Dickens and His Illustrators Part 4

Although this occupation was most uncongenial to young Seymour, it caused him to adopt a neat style of drawing which ultimately proved of much utility. He aspired to a higher branch of Art than that involved in the delineation of patterns for calico-printers; but for a time he remained with Vaughan, pleasantly varying the monotony of his daily routine by producing miniature portraits of friends who consented to sit to him, receiving in return a modest though welcome remuneration. Still cheris.h.i.+ng an inclination towards "High Art," he and a colleague named Work (significant patronymic!) deserted Vaughan, and, renting a room at the top of the old tower at Canonbury, they purchased a number of plaster-casts, lay-figures, &c., from which the two juvenile enthusiasts began to study with great a.s.siduity. In Seymour's case tangible results were speedily forthcoming, for he presently painted a picture of unusually large dimensions, quaintly described by his fellow-student as containing representations of "the Giant of the Brocken, the Skeleton Hunt, the Casting of Bullets, and a full meal of all the German horrors eagerly swallowed by the public of that day." This remarkable canvas was, it seems, a really creditable work, and found a place on the walls of a gallery in Baker Street Baazar. Seymour, like many other ambitious young artists possessing more talent than pence, quickly realised the sad fact that, though the pursuit was in itself a very agreeable one, it meant penury to the painter unless he owned a private fortune or commanded the purse-strings of rich patrons. The artist's widow afterwards declared that he invariably sold his pictures direct from the easel; but there is no doubt that with him "High Art" proved a financial failure, and he reluctantly turned his attention to the more lucrative (if less attractive) occupation of designing on wood, for which he was peculiarly fitted by his previous practice in clean, precise draughtsmans.h.i.+p during that probationary period in Vaughan's workshop.

Footnote 7: In another account (written by a contemporary of the artist) it is stated that Seymour was the natural son of Vaughan himself, and that the child bore the name of the mother, under whose care he remained until his father acknowledged the paternity, when he took the boy into his workshop.

Seymour was endowed by Nature with a keen sense of the ludicrous, and this, aided by a knowledge of drawing, enabled him to execute designs of so humorous a character that his productions were immediately welcomed by the proprietors of such publications as _Figaro_ and _Bell's Life in London_, to which were thus given a vitality and a popularity they did not previously possess. Although at first the recompense was but scanty, hardly sufficient, indeed, to procure the necessaries of life, yet Robert Seymour felt it was the beginning of what might eventually resolve itself into a fairly remunerative vocation. His talent speedily brought him profitable commissions for more serious publications, while his pencil was simultaneously employed in sketching and drawing amusing incidents, especially such as related to fis.h.i.+ng and shooting,--forms of sport which const.i.tuted his favourite recreation. Living at this time in the then rural suburb of Islington, he had many opportunities of observing the methods of c.o.c.kney sportsmen, who were wont to wander thither on Sundays and holidays, and whose inexperience with rod and gun gave rise to many absurdities and comic fiascos, thus affording the young artist abundant material for humorous designs.

Until 1827, Seymour confined his labours to drawing for the wood-engravers. He now essayed the art of etching upon plates of steel or copper, simulating the style and manner of George Cruikshank; he even ventured to affix the _nom de plume_ of "Shortshanks" to his early caricatures, until he received a remonstrance from the famous George himself. Having attained some proficiency in both etching and lithography, he determined to make practical use of his experience, and in 1833 designed a series of twelve lithographic plates for a new edition of a work ent.i.tled "Maxims and Hints for an Angler," in which the humours of the piscatorial art were excellently rendered; he also executed a number of similar designs portraying, with laughable effect, the adventures and misadventures of the very "counter-jumpers" whose ways and habits came under his keen, observant eye. These amusing pictures, drawn on stone with pen-and-ink, and published as a collection of "Sketches by Seymour," achieved an immense popularity, and were chiefly the means of rendering his name generally familiar.

Seymour was very fond of horticultural pursuits, and took great pains in cultivating his own garden; but the result of his efforts in this direction proved disappointing, and when dilating upon his want of success, it was suggested that the misfortunes of an amateur gardener might be made the subject of some entertaining drawings. After pondering over this idea, and mindful of the fact that he still possessed a number of unpublished sketches reflecting upon the abilities of amateur sportsmen, he resolved upon reproducing some of a sporting character.

His original notion was to bring out a work similar in plan to that of "The Heiress," a pictorial novel which he ill.u.s.trated in 1830, and he first proposed the subject to the printseller McLean in 1835, and then to Spooner, the well-known publisher. The latter highly approved the project, and in discussing it they concluded it would be desirable to supplement the pictures with suitable letterpress. The undertaking was so far advanced that Seymour etched four plates, but, owing to unforeseen delays on the part of Spooner, the matter was held in abeyance for about three months, by which time Seymour determined to issue the work on his own responsibility, and to endeavour to get H.

Mayhew or Moncrieff to write for it.

[Sidenote: =The Pickwick Papers, 1836-37.=]

When, in February 1836, Edward Chapman (of Chapman & Hall) called upon him with reference to a drawing which the firm had commissioned him to undertake, the artist mentioned the scheme of a work to be ill.u.s.trated by him, having, as a central idea, a "Club of c.o.c.kney Sportsmen."

Chapman thought favourably of the notion, and proposed that it should be brought out in two half-guinea volumes; but Seymour, desiring the widest circulation, insisted on the plan he originally conceived, that of s.h.i.+lling monthly numbers. Then came the question, Who should prepare the requisite text? Leigh Hunt, Theodore Hook, and other prominent writers of the day declined to undertake it, and shortly afterwards Seymour, having just been reading "Sketches by Boz," the humour and originality of which highly delighted him, proposed that d.i.c.kens should be asked to contribute the letterpress.

PLATE XVI

"MR. PICKWICK ADDRESSES THE CLUB"

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

R. SEYMOUR

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

Mr. Mackenzie Bell has given (in the _Athenaeum_, June 11, 1887) a slightly different version of this part of the narration, and states that Charles Whitehead, an early friend of d.i.c.kens, "used constantly to affirm that he had been asked to write to Seymour's sketches, and that, feeling uncertain of being able to supply the copy with sufficient regularity, he [not Seymour] recommended d.i.c.kens for the task. This appears very likely to have been the case," adds Mr. Bell, "as at that time Whitehead, who was eight years older than d.i.c.kens, was already known as a facile and fecund writer, his coa.r.s.e yet powerful romance of 'Jack Ketch' having been very popular for some time. It is even possible that 'The Pickwick Papers' may have been suggested to d.i.c.kens by a pa.s.sage in the preface of 'Jack Ketch,' where a humorous allusion is made to the possibility of the author producing his more mature experiences under the unambitious t.i.tle of 'The Ketch Papers,' a work which never appeared." It may be mentioned that d.i.c.kens had just sent in his MS. of "The Tuggses at Ramsgate" for "The Library of Fiction,"

edited by Whitehead, who was already familiar with the budding novelist's ability as an author. This carries us to the point whence d.i.c.kens takes up the thread of the story, as printed in the preface to the first cheap edition of "Pickwick" (1847), where he writes:--

"I was a young man of three-and-twenty when the present publishers [Chapman & Hall], attracted by some pieces I was at that time writing in the _Morning Chronicle_ newspaper (of which one series had lately been collected and published in two volumes, ill.u.s.trated by my esteemed friend George Cruikshank), waited upon me to propose a something that should be published in s.h.i.+lling numbers.... The idea propounded to me was that the monthly something should be a vehicle for certain plates to be executed by Mr. Seymour, and there was a notion, either on the part of that admirable humorous artist or of my visitor (I forget which), that a 'Nimrod Club,' the members of which were to go out shooting, fis.h.i.+ng, and so forth, and getting themselves into difficulties through their want of dexterity, would be the best means of introducing these. I objected, on consideration, that although born and partly bred in the country, I was no great sportsman, except in regard of all kinds of locomotion; that the idea was not novel, and had been already much used; that it would be infinitely better for the plates to arise naturally out of the text; and that I should like to take my own way, with freer range of English scenes and people, and was afraid I should ultimately do so in any case, whatever course I might prescribe to myself at starting. My views being deferred to, I thought of Mr. Pickwick, and wrote the first number, from the proof-sheets of which Mr. Seymour made his drawing of the Club, and that happy portrait of its founder, by which he is always recognised, and which may be said to have made him a reality. I connected Mr. Pickwick with a club because of the original suggestion, and I put in Mr. Winkle expressly for the use of Mr. Seymour."

PLATE XVII

"THE PUGNACIOUS CABMAN"

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

R. SEYMOUR

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

The first monthly part of "The Pickwick Papers" appeared early in April 1836, consisting of twenty-six pages of text and four etchings by Seymour. Judging from a letter written by d.i.c.kens at the time the scheme was first proposed, it seems that the ill.u.s.trations were to have been engraved on wood. The artist was then excessively busy, for besides pledging himself to produce four plates for each monthly issue of "Pickwick," he had numerous other engagements to fulfil, so great was the demand for his designs. Although a rapid executant, the commissions he received from publishers acc.u.mulated to such an extent, that the excessive strain resulting from overwork at starvation prices began seriously to affect his health. Not only did the monthly supply of the "Pickwick" plates const.i.tute an additional demand upon his mental resources, but he was hara.s.sed by the uncertainty of receiving from the printer the proofs from which he deduced his subjects, these sometimes being delayed so that very little time was allowed for the preparation of the plates. Unhappily his brain was unable to bear such pressure; constant business worries and anxieties induced symptoms of insanity, and before he had completed the second quartette of etchings for "Pickwick," the unfortunate artist committed suicide. This deplorable act took place on April 20, 1836, in a summer-house in the garden at the back of his residence in Liverpool Road, Islington, where, by the aid of a string attached to the trigger of a fowling-piece, he deliberately sent the charge through his head.

Seymour, we are a.s.sured, had not the slightest pecuniary embarra.s.sment; he was quite happy, too, in his domestic affairs, extremely fond of his family, and naturally of a very cheerful disposition. His melancholy fate caused a general feeling of regret among the public, with whom he was a great favourite, and to whom he was then better known than d.i.c.kens himself. In the second number of "Pickwick" appeared the following just tribute to the merits of the artist: "Some time must elapse before the void the deceased gentleman has left in his profession can be filled up; the blank his death has occasioned in the Society, which his amiable nature won, and his talents adorned, we can hardly hope to see supplied.

We do not allude to this distressing event, in the vain hope of adding, by any eulogium of ours, to the respect in which the late Mr. Seymour's memory is held by all who ever knew him."

In the original announcement of "The Pickwick Papers" we read: "Seymour has devoted himself, heart and graver, to the task of ill.u.s.trating the beauties of 'Pickwick.' It was reserved to Gibbon to paint, in colours that will never fade, the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire--to Hume to chronicle the strife and turmoil of the two proud Houses that divided England against herself--to Napier to pen, in burning words, the History of the War in the Peninsula;--the deeds and actions of the gifted Pickwick yet remain for 'Boz' and Seymour to hand down to posterity."

This projected collaboration, alas! was speedily frustrated by the unexpected tragedy, for Seymour had produced but seven plates when he terminated his life, the following being the subjects of his designs in the order of their publication:

_First Number._

"MR. PICKWICK ADDRESSES THE CLUB."

"THE PUGNACIOUS CABMAN."

"THE SAGACIOUS DOG."

"DR. SLAMMER'S DEFIANCE OF JINGLE."

_Second Number._

"THE DYING CLOWN."

"MR. PICKWICK IN CHASE OF HIS HAT."

"MR. WINKLE SOOTHES THE REFRACTORY STEED."

The Address issued with the Second Part contains an apology for the appearance therein of only three plates instead of four, as promised.

"When we state," says the author, "that they comprise Mr. Seymour's last efforts, and that on one of them, in particular, (the embellishment to the Stroller's Tale,) he was engaged up to a late hour of the night preceding his death, we feel confident that the excuse will be deemed a sufficient one." d.i.c.kens had seen the unhappy man only once, forty-eight hours before his death, on the occasion of his visit to Furnival's Inn with the etching just referred to, which, altered at d.i.c.kens's suggestion, he brought away again for the few further touches that occupied him to a late hour of the night before he destroyed himself.[8]

In an unpublished letter (dated April 3, 1866) addressed by the novelist to a correspondent who required certain particulars respecting "Pickwick," he thus referred to the artist: "Mr. Seymour shot himself before the second number of 'The Pickwick Papers' ... was published.

While he lay dead, it was necessary that search should be made in his working room for the plates to the second number, the day for the publication of which was then drawing on. The plates were found unfinished, with their faces turned to the wall. It was Mr. Chapman who found them and brought them away."

Footnote 8: The artist's son a.s.serts that the last plate Seymour etched for "Pickwick" (viz., "The Dying Clown") was submitted to d.i.c.kens a fortnight (not forty-eight hours, as recorded by Forster) before his death. It seems that Seymour's final drawing was for a woodcut, executed for John Jackson, the engraver, to whom the artist delivered it on the evening of the fatal day, April 20, 1836.

PLATE XVIII

"DR. SLAMMER'S DEFIANCE OF JINGLE"

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

R. SEYMOUR

_Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

In 1887 Messrs. Chapman & Hall appropriately celebrated the Jubilee of "The Pickwick Papers" by publis.h.i.+ng an _Edition de luxe_, with _facsimiles_ of the original drawings made for the work, or, rather, of as many of these as were then available. In the editor's preface it is stated that four out of the seven drawings etched by Seymour for "Pickwick" had disappeared, but it afterwards transpired that two of the missing designs remained in the possession of the artist's family, until they were sold to a private purchaser, who, in 1889, disposed of them by auction. Of these drawings, therefore, only one, viz., "The Sagacious Dog," is undiscoverable. The alb.u.m in which the missing designs were found also contained other original drawings for "Pickwick," as well as the d.i.c.kens letter to Seymour and an excellent portrait of the artist; this important collection included the three published designs (viz., "Mr. Pickwick Addresses the Club," "The Pugnacious Cabman," and "Dr.

Slammer's Defiance of Jingle,"--the latter differing slightly from the etching), together with the first sketch for "The Dying Clown," and two unpublished drawings (evidently alternative subjects, ill.u.s.trating incidents in the fifth chapter), respectively representing "The Runaway Chaise" and "The Pickwickians in Mr. Wardle's Kitchen." All these drawings, except that of "The Dying Clown," are outlined with pen-and-ink, and the effects washed in with a brownish tint. Perhaps the most astonis.h.i.+ng circ.u.mstance in connection with this collection is the extravagant sum it realised in the auction-room, for, as might be antic.i.p.ated, many were anxious to secure so valuable a memento. The bidding was brisk until 200 was reached, when compet.i.tion was confined to the representative of Mr. Augustin Daly (of New York) and another whose name is unrecorded, the result being that the prize fell to Mr.

Daly for 500--probably a record figure for such an item. No one experienced greater surprise at this enormous price than the purchaser himself, who a.s.sures me that, although he imposed no limit, it was never his intention to offer so fabulous an amount; indeed, the sum he had in his mind was not so much as a quarter of that at which this attractive alb.u.m eventually fell to the hammer. Owing to the generosity of Mr.

Daly, I am enabled to reproduce in _facsimile_ the whole of these extremely interesting designs, which he brought to England expressly for this purpose.