"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, illustrated by my esteemed friend George Cruikshank), waited upon me to propose a something that should be published in shilling 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, fishing, 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.
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 Dickens at the time the scheme was first proposed, it seems that the illustrations 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 accumulated 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 constitute an additional demand upon his mental resources, but he was harassed 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 assured, had not the slightest pecuniary embarrassment; 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 Dickens 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 illustrating 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." |