dickens regarded the opportunity primarily as a cunlrn er~ial ont; the rcn1uneration rather than the collaboration \Vascause for celebrat- ing~ As he ,vrote to Catherine that "'\i\'cdncsday 111ghtthe ,vas to n1ake: hi.r:;Hcstimatc and calculationi, and give his decision 011 F'riday 1nor1Iing.. "The ,vork ,vill be no joke/~ he ,varned her., "(but the en1ol un1en t is too ten 1pting to resist'' for it ,"Jtoul d cna b le tl 1c1n to nlarry. He did not even 1ncntion the- artist~ \vhose ,vork he t.'grca.tly 23 adn 1ircd.'' I -fe pref erred to stress that each number 1 ,v hich ,va s to

conta.jn four ,voodcuts 1 ,vas to be ,v.dtten and edited Hentirelyn by·hin1- self.2& Y\7hen he accepted their offer t\VO days later/ 0 the publishers n1ust have been relieved to have the 1natter settled at Inst.. The) 7 prob~ ably assumedtl1at the i111plicationsfor Seymour of the authorial vic\vs to ,vhich they had ''deferred', ,:vould,vork themselves out durjng the course of pub Iicati on, making , vr itten ag re cn1cnts un neccss:1ry-. Arr- jst and author began ,vork, each convinced that he collaborated only· on his o,vn. terms~ each unn,varc of the other\~ conflicting ideas.. After so n1any delay·s,Seyn1our n1ust have been gratified at the speed \\.··ith,vhich the author proceeded. The ,vorkt nan1clcss on 16 Febru- ary~ ,vas duly entided 18 February 1836.~n The Pickv.1ick prospectus ,·vas out by the end of the month. The book ,,,.as advertised on 2 6 32 1\1arch. The artist 1 as the notice proclai1ned, had jndeed Hdcvoted 1 hin1sclf,,heart and graver~to the task of illustr:1ting ' Pickraiick (pp. jx~x), hut his e.fforTh·,vere at .odds ,virh J)ickens' text.. The continuous strain proved fatal to the artist, though not to the hook.. In designing the ·Pick11.vick,vrapper, Seymour proceeded ,vith his

~ 5 YVeldTnylor, quoted jn J{itton, Dickens by I'e-n ~nd I'e1uil,. III, 4~ Pi1gri1n~ f, 128-ri9~ Cathcrjne Hog.artb, 10 Fcbnrnry 1836.

o:) PiJgrin1, I, 648,. Cha.p1nu1 2nd Hill to Dickens., 11 February 1836 and see l 3G1 Chapman and Hal1t 16 l~cbruary 1836. tl Pllg f jm, II l J I ' Cha pm an ~ncl 1~ran, ] 6 February a.nd I 31, Chapm~ n ~nd H u, [18 February :r836] The ear] jest n d vertisement s ppcarcd in The A tb enae111n, No. 4 38 ( ::! 6 A1 ~rch 1836), 2 3i, and shorter notkc.s ~ppe~r.ed in seven other \V~~kly pnpers. durjog the ;,veek prior to Pickwick's 31 l\L1.rch public'1tion~ see Dexter And Ley,. p~ 66 for

list~ cf. Forster~ p. 9ot \vho mnintained tl1~t 1 until "frcr the first four or five nunl- bcrs, Pickwick h~d -Jppeared u,vithout nc,vspap~r nodce or puffing."

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 162. Ii ar'[.YtrdLJ br ar y B1,I I eti 1 i original co nee pciont n1orc like 1y in ignorancc than j n spite of Dickens' intended 111odifications.His cover is suitably .eye-catching, but inap~ propriate to the author's text. Despite the prorninence given to fish~ ing and shooting on the ,vrapper, there is no 1nention of angling in the en tire n arra ti vc, an

See Smnncl ,,,_ L-runbcrt, H7 beu AJr. Pick'l.vick 1fle11t Fir!Jirig (Ne,v York,

19:r4 ) 1 who sdzcs these discrepancies to support his argument that Pictrwick \'jsual. 1y esi s tcd long before D j t.:kcusin Seymour's car 1i c r ,vor ks. l\·Irs. Scymour and h c r son strangely neglect this j n terestin g, if not ,vholl y valid. -argn 1ntn t. ' 1 (1Sketche; bJ Bozi Plcku:ick Papers, Nos. 1 to I5i lJentley's Afiscellctnyll (annn-

ymo,1s review). L ()ud O11 and l JTe-stn1i Us-ttr Revie--u\,r 9.n

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elancboly Clowu erously added, Hn1ay·be said to have n1adc hin1 a reality·'' (p. xviii). The author ,vas fortunate that his hero ,vas so mcn1orably· realized, for his text afforded the artist only· 1ninin1alhints. 30 Seyn1our \Vas given a I1ero dre~sed in nondescript tights, gaiters~and coat trti}s,,vhosc n1ain fec1tnres ,verc a bald head and bea1ning eyes bchjnd circular spectnclcs (pp. 2-3), but ,vas left to detcnninc all other

llichn)ond fricnd_~nIf a fat Pick,vick ,v~s ,vhat the publisher v{antcd1 the artist had hin1 ready at hand. It ,vas not difficult to utilize one of his stock elderly cockneys fron1 his previous \Vorks, suitably altered for the "in1mort111''Pick,vjck; the epithet ,vas literally apt, for the figure had Jed many Eves before ju the art of Robert Seyn1one and sur- vived b-asically unchanged in the hands of subsequent illustrators though Phiz added the requisite benevolence to Pick\v ick 's expression (facing p. I 24) [see Plate 11]}~ 3 The first nun1ber should have gratified the artist in other respects.

~Noted al~o jn 1.Abrnham Hayward?} 11The I'osthtnuous Papers af Tbe Pick~ 7 '1.LJickClub, Nos. 1 to X\ 11, .)'ketcbe1 b:y }Joz + /t Quarterly Rei.~i61.v1 LlX (Octo- hcr 1R37), 4971 reprJnted in lVIHkr~nd Strange, pp. l 30---13! 1 and jn Lan1hertt pp. 3-4~ 1 r Ch apm an I p. 76 go es on to say th nt Seyrnour s "j mmort-ar' sketch ,vas made ''fro ~n my dcscri pti-011of :a.friend of mine at Richmond, a fat o] d b cau ,v·l1o ,vou 1d \VC-ar,in spite of the ladfr:s, protests, drn.b tights ~nd bfock g-aiters+ I-Ifs n~n,c was

John Voster/' Cf. Arthur ,~ 7aught One lf:n~dred Yeart of I'ttblisbing (London 1 1934)i p. l r, ,~·ho so.ys ""Dickens. ,1·as carrfod off to Richmond •.. ~nd ,.,;,7 as sho,vn .. John I'ioster.ll There seen1s to ue no fl.Uthorfryfor \l""augh"'.ssrutement; Dickens :first h ~ard a bout F o:stor fron1 Ch :t pn1an 1n r 849 and F orstc r ,v~ s 1sts rd e d ,, to Jc~rn this j n 1 870 ·when h c first read th c pu blishcr ,s l ettcr. l ff!", ffkc \Villi am Rossetti, in Fi11e:ATtS- Cbiefiy Conte1uporary (London, 1867 ), p. 18s, h~d ~hvays believed that 1 cseymou r . . . in ycnte d the outer man of that hero,='' i\1r. P j ck,~ 1 ick, r.1rs. St~yrnour might h:n+I!cited these prior Picl!wjcl,__,prototypes jn support of her c854 ds.i10s ( thougJ1 ol·hcrs n1•ght have citc

argument~ 0 rh c-r.stesp ccfa Uy L~ ,nb ere-1 ha v-C11 ot hccn .re1niss 1 cspccialJr in th cir 011- s erva tio ns of pj ck,N ic ki an proro t y pcs 1n w·or ks prtv j o u ~?y jll tl.~tta ted Ly Seyn10 ur. S11gge:nedPrototyj1es for Air. Pick~v,tk! 1. 7'/J e He in.Jf!: ( Londont IS 3o), Plate 1, obsenre d by [Robert Seymour? J, p. 7'J hut the resemblance uet\veen the gentfon1an jntrodudng the country girl to Lady Dashfort is slight ind~-ed.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) Har·vard Library B1tlletin The Club scene enabled hin1 to pay more attention to "\Vinklc~,vhon1 Dickens put in ' 1cxpressly" for the artist (p. xvui) ;"w,vho had not individualized the sharpshooter in the cover vignette. 11lVlr~ '''inkle is a cockney sportsn1an.,nobserycd the Eclectic Re·vier...v,Hand of course enacts the usual absurdities, ,vhich fron1 time inunernori:11have been fastened upon that very ,vell-kno,vn character, on ,vhosc exploits son1e scores of caricaturists have subsisted since the invention of gun .... po\vdcr. t, i O Seyn1ou r ch a tac·tcristi cal ly lavished parcicula r care on ,i\linklc and his adjacent sporting equipn1cnt, though far n1ore of Dickens' text is devoted to describing Tupman (p .. 3). Jiogle~ssub- sequent tale of '~The Sagacious Dog" gave the artist a chance to dis- play·his skill in dra,ving animals. Cruikshank could never have n1od- elcd either the dog (facing p~ 12) or the h.orse in ti1'"hcPugnacious Cabn1an" 41 (facing p. 8), or, in the subsequent numbert ('1~hc Re- fractory Steed'' (facing p. 62). The first nu111ber,ho,vevcrl ,vas neither \videly· sold nor revie\\red 1

2. [Rid1::lrd Penn], A-f.rtxhns1u1d Hints-foT An Angler (London! 183 3), focing p. 3 and rcprod uce d j n Lan1b ert, facing p. 14. A 1so o bscnTcd by I{itton,. Di c keus nnd His 1/lustratorr"'Jp. 38; Dexter and Ley, p. i 1; John Dutt and l{athlccn Tillotson, Dickenr ttt lVork (Ne,v Jersey, 1958) ! p. 64, note. ii and Pilgrj1n, I, 13,6 noto. 3. p,le.w Readh1g.s of Old Autbor.s (London 1 183i-1834) ! \if, n.p.n. and reproduced jn Lambert1-facing p. JD. Also observed by ])cxtcr ~nd Leyi p. :2 L

4. Thmnas J{. Hervey·1 The Book of C/JristiJ!tlS(Lu11dun, r836), facing p. 82 and

Iep rodu c:ed in L3 mb crt I facing p. 1i. Also ob~crvcd by D cxtcr nn d Ley i p. 11 :1nd :Pjlgrim, Ii 136 note. 5. Sey11lour's Sketches (London~ 1867) 1 Plate l l4i observed by [Robert Sey- mour?]~ p. 7. Suggested Prototypes for Fat Boj': jn [Penn], f~cing p+ 3t observed by Dexter ~nd Leyi p. i 1. Pcrh-aps .Iluss tried to emulate Scymouris stric or perhaps the Fat Boy \Vas a ·stock figure for hu1norous artists of the tin1c~ Suggested Protot:ypes for S.111nTP el/er: Sam, of course, is the cr~ntion of Phiz but in· [Pe1~n], facing p. i! l, reproduced in Lamberr, facing p. 60, is a figure remarkably resembling him; the thin fisherrnan in the same scene may ·well ue ho\l.'"Seymour first conceived i\1r+ Picbvick . . «' Cf.. l\.irs. SC}'tnour, P· 2 I r:lo3]' lVho maintained that 11/inkle ,~\V~S alrc~dy in the Club, "c1ndnot introduced by Bozi -:1she ~sserts1 for the express purpose of l\1r. Seyn1our~" ·

4'} "Tbe I'ostlnnJious Plf.jler.s· of t!Jf! Pickwick Club. },Yos. r to 12 i, ( :u1onymous rc- vie,v), The Eclectic Revleru.\ Ti 4th Ser. (April 1837) i 3431 reprinted in i\•liUe:rand Str:.tngc, p. 78. '!.N .B. also the figure c::i.r.ryj ng has ket in the right forefront of tho scene discuss cd by John Suddaby, ~cThe·Anonymous I-Jot-Pi~1n:anin Piek.wit-kt Dicke11simi1- X ( A ugu!)t 19 14), 2 o~i!; 3, ,,;,Thonotes th 3t Scymou r's detailed portrayal expfarns this character, no\V ohsol~te, \vhere ,vrittcn sources :fail.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) TAYLOR'S PORTRAlT OF SI:Y:i.I0UR

Sl-:LP-P0kTRAIT OE<~SF.YJ,tOUR?

PLATE I

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) "\VICJ.:. PICK PICK1VlCK S 's i VNE ;,.101.:"R RRO\ SEY 6 J 8 l 'II);:, I "\VICK, .' -, •· • , r r lCK\VlCK : PICK P II PROTOTYPE .'#~~ ,,Y J\·[R. FAT __. OF Pr.ATE • __ U.NUSEll R S . l.JTTON USS: TI YJ\.·IOt:" SE EVOL THE JCK\VlCK PROTOTYPE 1 l THI~ UKUSED TIUSS~ Sl<~YJ\•lOGR)S ------·

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) • . . . . .: .. , ., . . : . I • , _ \ , -·. 1· · • ' \ I ' . h • . • . ,, \ . . i_ ' ' I I --~ ' ' ... ,: . . I · ,- . · ' I . ·-·•· \ .. ,. I~- ' • . . _- ~- < . s, / --..]-, "°1 l . , . , . f . . , ' · I :-::::,. : I . {1 . .. ': :, ': . .-- • , , }. I-/,.:~ . . " ,.,j .1. :' · ,. . • .• ' . . er:..) . • . v~ ' . ImO\.VKE . . ~ - ·;\'· . . . •• • I - ·. -.-,. . ' ..,.,, . - . nY K~1'CH " . • , ' S . "' ••• - • ;-,.. ·- J~D - -..... ,- . . -· -, ...... - 1-----~· . -. - . .. . .-: - - . • . . . . Rf!.V!SF.O . . ·. . ,.. . -- ' T...TJ::.R ... '. • -,_,,._J . '. ,\ '- -,~ P:1 .. · \ · ' :S . n \"i.. ~·· ·~, . - . • , l{' '"" ,.~/. • • .... : < :- , , Llil- .:, ' . .. ·,'::J..: _ . - . . , ' . rolJ gTCH 1.-- _ t:c 'X. . . '- . • - - • _.,_. . • _ .. - • ·" .• YA - • - . : .• . -- . . ' ,rn; r ~• a SE . . . " . :' ' -· ;/??\>- • : - : . .. , ; ~- • -- . ~,' '(ii; . ,_ f~~-: . SF.Y:\-fOUR'.s i:.:?~/~~ ·1 •_- }: ... • ~. .. = 7 : · ... ~/~<:~ • _.I _ :: · ['.i-\:l~~::/:-):. , :~'._~:/\ ~ • -~ ,• :- .. • .. .. I °/:J;~ • /=_· : .. . . ' . -.:· f .-. 0 . •r".1-. t-.;-, • :•I {' _ •': . \ ~i-: ...... • ; ...... : • ~ ': .o\vN' ... • ...... i.: • .... : · ..•. · ...... •• · ~- = J- ·: : --~=.: • .. •••~ ;-- •• :~ ':._ - • •-i , : III er _'.":\)·t< - .. ---~~:~- ... -'.-~:.~-;~ • • _ . I, r1.' ..... -/:•j\ - :· ...... i-. /:\}f~}>\~:". -;/).: - ... .. :}?r~- •• Ittf yn,;c n PtAT.[ J'HE , L 1 ~XG ,. ' \V ING ' • . . l)RA . ' - ' DJ. i ' l~TC:R . f· t-r- ..!Ji• ' . ... ~r. ;.:! .. -,t l ..,._. -[ l' . r : . ~i . - ~:• •-~ I' .:.--~I / ·~.- SHEU . . . •f . ·1 l ·..-:::::. • • .:,'. _;,,.,-. ~•0·. L ...... '11 G-7:..- ___ 1 •. . . : . ... _. " 4z...... • .. _ .a..:. . •- . ,_..i.- I•- -· PUB ":;:: '!.- ·,,.;,_._• ·.:. : ""'°'i """"--'-:-- . ·_. .. . ·_. - ¼ •I • ' • .__ ~::. .... ,fl .--..:.a.. ·-:.. ~,; •s .: ..,...... - ,...... -:-- ·- ~..:. - .... --~•-::.~~ -· "G:-.TSATISF/1,.CTORY :: ...... -~-L=: i ~ ;, ·-- I:,..._. - J\·IOL'R SEY SEY.\!OUR'S

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1eJancbolyCiow11 265 though the influcntial Lit ernry G nzette called Seymour'.s cu ts ~,clever . and iaughable4''42 It \Vas the second number \\rhich made it clear to the artist that his original scheme ,va.sbeing ·subtly disregarded bJr the author, over ,vhom he had no authority. Although Kent had been mentioned jn the lJick-wickprospcctnsJ Scyn1our n1ay·have convinced hi1nsclf that Dickens, taking the Club to visit Rochester, a place un- 1 farnil1ar to the artist1 ,vas a deviation from the agreed plan.•J Dickens then, perhaps, gave offense by· correcting ,vhat 1nust -have seemed to Seyn1 our a niggling d etai 1in '"Dr. Sla1nn1 er' .s D cfensc of Jing Ie J J ( f acing p. 2 2) . 1... h e artist had dra, vn SJa mn1 er shaking 11isfist; Seynl our,s son granted th at Di ekens, insistence on an ou tfl nng ar1n as , vel1 as a higher hat ''sho,ved considerable sense of drarnatic proprjcty.ii i1-1 But the artist n1usr have regarded these authorial -altcra.tionsas an jntrnsion on his O\l"n provj n ce. The introduction of the intenscl y n1clodra1natic ''Strollerts "fa.le,' (pp. 3 5-40) in to the second n11n1 b er .serionsl y· aggra vatcd the artist4 The grim narrative about a dying clo\vn, the first of nine stories in:- terpoJatcd into Pickwick, ,vas doubtless ,vrittcn earlier for separate publication by Dickens \vho, pressed for time in this month before his marriage.,sa, v- an opportunity for its present u sc. Yet, as h c arrrious1 y \Vrote Seymour, ''1n any Jiterary· .fri ends., on , v hosc ju dgmcnt I place great reliance., think it \viH create considerable sens-a.tion."" It did just that, in a. ,vay Dickens could not have anticipated. The :artist,in comn1on \vith later critics~ doubtless felt that the talc had "no other apparent purpose than to exhibir Boz's vcrsati1ity and his independence of Seymour's designs.'' ~6 I-le must have regarded the morbid talc as an un\varrantah]e violation of the tone of broad comed5r in ,vhich Dickens kne,v the artist excellcd. 47 Scyn1our cou]d hardly ignore the

~=1'Tbe Libtar'y of Fiction ... + The Postbuuu;us I'ape_rstJf tbe Pick-wi&kQlub 1' (ilnon}'Jnou~ revie,v ), The Literary Gazette~ J\To. 1_003 ( 9 _April I 836 ) •. 2 33. . .i~ Sec Ross, pp. 1.28-..:.129,and. Dexter· and Ley, p. 48, yet there Js no 1nention of thjs in J\1 rs. Seymour's Ac co1~ n t. · H Rohen: Seymour, Letter to Daly ( 16 l\i~rch 1889 ), 1\1S. in ''"jdencr Co1lection

copy of 1\1rs. Seymour,s Account 1 after title page, as is the original sketch of ·Hnr.

Shmrner's: Defense of Jing]e"'' ,vjth the corrected ~rm and hat, bot\~.'"eenpp. 8---91 and reproduced in l{itton, Ditkrnx 1111d Hi.r lllus-trator~i Pfatc X\iJTI, f::acing p. 36 3nd

in Joseph Grego, ed. l'ictorial Pick'1.vitkirH1a(London, I 899) 1 lt 67. 4~ pj]grim> I, 145-146, Robert Seymour [14 Apri1 1836],. l\1S. in ·,\'idener Co11cc- tion copy of ~1rs. Seymour 1 s Account! bcnvccn pp. 6-7. Butt and Tillotson:, Dickens at 1P'"ork, p. 68. 0 l\1rs. Seylnonr, p. 7 [191], S3YSth~t tllc talc so angi.:-ted her husband thnt it ,~'as only at her "'.::soliciradonthat he: allo,,·ed it to he inscrtccl'] d1ough she contd not

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 1_66 I-Iarvard l.ibra1'y Bui le tin interpoladon, ,vhich \Vas so pro1nincnt a part of the nu111bcrthat it ,vould l1 -ave to furnish the su6 j cct for one of his four i 11ustra ti ons. But he resented the \Vay in ,vhich his initial schenle ,vas being a.rbi~ trarily altered and 1narred by the bra.sh young ,vriter .. To ,vorsen 1natrers, the result of Seyn1our's distasteful laLo rs fil ilcd to satisf)r the author or the puu]ishers. Chapn1an and Hall d~(.:iucd that the author and the artist~ \Yho had never n1et, shou,d discuss iPfhe Dy-ing Clo, v n" and future illustra tion s together~ '"fhe publishers 1na y have perceived Seyn1our's incre~sing bitterness to,vard their enterprise, bl1t there is no indication that thc)r duly ,varned Dick.ens.. Yet the author 1s subsequent invitation to Seyn1ourto ""take a glass of Grogl' ,vith hin1 and the partners the follo,ving Sunday evening suggests his imperfect judgn1entof the individual,vhon1 he finally had to confront 1n person. Dickens conunenccd his letter of 14 April by saying ho\v ''gratified', he ,vas by the "paini{' Seymour had besto,ved 011 ''our mutual friend/' u na\vare ho,v inin1 ica l that figure , v as h eco n1i ng to the artist. '' Ho,v n1uch the rcsu 1t of your 1ab ours has surp asscd my expe c ta ti ons~)' Dickens continued · in a vein ,vhich the established artist tnight have taken as condescending or even in~1.1lting.. The author proposed that all the Pickrzvickprincipals rnectt not to ce]ehrate "the success of the undertaking./' ,vhich he unaccountably found ''most completer" but to inspect a revised sketch of ~'The Dying Clo\vn." "I have seen your design for an etching to accon1pany 'The Strollerts Talc,' " Dickens ex~ plained, ~'and though~ it extrcn1cly good, but stillt it is not quite n1y idca.u He ,Yanted the ,voman to look '~)7 0unger,'' the ''dismal mann to Ioo k "'1 ess n1iserab le', and ~~toex press n1ore sym pathy and solicitude,,, and the emaciated clo,vn not to look "'too rcpulsivc.n "The furniture of the. roonJ,'t the author granted in conclusion, "you have depicted ad111irnbly..J' Scyruour must have been gratified!E.dgar Johnson noted, "to have it conceded that he could dra,v a bed and a three-cornered t:thlc, and that it ,v2s merely the people he had got aU ,vrong .." -ui The

prevent hin1 f ron1 burning ''almost aH the lettern he,.had received fro1n ~lr. Dickens.:t' There is no ev] dcnce that Di ck ens -wrote anr other Jetters to Sey n1011r, except the one [of 14 Aprjl 1836] dted abovcT Ho,\.TC'-'~t1 Pilgrjn,_, I., l 36, thinks Dickcn5 must ha \Te\vritten Seymo lff 3 bot 1t t1i c corrections 11c ,va nt~ t1 on the ,i:,D.r. Sb n1nl cri i pli te on f? Feb. I 836]. Edgar Johnson, C/Jtrrles Dickenr, Hi~ 1~rogcdy tuzd Trlu-nt('J1J(Ne:,v Yorki I 952 }, )1 I 37•

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) artist had Iitt le ch oi cc but to '' consider'' th cse "'snggcs ti ons', and to

oblige the author by 111aking"another dra,ving ..'i 40 The reluctance ,vith ,vhich Scyn1our accepted Dickens' invitation to grog is i1naginable.~0 Nothing could have been more distasteful than altering a design) the subject of ,vhich ,vas abhorrent to hirn, and then subn1itting h to the \Vriter, ,vl1on1 he had never 1net, in the presence of the publishers., ,vho obviously allo\ved Dickens to prevail in all Pickwick n1attcrs~ '''hcthcr, upon his arrival at Furnival's Inn~ Scy- rnour felt relieved or slighted to find DickcnsJ ,vife and brothcT~ in- 5tead of Chapn1an and I-Iall/ 1 is unkno,vn. No acco11nt of the 1neeting exists except for the ,anth or, s c 01nn1 cnt that the artist (( c erta inly of- f ercd no su ggcsti on ,v l12 ts ocv er'' cone erni n g their n1u tu al enter pr j sc (Tbe Pick-1vickPaperst p. xxiii). Seymour, ho,vever, 1nust have heen

PHgrim, I. 145-z 46, Soyrnour [ 14 A priJ 1836]; cf. i\·lrs. Sryinour, pp. 6---8 [ r91- J 92] t ,vho pieces the letter thus jn Iler Account: "I-Io,\ 1 much the result of your Jabonrs Irns surpassed n1y-expecrntions. 1 ::tin hippy to be able to corigratalatc you on the s11ece.~s of the u nd errnking., ·which pp c:H s to h ~v c been most cornpktc- - l ~nu

extr-e,ncl y "n xiou s nd ,Tery solicitous bou r the Stro] 1-er's T ::i.le 1 esp ed a11 y 3 s my ]itcrary fr fonds, on ,vho:se judgment I rely, think it \v H1 makc a great sens-ati on. I h~ve seen tho drn.·wing to accomprrny it. and I think it extrcrnoly goad~ I shall feel personally obliged if you ,vould make another draw1ng. It \vill give me great p1eas-urcto sec you ·with the dra,1,.•ingon Sund:ir evening; my idea I ,vill endeavour to expbinr ] have ventured to make these suggestions., fee]jng s:ure th~t you ,vjll consider them in th~ spirit in ,·vhich I submit them to your judgment, and shJJJl be happy to hear fron1 you that I may expect you on Sundc1y e,Tenrng." By omitting Dj c ke ns 1 spcd fie er j lidsms of the drn"'~j ng. 1\1:rs.Scyn1ou r tr j cd to make jt -appear that the ne£.'.dy~uthor had so 1ikrd the sketch that he had ,:'rcquestedl1 her husband to make him 'an n thcrn ns a gj ft, cf.. 1so th c u n distortcd but n1islcad i ngly 3 b L re,Tfoted version of I)ickcn.s~ letter reprjnted by her son jn uscymaur's Sketches.U Atbe11ae1nu (:24 _i\1archl 866 ), 398-399: HI had jntendcd to "-1rjtc you to say ho,v much gratified

I feel by the: pains you have besto,ved on our rnuttml fricnd 1 J\-lrr P1ckwick 1 :ind hov.~ much the result of your Jabours has surpa:§sednJy expectadons. I ~m happy to be able to the puhlish~rs, and myse1f, on the success ,nf the undertaking,

1 ,vhich app ears to ha vc been most com pleteT' By stopping here-! the a rd st' s name- sakc tt·ies to pro,~e th.at his father's \Vor k for Die ken:5 had be en comp] ctcl r ~:1tis- factory. Yet j f Robert Seymour? J pp. 7-8, Di c kc n s' Jetter is quoted in f u lit 11cr- lHtps:,at Hottcnts ins[stcn~e-1 thnugh misdated. 5t i\·1rs. Scyn1our, p. 8 [ l91)t says her husband "rc1uctantly'i accepr-ed Dickens' jnvitadon and "delayed going until the last rno1nent.u She attributes her exclusion from tile invitation to the fact th:ilt the autl1or•:s,c1ncans then \,rcrc too needy to offer me suir~hlc enterrninmcnt.'' 1 ~ D1ckcost r868 Pref::ice 1 T/Je Pick:1.~ickPftpers 1 p~ xxiii =-=indLetter to Charles Dickens the Younger. 4 April 1866, quoted in his Introduction to T/:Je I'icku·ick

I'npers (l ..ondon: 1\1acmi11ttn1 J 893), pp. xx\.Tjii-xx1x;cf, Johnsonj If 1,7j Vlho maintains 0 ,V'illian1 Hall, it -appears-,must have been"'' present. ,"dthout expbining ,vhy.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) H(1f1)ardLibrary Bulletin utterly discouraged after n1eeting his unabashed young collaborator. 'I'he experienced artist, \vhosc nan1c had been the only real asset in the pro j cc t, ,vas no, v playing scco nd fiddle to the obscure \'Vriter ca 11ed in n1crely to concoct a .stor}7 around his plates.. The -''blessings of life)' required by his gro,ving f~uniiy·prevented SCJ7 n1our fron1 ,vith- dra,vjng fro1n the ,vork. In remaining ,vithout protestJ the artist granted Dickens' sovereignty not only over the letterpress but over the iHustrations as ,vell. Author and artist parted ,vith an appearance of cordiality., but in, vardl y Seyn1our dou b dcss f eJt h u1nilia.ted. I-le n1ust have felt ~1a perfect dolc.,Hincapable of i1nple1ncnting even his o,,rn ideas. On l\1onda.ythe ·perturbed artist completed the altered sketch of "l""he Dying Clo,vn/' ,vhich the author had approved the previous cven.ing, but he spoiled the plate on ,vhich he began to etch it. 1 ...iinc \Vasrunning out; only t,vo of the r eq uisite four ill ostrati ons , vcre compl ctcd; 110,v even the artist's '"t1nechanical'' abilities appeared to be failing him~ In desperation, he ,vorkcd all day Tuesday on the re- cngraving./j2 In the final etching (facing p. 38), the ,vo1nan seems no y·ounger, ,vhile remaining as ugly 2s any of Cruikshank's fen1a.les.The disn1al 1na.n does appear n1ore solicitous. But the expression 01:1the face of the dying clo,vn n1akcs hi1n n1orc rcpulsi vc than b cf ~re, as if r cfl ecti ng Scym our' s f ca rf ul anti pa th}7 to, vard his o \\,.11 rep res en ta- ti on [ sec Pl~tc III] rris

Djckens 1 Address in ind No. of Tbe Pick-1..vie-kJ::apers 1 ilfc:~rilln:strations .. Lefore

text~ reprinted in Dexter and Ley~ p. 521 says Scy1nour ,vas engaged on uThe Dying Clown" uup to a fate hour of the night preceding his dcath, 1' l~he author's ecluc~ted guess: or possible effort to enhance the interest of the nllmhcr ,vas violently refuted by tht ardst's .sunTi,Tors. i\--lrs~Seymour., pp. 7-1 o [19i~194] and pp. 20 [202.], ~sks could J\1r, Dkkens kno" 1 ,vhat drawjng m>r_hlJsband did fo.st'n·without con- sulting her~ ''itl11chhe nc-ver did. She that Dickens recdved the uClo,vn't drn"ring a"\V~~k or- ten days. previously.; ~nd another ~s a gift at the. Sunday c\rening meeting; th~t the en gra.vers lrnd 'c!i poi Ied 11 the pfo.te on l\.·1on day~ th ~t Seymour re- f us~d Cha pm~n ts offer to ha ,Te it redone, i.Jei ng ''so disgusted j' h \V ished c:,nothing mo re to do \Vj th the enterp rj se; an cl that his last d ra ,vi 11g ,vas for some unspe dfi e d \\'uodcut \\'hich he finished at six jn the C\"cning~'after ,vhich he took a "\Valk." [Rubert Seymour?]~ p. 8, and in l1is 1889 letter to l)~ly tn,lintains tllc ''Clo,vnn \Vas g1ven to D j ckcn s on th E: S1Jn clay evening a f o rtni gln b (:fore.. ignoring the. b ter date of the ~uthor'~ 1·eq11est to s~ymonr for ~n nltercd dra,\·ing, ~nd that his f :;3ther's last dnnving '\-vas for 'J. ,Yoodcut for an cngnrvcr named Starling'i - wilich ma.y in- d~~d b~ the. literal, if trivfali truth. Oddly, the Scvn1ours ,rerc far tnorc ea~er to

prove Jjjckcns a liar than to a~socfatc the dr-a\i;?jngi~ any ,;,ny ,vi~h Seymo\lr's ..deatli 1 ,.,·h h.:h '\l'OUld ha ,Te rna de th d r story n1orc sy m pat heric. _

r;;i For the Yarjous stat-cs of Scy1nour"s ~[The Dying Clov,rn.."see: Seyn1011r's first

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elancholyClown The Seyn1ours' servant, on her ,vay to bed late Tuesday evening, noted notl 1ing unusual as sl1c gla need j n the parlor at t Ile artist ch at~ ting ,vith his \Yife nor did she heed her 1nastcr's habitual stirrings in the passage c arly the next 1nor1nng. Around seven otcluck she a ,vo ke and dressed herself for a ,valk around the garden. Behind the surn- n1erhouse ,vhere the artist ,vorked, she discovered hi1n lying n1otion~ less in n poo} of blood. lier scrcatns ultin1atcly .su1n1noneda neigh- borhood butchcr4 He grabbed a nearby ,vatcrjng pot~ unceren1011Jous- ly doused the corpsc,.s clothes, ,vhich \Vere on fire fron1 the self- inflicted gunshot \Vonnd, ~nd gave a piece of paper found at the feet of th c dee eased to the J1 orrifi cd gir1. The butch er prcven red I\ 1rs. Sey1nour fron1 forcing her ,vay into the garden ,vhere a be]ared sur~ geon sa,v that his reinedi es , vould be futile. The serv·ant distracted the \vido\v further by· handing her the piece of paper on ,vhich her husband had penciled in conclusion his hope th2t ''n1y· Creator ,vill grant me peace in death~ ,vhich I prayed for so in \·ain ,vhiJst living.,.,. The coroner's inquest, held t,vo days later on 22 Apri], ruled Sey-

mour's suicide: "'Temporary I nsani t) 7 • H M Seyn1our 11s suicide end cd his tor rn res of o versen siti vi ty, Iong cx- ac erbated bv the circun1stances of his birth and edncation, his-frus- trrtted desires- to produce "High Art, t, the published libels in Figaro, and the intellectu~l and artistic reversals of Pick""uJick.The n1orhid

''Strollcr~s Tale'~ doubtless hastened his death. Seyn1our1 as '''eld Taylor observed~ ,vas Ha 1nelancholy-looking man, ,vhon1 nobody ,vould have thought had so much genuine hu1nor.n ~5 Like a clo,1;1n,

drawing, re; ectcd by l)j ckens 1 re prod need in G re got I, 71 ; Seyrn our's altered :skc tcht approved by Dickens~ canro.ined in th~ lVidener CoHection copy of 1\1rs. Sey- mour's Ac c01J nt, f a.cin g pa r 6 and reproduced in Grego. 1. 7 2.; Seyrnour,s fin al ctch- i ng1puh]jshed in tlic 2nd No. of Pickwick, facing Addre:5s1 3rd plate after co1·er for

p. ., 1, and reproduced in Grego, Tj 75 ; and sec the iEtchi ng revised by Phizt in the 1 B3 7 second is5lle of the .first edition, \\ 1hi ch o mi tte d the pla res by Buss :and j nclud c::d Seyrnour~sas by Browne, f::,,c.ingp. 31., and .reproduced in Grego, I, 774 ~1. See -'

April 1836)t l.Vhich ,vas.l.lnav~ibble; cf. Buss:1 p. n9~ Dicken:r m1d Hfr lllur- trntors't p. 3.,; Percy Fit.1.ger~ldt The History of Pick,wick (London, 1891 ), p. 35,

Dexter ~Tld Ley, p. 5 8; n d Jo hnson 9 It l 3 8t '\\.'ho-se ju:sjstence that Seymour pl~ ccd a fending-piece in his mouth, pulled the trjgger by means of a srrjng, and blc-.v out his brains h:is no ha.sis in the extremely derni1ed report of the Jnqnest, \Vhich nrnkes it ckar that Seymour shot hianselfthrough the heart v,.1iththe gun.

t,3 Quoted in~Kiuon, Dickens by Pen and Pencil, III1 4..

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 270 H nrvnrd J..,ibraryBulletin ho,vevcr~he entertained a pubJic ,v hich had little idea of his rcn1 na-

ture. In his fantasies1 Scyn1our n1ay have identified hi1nself ,vith Dickens' clu\vn ,vho, fro,n lack of n1oney,sickens, nu1ddens, and dies4

In any case, as the Metropolitan Aiagazi11epcrceived 1 the Hhcart-rend- ing suhject't of '"Tl1e Dying Clo,vn'' \Vas '~too exciting for the sensitive and ovcr,vrought nerves of n1isery,, and might ha·vc been ''the one drop of bitterness ,vhich 1nadc the cup of anguish overflo,v.', tc "Blan1e no one,'' Sey111ourcharged his ,vjfe in his farc,vcll note, hut he 1eft behind one plnintive accusation. Chapn1an had to sc3tch the artist\~ \Vorkroon1 for the illustrations for the second nutnber of Pick- wick ,vhich ,vas to be published at the end of April. ''The plates ,vere found unfinished,~~Dickens never forgot, '',vith their faces turned to the ,vitU.'' '5-r Seymour"s death and the mnnncr of it comp] etcly shocked his pub- Jic, his author and pubJishcr.s,and l1is ,vife. HPoor Seyn1our,-n cho- rused the revie\versJ ,vhose attention to Pickwick ,vas markedly in- tensified by· the artist's demise.. .c.clnall that he touched/' eulogized Tbe Co11rt Journal'JHhc sho-\vcdgreat original hun1our, and can iH be spared by layers of extrava gan t mirth.~,r;s Seymour's passing ,va s indeed a ''public loss,'J agreed T/Je Sntirist~11 for ,vith the exception of George Cruikshank, he had no (rhTalnear his throne.' ,, ~0 '''ithin a fc,v ,veeks,,ho,vevcr, the revie,vs ceased to n1ourn that it ,vas '~re-

u '~Tbe Postbtnnous Papersof tbe Pi.ck.wick Cluht The Afet7opolitm1 _i\Jngazhte~ XV] (June 1836), 46-47, quoted in Dexter and Ley, 11p~73-74, and in vValter D~x- 1 7 tcr, 'i Tbe k[etropolitm1 A.fngazine and Djckens s: Early \\ ork/' J)iche~uhnt1 XXXIll

(Spring 1937) 1 93----94· ll:i-NL,111, 465, Robert Pt.1SC}',3 April i 8'66, the i\•IS. of ,l·hich is in the Y\li

Clo"·n 1] ,ibcn rs a. stai n1 said to b~ his [ Seymonr 's] blood.~'

M (Anon y rtl ous revie,v), 1.··be Co:, rt I ou rnal ( 3o A priJ 18 36) 1 reprinted jn Dick~

e,isian,XXXII (Summer 1936) 1 217, rn- (Anonymous rcvic,,~), T'be Stttirist ( 30 April 1836)) rc1-.rtnted in Dickensianl

XXXII (Sumrner !93n) 1 217-21~. ''1''bc I'os1'Ju111aurPaJ,ers nf tl;JePick•u·ick Clu}/l {a11on.y1nous revic,'i.~ )1 Tbe A1etropolitan Af agazinet xv·r (May I 836 ), I 5; "The PorOnm1ousPapers of tfJe Pick'l.~ick Cfubi Nos. 1 to 10'~ (a.nonylnous revie"i:v), Tbe

Atbr;ntteuuz, No. 475 (3 December r836), 843; ,c"The Pickwick Club 1 i 'Sketches hy 1 Boz/ 'Bentley'~ 11.fiscelh,ny," (anonymous revie,v ), The .A1011thlyRerviev..'t I (li"cb-

ruary ...8 37 ) , l 57, and (Ed.) ''Sonw Ear Iy Reviews of Pi ck'"-.JJic k i 'J Di tken.sfrtn i }..""XXII (Summer H)36), -:17-118, SGQfalso [':V:tltcr J)extcrJ, ~~Pick-wickJUust.ratorst }Jia-k- en.sfon,XXXII {Sltnnncr 1936), 163. quoting n n1odcm ,vritcr \Vho maintains that St,,._•mour blc,v his brains out1 after Die kens r~ quested him to rcdra,v the 11:'Cio,vn11 an;l ,1 d vcrtise d for 41not her ni ustra tor.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elaucholy Cio-wn 271 served'' to Boz, if not Seyn1our, t'to hand do,vn to posterityn the deeds and actions of the gifted Pjck\vick (p. x). l)ickens received the nc,vs of Seyn1our1s suicide, brought to him by his brother Frederick ,vho read it in the papers, ,vith suitable Hconstcrnation~ disappointn1ent, and anxiety." 60 It cannot be dcter- n1incd \\' hat he knc,v of Seymour) s prior dealings ,vith the publishers or ,vhat he n1jghr have sensed beneath the .surface of his one brief n1eeting ,vith the artist. Djckens nlight have suspected chat Seyn1our,s suicide had been precipitated hy· his failure to direct in any· i1nportant ,vay the project he initiated. But the author could not have anticipated that any n1an ,-vouid shoot himself because the ideas of another ,vere superseding his o,vn. Dickens could not ,vholly blatne hin1sclf. He had not been ob]iged to accept an uncongenial offer; the publisherst kno,ving his reservations, did 11ot have to hire hint; and the artist need not have silenced his o,vn s11bseqnent objections~ ~~etthe author must have been uneasy ,v-ondering ,vhcther a course he had follo,ved ,vas

jnstrumenta1, holvever unintcntional1)7 ~ in provoking an act ,vhich could 11ot have been foreseen or prevented .. Dickens could afford little time spent in self-exan1ination or re- crimination. His constcrnatio n about the artist ,vas un dcrstandably surm ou n tcd by anx:iet) 7 about his o\vn f u tore. Se) 7 ill our' s plates had called Pickwick into cxisten cc; th c pub] isher' s ex pee ta ti on of its EU c- ccss ,vas based prcdon1inantly on the artist's nan1c. '''ith Seymour

dead before the publication of the second 11umber1 Chaprnan and Hall might justifiab]y drop the entire enterprise. Ironically, ho,vevcr, Sey- 1nour's passing immediately benefited both author and publishers.. F3r fro111 abandoning the hook, the firm had Dickens preface the second nurnber \Vjth an Address to Pickwick's small audience, ,vhosc .size 1night have increased out of morbid curiosit~y..Af tcr d,, ..clling on the void \vhich the artist's death 1~occasioned in the. .society ,vhich his ad1nirnblc narure ,von, -:tnd his talents adorned," and apologizing for the :1ppearance of only three plates in the nurnhcr., Dickens hcralded "an improved p]an', for Pickwick issues. '''hether or not the fe,v reRdcrs ,vonld be satisfied ,vith eight additional pages of text and t\vo less ilJustrations ren1ained to be seen. In the n1cantin1cDjckens

v.i Djckcns, Letter to Charles Dickens tho ·~~{oungcrl 4 AprH r866, Introduction 9unted in Tbi: Pickwick Ptrpers (London: 1\1'acn1Hlan11839 t pp. xxvij1-xxix and T-fenry· l\t1rnctt, quoted in Tiiotn~s- lVrjght, T/Je Life of Cb11rlesDickens (London, 1935),p.85.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 272 1-larva rd Library Bulletin ,vas to receive his increased remuneratio11~,v luch proved an ccono n1y for the publishers.01 l:-;lith the death of Seymour Tbe I'ick·wick Papersbcca1nc not only a 111oreprofitable enterprise but a greater ,vork of art. The fc\v efforts Dickens had n1adc in the first nvo nun1bers to accon1modate the .sporting rcquiren1enrs of the artist had not enhanced the narrative~ No\v he need no longer d,vell in "that n1ciancholy region of cx- ha ustc d con1icali t) 7, in \ v1 ij ch~,'as PickwickJ s ear Iiest rev iC\V er obs er,Tcd'l ''fc,v laughs rcn1aincd.n .;2 The cunlberson1e "rnachincl) 7 of the club/i ,vhich Dickens had adopted in deference to ''the jndgn1ent of others," ,vas no,v '"gradually abandoncdH (pp. xv 2nd ): vii). \, 7ink le ren1ained even after the artist's demise, but Snodgrass -and Tnpn1-a.nnearly dis- appeared in the later chapters. Th~ 2rtist's plan n1ight 1lave been generally 1nah1taiue

n Pilgrju\t I~ 147-148i Chapman ~nd H:111,27 April 1836. In the po~t!i'.cript Dickens says he cnduscs "a short ,address nbout the Pfo.tes (-which aJ)pe.:ued in Tbe Pickwick I' aper;., No. 2 after i Us., before text)-.~; ,vhicht in e:x:p1ic~ bl y i is not rcpr jn tcd in None- such The Pickiuick Papers,but in Dexter and Ley., p. 57 and else,~rherc. 111c Jetter re.v.ca ls the ant hor ~s finand al a gre emcn t u n

not only di~ not ab-a.ndon the book 1 but agreed to raise Dlckenst remuneration from nine to ten guin·eas a sheet ( cf. [Robert Seymour? t p. 7, ,vho says £15) '\.Vith a promise of another increase Ly -the fourth or fifth number 'tin the event of the sale of 'tho ,,, ork incre3sing -as ,vc c~pcct.ii The "•mprovcd plani., of more text :and

few·er illnstrations 1 V.''1S annou~ccd to the public in the third numlH~r as ent;1Lling for the pub 1ish cr.s '' considers ble exp~nse~ ,vhi ch n oth ing Lu t a Iar ge circulation~, ju sti- fie ll (reprinted in Dexter and Ley1-pp. 57-5-8). Not only ,va.s 'the puh]ic still a

@.:? (Anonytnous rcvic" 1) 1 TIJe Atlas ( 3 April I R36)i quoted· in Dexter and Ley, PT67. s.,Ser: son.. 1, 1 56 for rlctail s of con11ncrci a1 reJ li 7.:ilti on of Di c"kens pre mJJ.ture. but prophetic boast in Pilgrim, I, 147, i\ilacrone, [? i\-·ljd-Aprjl 18)6] ..

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elancholy Clown 2 73 ten Pickwick and thus made his fortune, she argued that the author o,ved her a calcul2b}c debt. In 1840 ,vhen son1e of the ,vidov,/s 'tin- fiucntialn friends hoped to relieve her in1povcrishcd condition b)T a book composed of contributions by artists and ,vritcrs "of the first talent and celebrity,"' 1\1rs. Sey1nour took it upon herself to solicit ])ickens" hc1p. Convinced he o,vcd her a. special obligation, she rc-

ceive d \vi ti 1 t t grc nt as t onish1ncn t"'' D ickcn s' regrets f ro1n his j n1proved quarters at Devonshire Terrace. His excuse that his time ,vas c on1- pletelyr preoccupied ,vith other engage,nents, including another '\vork coin p oscd of friend 1y· c ontri bu tions~ having for its object the re] icf of a ]ady also suddenl)7 becon1c a ,vido,v," 6~ only incenst

· Qu.oted in l\-irs.·Seyn,our, pp. z 1-1i [195-196]. Djcl

e.-:Unpublished Pilgrim, ,villia1n ChaUenor, 18 Octo\Jer 1845 ! from the collection of \:~.rHlian1]. C-arlton; Carlton received jt in ·1926 from J .. Ch:dlenor Smith, the grandson of \\'iHiam ChaJlcnor, a man-aging derk to a proctor at Doctors' Com- mon~t ,vho apparently h~Ipcd arr~:nge srng~ performances to benefit the ,vido,v .. Dickens, in thi~ (ormc1lthird~person letter, ,\•ldch is _n1entioncd by l\1rs. Sermour~ p. 12 (11::,6]• also notes "J-J.chad great pkasurc in dr;l:'i:ving up tl1c Jjttfo ~tff.tement for that focl y to "' hieh 1\-fr. Cha lI en or ref ~rs . . " Th c identity of this '\st:iltcnH~n t t as ·weII a~ inan y otl 1cr points a uont tl Ii s j n tercha n ge, rern ain to be c1eared up - p crh.:ips by the_f or~hco n1in g P j] griro Yo1umes to whj ~h 1\1r. Car] ton sent this correspondence for inclusion. · ~~if~- Seynlourt pp. 10-17 [?94-100].

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) 2 74 H ar·vardJJihrary B11lJeth1 incided ,vith Cruikshank's that he originated Oliver Twistt n1ust have reached Dickens b} 7 1 847. In contrast tu his silen cc regarding Cruik- shank\. assertion, the author decided to refute ?vlrs. Sey1noui's puhlic- l)T· By· confronting the ,vido\v, he ,vould thus V{arrr the artist. ~'In the course of the lust dozen years,,, Dick ens ,vrote in a pref ace for the 1847 Cheap Editiont '~] have seen various accounts of th.c origin

of these Pick·wickI'apers, ,vhich have, at all evcnts 1 possessed - for me- the charm of perfect novelty.)) "\~'itl1 sincerely complit11entary references to the ''adn1irablc hurnorons'l Seymour, his 1vork, and his ('sudden and Jan1enteddeath,'' Dickens thought ic due to hin1selfand the public to recount his 1neeting ,vith Hall, the 1atter1sproposal? and

his o,vn objections and concessions (The Pickwick Papers1 pp .. xviii- xix) . I-Iis reason a bl c j f sin1pl ifi c d a c connt sil enccd l\1rs. Seyn1our tc1n- p oraril y .. In 1849, pron1pted b)r fan1ily illnesst the ,vido,v ,vrotc directly to Dickens. I-ler "various statcn1cnts ahout the origin of Pick,vick" - ,vhich doubtless incl udcd that Sey·mour conccivcd the ,,,.ark, p rcpared the plates in advance, determined its mode and time of publication, per1nitted the publishers to approach and employ Boz, approved the letterpress as it ,vas ,vritten, -allo,ved "The Stroller's Tale'"' to ren1a1n at nis ,vifcts insistencet and quit the cnterprjse after the engrsvers spoiled the plate for "The Dying Clo,v1i" the author tern1ed ''ut~ tcr 1y· false f ron1 beginn j ng to end. t t 07 ·1;_{et Di eke ns ,vas concerned enough to for\vard her letter to Chapmani requesting hin1 to be '"good enough to inform n1e ,v11cthct you are as n1uch surprised as I have been by the enclosed comn1unication,and ,vhcthcr there is any truth

jn it?"' (j 8 ,,, as not his published account of Pickwick's beginnings strictly ~ccurate? ''It is so correctl)i described/' Chapman reassured him, ''that I can thro,v but little additional light on it/'~ The publisher clearly recollected and confir1ned'~'ill1am Hall's description of the

proceed ings, though Die kens forbore quoting the .:'deceased partner j s reception, .on a certain occasion., of the pretenses in question,, (p .. xxiii) .69 But~ Ch-a.pn1anadded, '(as this letter is to be historicat I 111a)7 -as,vell claim ,vhat little belongs to inc in the n1attcr ..,, He revealed that Dickens., in crediting Seymour for making l\1r. Pick\vick -a "rc- alit}7,n had given the artist more than his due (p. xviii, cf. p. xxii) _-ro

,,!NLJI, l 6,,. 1\1rs~ Samu el Carter Ha U,, 18 J \l ly 1 849, Thict, 164~ '\:\ 7ima m I-f 1l died j n l\ 1arch l 84 i. See NLi ll, l 9"-:lo, Bro,vnei 1 5 1\1:arch 184 7 'f(I See footnote 3-7 above. In hfs 1847 Prcfuce. Dickens had "Triuen: '\\1r. Sey-

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elancbolyCJo -wu 2 75

11 Other\vise, the publisher concludcd 1 I an1 quite sure that front the be~ ginning ro tl1c end~ nobody but y·ourseif had unything ,vhatcvcr to do ,vithn the \Vork. 71 In her lcttert ,vhich the r!uthor thought '(cxtraordinaril y insulting', and uperfcctly n1ad.,t, l\1rs. Seyn1uur had also denlan

n1our milde his dra,•t'jng of the Club, :-ind that happy portrait of its founder, bv ,\Thieh he is :ilhva ys re co gnh:cd, and '\\'hich may he .said to ha.ve made hi tn a re a1; t~_;i' ( p. )::V W). After Ch~Jlnlan1 s rcve lation in 1 849~ Die ken~ ccordingly ,v rites j n his 1868 Pref a.ce: ''.'\1:R. SEY!\-IOUR made his drnw·jng of tho Club and his happy pottr$.i t of its fall nd cl": - the 1~tter on 1\.-iR. ED \"VARD eri AP .i'VIAN ~sdes Ct'iptio n of the dress an.d heelring of ,1 rear personage "'horn he had o(tcn seen 11 (p. xxii).

n Cha pn1an 1 p. 74. 1"-rLil.that D ickcns-l tJ1ou gh ha v jng a rhitni ril y sel'ered his con- nc cti on ,vith -Ch~ pnrnn and Hall in 1 8441 mai nta1 ned r1mic r1 hk: rda ti om; ,vit h the publisher, ,vho, ,vjtl1out distorting what he recalls as the truth~ \Yould not have ,\ ..Jnted to inc1.1rthe ::Juthor1s f urrhcr displeasure. His ingratiating manner, as ex- hibited in this Jetter, douutlc-ss hc-lpcd br.ing the ::1uthorb::ick to the finn in 1859. ,-::!\fr. and 1\1rs. S<1rnuelCclrter 1-IalI"'cm not relations of the::puhlislier '''illiarn Hall. H~ll, as he notes jn hi.,;;RetrosJJec.t of It Long J_ife (N~vt l~ork, r 883 ). p. 3941- "kn~w rhc great novelist \vhen he \V.3S a boy-; again in the d~ys of his ear]y celebrity,. ,Yhilc he ,Ya:sstill i1 bachelor.; and 1ater 1\1rs. Hall and I ,verc present at the christen- j n g of his fi (St-horn. ,:ve hnd kno,v n 1\·1rs. Di ck ens nlso ,vhen .sha ,vas 1\.-1iss Cath eri ne I -{oga rth. ,i Ha:11, hi mseJf a ,vritcr I i.vas one of the 1nr1ny reput~ d inod els for Peck-

&niff in Our At 1nu~l Frie~1d1 ff cc ting sin1ib.r pi c ty• a ccotd in g to Ed gar Bro\vn e in Phiz and Dickc1.i.r(London, 1913),. p. 90, hut the rcseruuhnce "'ent no further. i\fts. Ha11 is 1ncntioned by Mrs. Sey-n1our, p. 11 [ 195],. a~ ha,·ing ~tpromised her va]u~blc~' aid in folidting L:tdy Blessington and Buhver-Lrtton to contrjbute to the ,·olume of contrihutions proposed in 1840 in the ,,tido,v•s beha1f.

m NL 1ll, 163-r641 l\1r.,;;;.S:-1n1ucl Cincr I-IaH, t8 July 1849.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) H nrvard Library B11lleti11 then replied to 1\1rs.Seymour, denying her assertions and declining to co1n1nunicatefurther ,vith her.74 Neither l)ickcns nor the artist's ,vido\v ,vas long ablc to resist fur- thcr con1munications. 1'1rs.Seyn1 our ,varned the author that it ,vould not "appear ,veil ,vhen I bring the ,vhole aff~ir before tht vie,v of a generous public~'' 7 t'.i f)i ck ens ,v iscly 1naintained an a tti tud e of c:'silent conten1pt'"' in the face of this threat ,vhich the ,vido\v executed in 1 8 54. 1--Ierprivate])r printed and narro\vly circulated Account pre- sented her clai1ns,vith an itnplausiblecircun1stnntiality ,vorthy, Dick-

ens" son· notcd 1 {~oft l1 c fa tn ous don b Ie letter f ron1 North ampt on shire in the Scbool for Scrrndal."i4J The ,vido\v's exces~ive detail, illogical conclusions, ir relevant accusations, hys teri cal tone, and paranoiac at- titude proved self-defeating for th c n1on1en t. In the late 1 86o's, the controversy ,vas public1)7 aired ~g11i11.In- stead of \Vtlcon1ing a possible ally into thejr camp, Seymour's ,vife -andson furiously attacked Henry Bohn ,vhcn in 1866 he reissued the arcis t' s I-J.111nor o11 s Sk etcbes , vith a syn1pa th etic biographical 111cn1oir. Seeing the book advertised in the Atbe11ne1n11,the artist's son and nftmcsake ,vrote a letter to the editor~ According to young Scyn1our, Bohn had stolen the copyright to the dra,vings, had ,vrittcn ' 1a very imperfect and erroneous'} memoir of his father, and hud sneered at his mothcr~.s Acco1111t. He promised not only a. c"f-ullerrcfutation'l of Bohn~s 111cn1oir,but his o,-vnaccount of the origin of 1..,bePickwick Pnpers for ' 1a. complete editionn of his father's sketches he ,vas publish-

7~ Quot~d in [Vlrs~ Seymour, p. 15 [ J98]l "\vho adds:: icHis letter ,~.ras cvjdcntly- i..Vrttten in a grcat f rj ght."' 'i:~ Ibid. Charles Dickens the Younger, quoted in Introduction to Tbe Pickwick Papers (London: ~.fac1nilhni J 893 ), p+ xxvj, l\1rs. Seymour supports h~r chi1ns \l,.;ith rele-

vant -and irrelevant C\''cnts and conversations 1 supposedly Iecailed in n1inutc dctalI from a]m osr rwo decades prevfrlus 1y. The "\Yj do,\' rr1ight have argued rn ore p cr-

suasi ,tely that Seymour at 1ea:5t initiated, if he dj d not orj ginrt te 1 Pickwick; that the hero's physical -appe:1r::1ncefound predece:ssor.s in many of his. pr-evjous "'orksj and that ,vorking "'ith Djcken:i: contributed to 1u1b~fandng his mind and thus precipit2tcd his ~11ici

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A 111elancholyClow11 2 77 ing for his' mother, ,vhichj he trusted, ,vould not prove "entirel)r un- interesting. Ji 77 Dohn ,vas not the only one to protest to the Atbeua~ eunL 7s The author of l:1ick·wickand "of one or t,\ ..O other books," as Dickens sarcastically noted, used its columns to stir up the old tea-cup tcn1pest. Surprisingly· un-ab]eto rernain aloof fron1 the affair, Dickens felt the tilnc ripe for another public repudiation of the Seyn1ours' claims. The Hfe,v facts and no conuncne' ,vhich he sent to the A tbeurre1111tin ans\vcr to 3•oung Seymour's letter indignantly insisted that the ardstt ,vhom he met only once and ,vhose hand,vriring he had never seen, Hnever originated~suggested, or in any ,vay had to do \Vith, save as illustrator of ,vhat I devised, an incident~ a character (ex- 1 cept the sporting tastes· of 1\.ir. \,, inkle) 1 a nan1e, a phrase, or a ,vord to be found 1n Tbe Pickwick I1,1pers''(Collected l 1l1pers,I, 108-110) •10

~1 Robert Seymour, '~Seymour~s Sketch est J,f;e Atbenm~mu, No. 2004 ( 14 1\•forch 1866)~ 398-399, reprinted jn i\1iJler and Strnnge, pp~ 215--217. ~s Henry Bohn~ usermour'.s Drawings/J Tbe A the1urcu1n,1'· 1-lo. 2006 ( 7 April 18 66), 464~ Scym our ':Isson f dt his fa th er 's published dra \Vings \\'ere sci11the pro pc rt.y 1 of the f ~mtl y an dt for several yenrs 1 circulated . ( coa rsc and cl u n1sy i tn it~ tion s" of

rhcm to snpp]c-1ncnthis jncomc ~s a n1usic teacher, according to Rohn. J..Jissiswr 1 according to J+Chc-Il~nor Sn1ith, Letter to Carleton, 1926, occasfonally visi:i:cd ]Joc- rors' Connnons 1,rith prin[ed ''s:he::tvf:s,, of SE:ymour's sketches 1\vhe.rc,vir.h she soll gl 1t to supp 1c1ncn t her .s]end er n1c'1ns.:i-,: Smj th 1s f ath c r of ten ho ugh t thcnl "at f~ncy prrce.~~The Scymours resented the efforts of Bohn, who owned many of the

artist's "'ork.~ 1 to profit from then1. They gave hjn1 little informatjon for his "'ritc- up on th~ an i.i;;;tin Bryan ,s Di.clio1111ry of I' ai11tcrs ·when they d iscovcre d it ,v~s :;i,l so being used for the memni r in q u e.stion. Bohn thought little of their inf orma 6 on - 11th~ y h~d none to gi ,Te,' - and resorted to 1our\ surviving f riend.s, co pie~ of Figaro"t ;,nd the \vido"'~.s AttotuU, \VhJch, though ti.rnoreoutpouring of sp]E:en and 1 1 vitupe.r:ltion, disclosed so1nething ..j N.B. Ilohn s sjrni1ar contro\-er.sy ,vjth Ain!i:\Vorth o-ver his use of Cruikshank\: illustrat1ons for Tbe Tower jn Arthur ,vaugh, A Hun- dred Ye~rs of Publisbing (London! 1930 ), p. 83.

~[}Dickens 1 · Hj story of ~pj ck,v j ckt !' n T be At benaeunl, No. 100 5 ( 3 1 i\-1arch 1 866) 430, ,v~s: indeed too litcrn.1. Fnr example,. hE: ,vrote: (l:f\-fr.Sermnur died ·when only the first nventy-four printed pages of The Pick~vick Papers \vTercpublishcdi I think llcf ore th c next three or four pages ,vere completely written; I am ~ure h cf ore ori c

1 subsc::-qUC[lt lfnc nf the hoak ,vas jnvented. ' He corrected himself in the follow·jng jss-uc of Tb c A tbenaeun,, No. 1-oo 6 ( 7 A pri 1 l 866 ) , 464: ''Th ere is a \TerbaJ mistake jn the letter I addressed to you fast ,vcck, ~s it is printed in your journal. In the

.fifth pa.r.1graph1 the p:.tss1tgoiy think 1 hcforc the next three or four pages \~·ere com- piete]y \Yritten/ should stand '] think, before the. next tir.!Jenty~four pages \vere cam- pletdy v:rritten. 1 1' Yet one of Scyn1onr's unfinished ihinvings - cntitfod .'cThe Pjck- w•jc-krans jn lVardle/ Kitchen)J or ~~T'heArrival :at i\1enor Fatrn./1 the orjgin1-1]of w·hlch j,s conwine(l h1 the \Vjdcn~r Coilecrion copy of .;..,1r.i;;;.Scyn1our 1s Account,

facing p. c2 and is rc11roduccd jn Grego, 11'89 and jn Kitton 1 Dickens and l-Jis Jl- lurtrator.s,Pfate XXIi facing p~ 42, accompanies a bter pordnn of the: hook- p. :50

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) Harvard Library Bulletin Scyn1our's son reiterated his vie,vs in another letter to the Atbe11aeu111, but its ,vcary editors fc1t that they did not ,vant to continue the controversy j n th eii· col 011111s.so But Dickens perpetuated the contro vcrsy 2s if, Chesterton noted, ''it had been a I-Iighland feud. H 61 "\~ 1ithin a ,vcck of his letter to the Atbe-J1ac11111tthe author Vilrotc his oldest son all about rl1e ''atten1pt on the part of Seyn1our~s,vido\v to extort n1oney f ron1 n1e by representing that he had son1e i nexpJicable 2.ndill-used part in the invention of Pick,vick ! !n He told Charley· about Chap1nan's confirn1ntorylet~ ter and his o,vn recent one, \vrittcn "in consequence of Scy1nour'5 re- viving the 111onstrosit)r.>)He suggested his son ask his Jnothcr for her notes of that Sunday evening at Fnrniva]'"s Inn ,vhcn ''that poor little n1an and I looked upon each other for the first and last ti1ne" and of that ,, 1ednesday n1orning ,vhcn Unc:le Frederick notified chen1 of Scy1nourJs suicide. Dickens apologized for ,vhat seen1cd a "super- fluous precaution'' ,vhich he ncvcrthe]css took "for the sake of our de.scend an rs.'' 82 I-Iis precautions did not ce:1.sehere. A f tcr th c 1 8 6 7 publication of Seyn1our's Sketcbes and its n1etnoir, the material for ,vhich ,vas obviously provided, if not actnally ,vritten, by the nrtises son/ 3 Djckens gave Forster the '\vrittcn testin1ony~' of Chapn1an for

of first edition, Nonesuch T"be Pick-wickI'nperst p. 65. Perhaps,. during their Sunday of ad ventures the evening .inten,rj e\v·1 D ickcns discussed ,v j th Seyrnour the kinds Piclndc1::i-ans,vere to faH into, ~nd thirey:' y-Eani later, undersrnnda:bly .. did not rcc;11l doing so; or the drawing n1ight be su1ne evjdencc 1 unntilizcd by Seymour syn1- path i7.erst that tl 1c a 1·tist ind ccd 111a de rnany of his. d nt\,iti n gs before kn o-,ving Di ck ens or his text~ "' (Ed.) Tbe Atbtnaeznu, No. 1006 ( 7 A prH 1866) 1 466 immediately after the letters of D j ckens :a.ndBohn~ 111 G. K. Chesterton,. Charles Ditkens, A Critical Study (Ne·w York, :r926)J p. 71, &:2 Onoted jn Charles Dickens the Younger, Jntrodnction to T!Je Pick1dck I'aperJ (London: j\·lacmillan, 1893 ), pp. xx.dii-xxix:. Dickens' son reports that his 111other\s 1 note alluded to ]1ad heen destroyed bef oro his father s death jn 18701 hnt both hjs mother and his uncle "confinncd" his father's letter in °c,Tery p~rticuhr.'' [Robert: Seyrnour?], 0 Thc Life of Rohrrt Seymourt Sey1nour's Sketches 1 Compl~tc Collection (London: J C. H otte n1 J 867) , pp. 3--6. The book, :subti de d ' A of One Hundred :ind Eighty Hun1orous Dcslgn.,~' must Le the ucomp1ctc edition of th~ one hundred nd cigh ty sketches.,., by his father that his ~nn s~id he \V~S 1 A the1111e1n11 ' abot1t publishing for my mother/' the prevjous ye-a.rin his letter to Tbe 1 1 1 $. rather ( i 4 1\-i;lrch 1 8 66) i 399. The unsign cd 'Lif e ' is usua 11y- a ttri bu ted to Hotten unscrupu1ous!tj r p.rolific!tpublisher~ Hut the memoir has a Scymourian sty]e as ,li.1cll as con tent, it is clearly ,vri t ten by son1eonc ,v ho has far more know 1edge of th c artist than did Bohn, and "·ho is familiar enough both ,dth Bohn and 1\1:rsrSey- mour to contradict the former and to avoid 01· explain the n1ore incredibk state-

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) A A1elancho1J1 Clown 2 79

safekeeping and use1 should the occasion arise ,vhilc the novelist ,vas visiting Arn cri ca. In his 1 86 8 Pi ck.1.vi ck preface t he re pea tcd his '' S tatc- n1en t of :F'acts~'to den1unstratc again c 'the n1onstrosity of tl1c baseless assertions 111question, and (tested by details) even of the self-evident in1possibi]ity of there being any truth in d1cn1'' (p4 xxiii).

-rhc allegations of Seyn1our"s he1rs.,ho-\\'C\Ter 1 ,vcre not entirely un- founded~ \~'hat en1erges fron1 the ,vcltcr of clain1s and countcrchargcs js that 1nore than one person shaped the destiny· of the Jnost popular English book of the ninetccntl1 centl1ry. Scyn1our jndeed generated a plan ,vhich, by n1cans of the p11b]ishers,,vas brought to fruition by Dickensi albeit in a n1anner unanticipated by· an) 7 concerned. Bc)7 0nd t hcsc facts, the prob lcn1 of , vhet her the artist or th c au th or '' origj nat c d'' ,vhat became Tbe Pickwick Pnpcts is one of insoluble s-en1antics.lt is hard to refute Chesterton's opinion, ho,ve,Tcr.,that it ,vns "'quite easy to .originate I'icl...~ick. The rlifficu1ty ,vas to ,vrjtc it." 84 Al~ though Bandc]airc felt it ,vould he unjust not to mention Sc)rn1our in speaking of English graphic art/t-. posterity t in contrast to its treat- ment of Cruikshank, clain1s 1cssfor Scymour~sgenius than did his con-

ten1 p ora r j es~ 1,,1ore intriguing to 1ater gen era ti ons, per ha ps1 is , vh )7 Djckens continually juvolved hin1self jn a controversy ,vhich other~ ,vise n1ight l1avc a.bated. 1~hat he rcn1aincd so indignantly ex2ct about every ~tjot and titdc,' of authorship suggests his inabiljty to exorcise co1npletcly the troubleso1ne spectre of Robert Seyn1onr. mcnts of the fatter. Yet the '\Ytitcr h~s enough t1.t stake pcrsnnally and is involved enough cmotinnlUy to perpctr~tc HHnc factu:al distorrjons (such ~s the

Charles lhudclaire, Baudelaire Critique d~Art, ed. Bernard Chccrbrant (P:nis 1 1956)t p. 209.

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971) CONTRIBUTORS TO THIS ISSUE

l\ 1:RS. JANE · R. CoHEN is the author of " 'All-o f-a-T ,vjse - The Re1ationshi p of George Cruikshank and Charles Dickens,H"'hich appeared in the AprH and July 1969 issues of the HARVAW> LlBRAA'V BuLLETJN; her Harvard dissertation { 196 8) \Vas on ~'Dickens and His Origino.l 111u strators. ,~

RonrnT GtTTlNGShas \vritten several volumes of poetry and :l series of pl-ays us \Veil as books on Shakespeare and on I(eats. His Jahn Keats (1968) ,vas published in London by I-Ieinetnann and in ll?ston by Littlet Bro,vn & Co.

BERN ARDM ..W. KNOX is P .rof cssor of Greek at 1-lar\Tard, Director of th c Ccn tcr for H d knic Studies, and Chairrn :in of the Senior Fell o\vs of the CtCnter for Hell cnic Stu dies. 1-Iis pu blishc d ,vork~ incl udc The Heroic T e1nper; Studies in SophocleanTragedy (University of California Press, I 964) and OediJ1us,1t Tbebes (Yale University Press~ 1957).

~1Rs.,E,~o LAcYl'O~ t a for n1er n1em b Er of the Harvard College Library staff, has

,vritten a number of a.rticles 1 including uNikodcn1os 1\-icta~_as,the First Greek Printer .in the Enstcrn \:\'orldt in the Aprjl 1967 issue of the HAHVAlID LIBRARY BULLETIN.

n1ns. ELIZAl:$ETH !vlAxFn:Lu-i\11LLERteaches French literature at Concord Acadcrny .. Her Radcliffe dissertation (1938) ,vas ~'Studiesin l\-1odernR.on1ansh Poetry in the Engadine,n and her contributions to scho]arly journals ·include n1any :1rticles on 1'1oli ere.

i\1ERTON 1\1.SEAL1·s). ]R. is .Professor of English at the University of ,visconsin (i'vla.dison). His Af elville as tect'l(-rer,~•as publish~d-by the Harvard University Press in 1957. and A1elville'{-Rerrding,.o~igina.lly serialized in volumes II-IV and \1I of the HARVARD LmRAnYB_yLLETIN, js a .publication _of the ·university of ,:\.TisconsinPress ( 1966) • ·

G F.ORGE SP.EAIGIJT is-th c du thor of Puneh & l udy.· A Hi story ( J 9 70) t a revised edition of The History of tbe Rnglisb Puppet Theatre (-.955"), and of Ju-venile Drauur:A History of tlie E11glishToy Theatre ( 1946; rc\ 1 iscd edition, ,969 ) .. . . F...D\VARDF. J. TucKER, ,vho teaches at Southern i\1.ethodistUniversity, contributed ~'Tl_1e Iiarvard ·A1an1lscriptqf. Parkhurst's Ignpr~mzfs'J to t_heJanuary 1971 issue of the HARVARD l ..rnRARY BULLETIN; . his H arvai-d dissertation~ ( 19;0) ,~;,-as:a criical edition of f gnoraunts. ·

Harvard University - Houghton Library / Harvard University. Harvard Library bulletin. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Library. Volume XIX, Number 3 (July 1971)