It is not recorded whether Buss and Dickens became personally acquainted, nor, indeed, that they ever met. We may therefore surmise that all business transactions were carried on through the publishers, who probably forwarded to the artist proofs of the letterpress in order that he might select therefrom the subjects for illustration. The third number of "Pickwick" contains the only two published etchings by Buss for that work, viz., "The Cricket-Match" and "The Fat Boy Awake on this Occasion only." These plates, the effect of which was poor and thin, contrasted unfavourably with the Seymour etchings immediately preceding them, and were therefore suppressed as speedily as possible, others by "Phiz" (Hablôt K. Browne) being substituted before many copies had been issued.[15] In one of the latter an entirely different design is given,—that is to say, instead of "The Cricket-Match," we have "Mr. Wardle and his Friends under the Influence of 'the Salmon,'" depicting an incident described in the succeeding chapter.
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 anticipation of future numbers,—those, indeed, upon which he was at work when he received his congé. 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 coarse emery paper.
The Cricket-Match.[16]—Published design.
Plate XXV
"A SOUVENIR OF DICKENS"
From an Unfinished Painting by R. W. BUSS
Size of Original Picture, 36 in. by 27 in.
Lent by the Rev. F. Fleetwood Buss.
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 attitude 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.
The Break-down.—Unused design. Pickwick, in an attitude 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 Snodgrass in an attitude of fear, while Pickwick and Wardle are sheltering behind a tree.
Study for the Title-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, Snodgrass, 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-glasses, 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 illustrated, 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 asserted 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.