Lent by Mr. Gordon Browne, R.I.
ROBERT YOUNG
From a Photograph by W. GREEN
Lent by Mr. R. Young.
It is certainly extraordinary that within the space of a few weeks two vacancies for the post of illustrator of "Pickwick" should have occurred. It was about the beginning of June 1836 (the date of the publication of the third part, containing his two etchings) when Buss unexpectedly received the intimation that his services would be no longer required, and no sooner had this fact become known than there was quite a rush of aspiring artists eager to offer their professional aid, among them being several who had already made a reputation as draughtsmen—such as "Crowquill" (Alfred Forrester), Lee, and others. It is of special interest to learn that John Leech and William Makepeace Thackeray were also desirous of obtaining the appointment, but the honour was destined for another. Thackeray had practised etching for some years, having, while an undergraduate at Cambridge, taken lessons of an engraver and printseller named Roe, who carried on his profession in the University town, and under that gentleman's superintendence he etched a series of plates illustrative of college life, which were first published in 1878. Possessing a natural gift for drawing, the famous satirist (in his early days) earnestly desired to follow Art as a profession, and so far encouraged his bent by copying pictures in the Louvre; but his studies seem to have been of a desultory character, and of little value in making him a sound draughtsman. When, on returning to London, he heard that a designer was required for the "Pickwick" illustrations, he immediately sought an interview with Dickens at his rooms in Furnival's Inn, taking with him some specimens of his work, and more than twenty years afterwards, in responding to the toast of "Literature" at the Royal Academy banquet, he thus referred to the memorable incident: "I can remember when Mr. Dickens was a very young man, and had commenced delighting the world with some charming humorous works, of which I cannot mention the name, but which were coloured light green and came out once a month, that this young man wanted an artist to illustrate his writings, and I recollect walking up to his chambers with two or three drawings in my hand, which, strange to say, he did not find suitable. But for that unfortunate blight which came over my artistical existence, it would have been my pride and my pleasure to have endeavoured one day to find a place on these walls for one of my performances." Although at the time he was doubtless surprised at, and sorely disappointed by, "Boz's" want of appreciation, he afterwards acknowledged there was some justification for it, and good-humouredly alluded to the rejection of his services as "Mr. Pickwick's lucky escape." Who can say whether "Vanity Fair" and "Esmond" would ever have been written had this mighty penman been elected to succeed Buss?[18]
Thackeray's schoolfellow and life-long friend, John Leech, also submitted a design to Chapman & Hall, in the hope of being successful where others had failed, but the little drawing, slightly tinted in colours, depicting the amusing scene in the Bagman's story of Tom Smart and the high-backed chair, did not indicate the possession by the artist of the necessary qualifications. He was accordingly dismissed; but it was reserved for this amiable man and accomplished draughtsman not only to adorn with his pencil the pages of the "Carol" and other Christmas books of Charles Dickens, but to be afterwards honoured by the friendship and esteem of England's great novelist.
Sunday under Three Heads, 1836.As all the world knows, the privilege of illustrating Dickens's most popular work was secured by Hablôt Knight Browne ("Phiz"), this clever designer being rightly regarded as artistic exponent-in-chief of Dickens's creations. At this time he had barely attained his majority, and, unlike Cruikshank, who came to the pictorial embellishment of "Sketches by Boz" and "Oliver Twist" with a distinct reputation, was an almost untried artist. About his eighteenth year, while serving his apprenticeship with the Findens, the well-known line-engravers, Browne was awarded a silver medal offered for competition by the Society of Arts for "the best representation of an historical subject"—a large etching portraying John Gilpin's famous ride through Edmonton. Apropos of this etching Mr. Mason Jackson writes in the Athenæum, June 11, 1887: "Mr. Chapman (of Chapman & Hall) was delighted with 'John Gilpin's Ride,' and forthwith applied to Browne, who thus succeeded Seymour and Buss as the illustrator of 'Pickwick.'" After a careful comparison of dates, I venture to point out the probability that it was not with a view to the illustration of "Pickwick" that Edward Chapman paid his first visit to Browne, as generally supposed, but for the purpose of engaging his services as designer of some woodcuts for a pamphlet which the firm was about to publish, entitled "Sunday under Three Heads—As it is; As Sabbath Bells would make it; As it might be made." This brochure, written by Dickens under the pseudonym of "Timothy Sparks," is prefaced by a Dedication dated June 1836, and was therefore in progress prior to the publication of the fourth number of "Pickwick," containing "Phiz's" first designs, which appeared during the following month. When, in after years, Mr. Morton Brune enquired of the artist concerning his share in this little production, he replied: "The work of Dickens mentioned by you was illustrated by me when quite a youngster, and I am sorry to say I can give no information about it—recollecting nothing whatever."[19] Besides a trio of heads (printed on both wrapper and title-page), there are three full-page illustrations, engraved by C. Gray and Orrin Smith. This excessively scarce pamphlet was issued as a protest against the extreme views of Sir Andrew Agnew and the Sabbatarian party, and had immediate reference to a Bill "for the better observance of the Sabbath," then recently rejected in the House of Commons by a small majority. "Sunday under Three Heads" was originally published at two shillings, and now realises as much as £10 in the auction-room. There are two or three facsimile reprints in existence, but the reproductions of the woodcuts are comparatively poor.
It should be mentioned that "Phiz" (together with Seymour and Buss) assisted in the illustration of "The Library of Fiction," published by Chapman & Hall in 1836-37, so that his artistic efforts were by no means unfamiliar to the firm at this time. In his design facing page 293 of the first volume of that work there may be discovered the figure of an obese individual who is the very counterpart of Tony Weller.