48 the same care upon the preparation of an illustration as a painter does upon his canvases. The result was a series of pictures filled with human interest,—pictures not relying upon exaggeration of details and facial expression to convey their meaning. The only claim that can be made for the early plates as compared to these later ones is their charm of xivassociation. Work of men such as Frederick Barnard and Charles Green far surpasses technically⁴⁹ these earlier productions and gives to us an interpretation⁵⁰ more human and living.

In the illustration of the original edition of “Pickwick” we are concerned with three artists, Robert Seymour, Robert Buss, and Habl?t K. Browne, better known as “Phiz.”

Seymour’s services were prematurely⁵¹ ended by his suicide. His successor, Buss, was also of short duration and evidently not satisfactory to the author or publisher, for there follows a long list of applicants⁵² desiring to fill the vacant post, among them Wm. M. Thackeray. In responding to a toast of “Literature,” at the Royal Academy banquet years after, the latter said, “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 illustrate⁵³ his xvwritings, and I recollect³⁴ walking up to his chambers⁵⁴ with two or three drawings in my hand, which, strange to say, he did not find suitable. But for that unfortunate blight⁵⁵ 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.” Later he

分享到：