Off Prompt: British Illustrators 23: Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne) and The Pickwick Papers
You might not have heard how Phiz – the pen name of Hablot Knight Browne – came to illustrate “The Pickwick Papers” and a further 9 of Charles Dickens’ books. The idea behind “The Pickwick Papers” was that it would be a series of illustrations by famous artist of the day Robert Seymour, and the young up and coming Dickens would write an accompanying text. Originally Seymour’s illustrations were supposed to be the driving force, and the story would be about the Pickwick club’s sporting misadventures, this genre being popular at the time. Seymour committed suicide after making the first 7 illustrations, before the second part was complete. Although Robert Buss produced a couple of illustrations to complete the second part, Dickens was looking for a permanent illustrator for the rest of the Pickwick Papers. On the same day he looked at work by Browne, and a certain William Makepeace Thackeray. At this point Thackeray believed he would find success with his pictures, and it was ten years before he really struck gold with his novel Vanity Fair. Coming back to Browne, Dickens instantly saw what Browne could bring to the novel, and they began a partnership and friendship. Browne adopted the pen name Phiz, because it went well with Dickens’ own early pen name, Boz.
I suspect that what attracted Dickens to Browne’s work was his great ability with character, Even if you’d never read “The Pickwick Papers” you could probably tell a lot quite accurately from the characters in this illustration. The fact that this is just a detail from the original suggest that Browne had his work cut out making the illustrations. This took literally hours, and I was using modern equipment, and just copying part of the original. The work of making the illustration, then etching it onto copper boggles the mind, especially when one thinks that Dickens, who was a workaholic, expected exacting standards of those who worked for him.
