Dickens and His Illustrators Part 7

Wardle and his Friends under the Influence of 'the Salmon,'" depicting an incident described in the succeeding chapter.

Footnote 15: The two cancelled etchings by Buss have been copied on steel, but, being printed on India paper, are not likely to be mistaken for the original plates. Impressions of the Buss etchings are exceedingly scarce, only about seven hundred copies of the number containing them having been circulated.

The drawings by Buss for "Pickwick" have fortunately been preserved.

Besides the original designs for the published etchings, there are still in existence several tentative sketches prepared by the artist in antic.i.p.ation of future numbers,--those, indeed, upon which he was at work when he received his _conge_. Some of these sketches are vigorously limned with pen-and-ink outlines and the effects laid in with a brush, while others are rendered in pencil supplemented by washes of indian-ink. The following is a complete list of Buss's original drawings for "Pickwick":--

MR. PICKWICK AT THE REVIEW.[16]--_Unused design._--This subject was etched by the artist as a specimen of his work to be submitted to Chapman & Hall. Only two impressions are known to exist, while the plate itself was irretrievably injured through the surface being scratched with a piece of coa.r.s.e emery paper.

THE CRICKET-MATCH.[16]--_Published design._

Footnote 16: Reproduced in _facsimile_ in the Victoria edition of "Pickwick," 1887.

PLATE XXV

"A SOUVENIR OF d.i.c.kENS"

From an Unfinished Painting by R. W. BUSS

_Size of Original Picture, 36 in. by 27 in._

_Lent by the Rev. F. Fleetwood Buss._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

THE CRICKET-MATCH.--_First sketch_, varying entirely from the etching. The wicket-keeper is seen behind the fat man, receiving the ball full in his face.

THE FAT BOY AWAKE ON THIS OCCASION ONLY.[1]--_Published design._

THE FAT BOY AWAKE ON THIS OCCASION ONLY.--_First sketch_, varying from the etching. Tupman is represented on his knees by the side of Miss Wardle, who is holding a watering-pot, while the Fat Boy is seen behind, facing the spectator.

THE FAT BOY AWAKE ON THIS OCCASION ONLY.--_Second sketch_, varying from the etching. Here Tupman is standing, with his left arm around Miss Wardle's waist, and the Fat Boy is in front, in much the same att.i.tude as represented in the published design; indeed, there are very slight differences between this sketch and the accepted drawing.

MR. WARDLE AND HIS FRIENDS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF "THE SALMON."[17]--_Unused design._

Footnote 17: Reproduced in _facsimile_ in the Victoria edition of "Pickwick," 1887.

THE BREAK-DOWN.--_Unused design._ Pickwick, in an att.i.tude of despair, stands facing the spectator; behind him Wardle is seen in the act of shaking his fist at the eloping party in the retreating chaise; while a postboy on the left holds the head of one of the horses belonging to the vehicle which has come to grief.

MR. WINKLE'S FIRST SHOT.--_Unused design._ The central figure is Winkle, holding his gun; close by stands Snodgra.s.s in an att.i.tude of fear, while Pickwick and Wardle are sheltering behind a tree.

STUDY FOR THE t.i.tLE-PAGE.--_Unused design._ In this rough sketch Pickwick is the prominent personage, as he stands facing the spectator, with his right hand in the pocket of his smalls, and his left arm resting on what appears to be a mound of earth. Separately displayed upon the face of this mound are medallion portraits, in emblematical frames, of Pickwick, Snodgra.s.s, Winkle, and Tupman, while above all is suspended a female figure typical of Fame, blowing a miniature trumpet and holding a laurel wreath over the head of Pickwick. The letters forming the words "Pickwick Club"

are made up of various articles suggestive of conviviality and sport--such as corkscrews, bottles, wine-gla.s.ses, pistol, stirrup, &c.

These drawings sufficiently indicate that the artist possessed a decided power with the pencil, which he turned to good account shortly after the abrupt termination of his connection with "The Pickwick Papers." For example, in 1839 he successfully ill.u.s.trated, by means of etching, Mrs.

Trollope's diverting story, "The Widow Married," then appearing as a serial in the _New Monthly Magazine_, and among the more remarkable of his later efforts with the etching-needle are his designs for novels by Marryat, Ainsworth, and other well-known writers of the day, many of the plates being equal, in the matter of technique, to those by "Phiz," thus denoting that, had an opportunity been afforded him, he might have made his mark with "Pickwick." It may be said of Buss (as is a.s.serted concerning Cruikshank) that his works, whether in colour or black-and-white, are regarded as affording authentic information respecting costumes and other accessories; for he was exceedingly conscientious in matters of detail, preferring to incur infinite trouble to secure accuracy rather than rely upon his imagination.

[Sidenote: =The Library of Fiction, 1836.=]

Like Seymour, Buss was a.s.sociated with d.i.c.kens in connection with that ephemeral work, "The Library of Fiction." Besides "The Tuggses at Ramsgate," the novelist wrote for its pages a paper called "A Little Talk about Spring and the Sweeps," containing an ill.u.s.tration drawn by Buss and engraved on wood by John Jackson, who, it will be remembered, introduced the artist to Chapman & Hall. This short tale was reprinted in the first complete edition of "Sketches by Boz," 1839, under the t.i.tle of "The First of May," with an etching by Cruikshank depicting an incident differing entirely from that which forms the subject of Buss's woodcut.

PLATE XXVI

DOLLY VARDEN

From an Original Water-colour Drawing by R. W. BUSS

_Lent by the Rev. A. J. Buss._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

As a painter of humorous scenes and historical events, Buss gained considerable popularity. From 1826 to 1859 he contributed nearly every year subject-pictures and portraits to the Exhibitions of the Royal Academy, Suffolk Street Gallery, and British Inst.i.tution, and among his numerous canvases (many of which have been engraved) may be mentioned:--_Humorous_--"The Biter Bit," "The March of Intellect," "The Monopolist," "An Unexpected Reception," "Soliciting a Vote," "Chairing the Member," "Mob Tyranny," "The Mock Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme."

_Historical_--"The Introduction of Tobacco by Sir Walter Raleigh,"

"James Watt's First Experience with Steam," "Hogarth at School,"

"Chantrey's First Essay in Modelling," "Nelson's First Victory over the French Fleet." The artist was also occasionally inspired by Shakespeare and d.i.c.kens, and it is specially interesting to note that he painted at least three pictures of scenes in the novelist's works, viz., "Joe Willet Taking Leave of Dolly Varden" (from "Barnaby Rudge"), exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1844, and now in a South Australian public picture-gallery; "The Cricket's Chirp" (Peerybingle, Dot, and Tilly s...o...b..y, from "The Cricket on the Hearth," Chirp the First), exhibited at Suffolk Street, 1846; and a representation of Trotty Veck peeping into the basket containing his dinner of tripe which his daughter brings him. In an alb.u.m of studies and notes for his pictures (arranged by the artist for preservation as an heirloom) may be found several sketches for the first-named subject, and in addition to these are two small water-colour drawings, oval in form, of scenes in "Dombey and Son,"

representing "Mr. Dombey more Magnificent than Usual," and "Captain Cuttle visited by Florence Dombey," the latter being especially well rendered. Whether these have ever been engraved I am unable to say, but the probability is they have not. Curiously enough, the last picture on Buss's easel purported to represent "A Dream of d.i.c.kens." This unfinished canvas (still in the possession of a member of the artist's family) contains a portrait of the novelist seated in his study, with visions of scenes from his various works around him. The portrait is adapted from the well-known photograph by Watkins, while the incidents depicted are taken from the original ill.u.s.trations.

Although Buss's large picture of "Christmas in the Olden Time" proved, for the artist, a financial failure, it benefited him in being the means of introducing him to Charles Knight (perhaps the most enterprising publisher of that day), who, recognising in the young painter a diligent student of manners and customs, engaged his services on the Pictorial Edition of Shakespeare's Works, "Old England," the _Penny Magazine_, and Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," all of which were issued under Knight's auspices. The Rev. A. J. Buss well remembers his father making these drawings on wood blocks, which were engraved by Jackson, Sly, and others, and recalls that, some years after, he obtained a commission from Mr. Hogarth, a printseller, to execute some Christmas subjects for reproduction by line-engraving.

After 1854 Buss's pictures were for some reason excluded from the Royal Academy Exhibitions, and this so seriously affected the sale of his work that he was compelled to have recourse to teaching drawing as a means of supplementing a precarious income. As early as 1843 he had issued circulars announcing a course of lessons in drawing on Dupin's method, having previously purchased many expensive models, and rented a room in Duke Street, Grosvenor Square; but all in vain, for not a single pupil was forthcoming! He then prepared a series of lectures on English Comic and Satiric Art, which he delivered in London and the chief provincial towns in England, these being ill.u.s.trated by large diagrams.

PLATE XXVII

FLORENCE DOMBEY AND CAPTAIN CUTTLE

From an Original Water-colour Drawing by R. W. BUSS

_Lent by the Rev. A. J. Buss._

[Ill.u.s.tration]

During the period of struggle for a livelihood, the artist's wife and daughter came n.o.bly to his a.s.sistance by establis.h.i.+ng, in 1850, the North London Collegiate School for Ladies (as it was then designated), which developed into the leading school in the cause of Female Education. In order to give it a higher grade than other similar seminaries had then attained, Buss not only became its professor of drawing, but teacher of science too, first devoting himself to the study of Chemistry, Botany, Human Physiology, Mechanics, Hydraulics, &c., and he soon became qualified for his self-imposed responsibilities.

His artistic capabilities here stood him in good stead, for they enabled him to prepare large diagrams with which to ill.u.s.trate his lectures; in addition to this, he made his own models for demonstrating the science of Mechanics--thus proving the power he possessed of adapting himself to circ.u.mstances, in the earnest desire to obtain a living and in his love for wife and children. "I do not think," observes the Rev. A. J. Buss, when corresponding with me on this subject, "I ever knew a man so industrious as my father. I have a clear remembrance almost from my childhood of his industry,--early morning in his painting-room--up to late hours drawing on wood and etching. He _deserved_ better fortune than he secured; and I have only learnt to admire him the more, the more I think of his career."

At the death of his wife, the artist led a very retired life, in a studio most picturesquely fitted up with ancient furniture, and here it was that he devoted the latter years of his life in preparing for publication his lectures on Art, being aided and encouraged in his congenial task by his affectionate daughter, the late Frances Mary Buss, who subsequently gained high distinction in connection with Education.

This profusely-ill.u.s.trated volume, printed for private circulation, was issued in 1874, and bore the following t.i.tle: "English Graphic Satire, and its relation to Different Styles of Painting, Sculpture, and Engraving. A Contribution to the History of the English School of Art."

Robert William Buss died at his residence in Camden Street, Camden Town, on February 26, 1875, in his seventy-first year. The end came very quietly and painlessly to him who had fought the battle of life so honestly and so fearlessly.