Part 3

But the etching in _Chuzzlewit_ which most strikes the reader as a ludicrous conception, is that where "Mrs. Gamp propoges a toast." Here he has admirably illustrated the text, wherein is described, with other details of a droll character, how some rusty gowns and other articles of that lady's wardrobe depended from the bed-posts; and "these had so adapted themselves by long usage to her figure, that more than one impatient husband, coming in precipitately, at about the time of twilight, had been for an instant stricken dumb by the supposed discovery that Mrs. Gamp had hanged herself." In the background of the picture are represented these indispensable articles of dress, while at the table sit, in friendly chat, Mrs. Gamp and Betsy.

"Betsy," said Mrs. Gamp, filling her own glass and passing the tea-pot, "I will now propoge a toast. My frequent pardner, Betsy Prig!"

"Which, altering the name to Sairah Gamp; I drink," said Mrs. Prig, "with love and tenderness."

In 1846, _Dombey and Son_ commenced, with forty illustrations by "Phiz." The frontispiece is similar in design to that of _Chuzzlewit_, introducing the principal characters and events in the novel. The austere and pompous (not to say selfish) Mr. Dombey, whom "Phiz" had great difficulty in realizing to the author's satisfaction,[N] is introduced in many of the plates, although the artist has somewhat failed in preserving the same type of face throughout. He has succeeded better with the genial Captain Cuttle. Little Paul, as he sits in his diminutive arm-chair, contrasts most favourably in his childish innocence, with the grim Mrs. Pipchin, whose Ogress-like character is strongly marked. The scene in which Mr. Dombey introduces his daughter Florence to Mrs. Skewton, is one of the most successful in the book, and contains the _best_ type of Dombey. Here also, the face of Florence is truly pretty, and the artist has well portrayed the handsome but vindictive Edith denouncing Carker for his treachery. A very effective etching entitled, "On the Dark Road," represents the flight of the enraged and disappointed libertine. The horses are being urged on their mad career by the whip and spurs of a postilion, under the dark sky with a glimmer of light in the horizon caused by the rising sun. The artist at this time essayed a process of working on plates over which a half-tint had been previously laid by means of a ruling-machine, and in which the "high-lights" were afterwards "stopped out," and the "whites" "burnished out." He frequently availed himself of these ready means of producing effect. Full-length portraits of the principal characters in _Dombey_, which were issued as additional plates by "Phiz," are now very scarce.

_David Copperfield_ (1850), with forty illustrations, was the next venture, but was not so much an artistic as a literary success. A favourite character in it of course, is Micawber, a kindly caricature of the Author's father, the realization of whom, by Browne, obtained the hearty approval of Dickens.

The most characteristic and, perhaps, most successful work of "Phiz" is to be seen in the illustrations to _Bleak House_. A view of the "House" itself forms the subject of the frontispiece. "The Ghost's Walk," the "Drawing-room at Chesney Wold," "Tom All-alone's," and the gateway leading to the burial ground where Lady Dedlock has fallen lifeless, are instances where the artist has obtained some fine effects by the "ruled-plate" process. A writer in _The Daily Telegraph_, of July 11th, 1882, speaks somewhat disparagingly of these illustrations, but _The Academy_ of a few days later, in the following remarks, thus demurs to his criticism:--

"In the _Bleak House_ illustrations hardly anything is wrong; there is no shortcoming. Not only is the comic side, the even fussily comic, such as 'the young man of the name of Guppy,' understood and rendered well, but the dignified beauty of old country-house architecture, or the architecture of the chambers of our inns-of-court is conveyed in brief touches; and there is apparent everywhere that element of terrible suggestiveness which made not only the art of Hablot Browne, but the art of Charles Dickens himself, in this story of _Bleak House_, recall the imaginative purpose of the art of Meryon. What can be more impressive in connection with the story--nay, even independently of the story--than the illustration of Mr. Tulkinghorn's chambers in gloom; than the illustration of the staircase at Dedlock's own house, with the placard of the reward for the discovery of the murderer; than that of Tom All Alone's; the dark, foul darkness of the burial ground shown under scanty lamplight, and the special spot where lay the man who 'wos very good to me--he wos!'? And then again, 'the Ghost's Walk,' and once more the burial ground, with the woman's body--Lady Dedlock's--now close against its gate. Of course it would be possible to find fault with these things, but they have nothing of the vice of tameness--they deliver their message effectually. It is not their business to be faultless; it is their business to impress."

A very successful rendering of character in _Bleak House_ is that of Harold Skimpole, whose prototype was Leigh Hunt, an intimate friend of the Novelist, who, by his unintentional disregard for the feelings of Hunt in caricaturing his peculiarities, nearly severed that friendship. Again, there is intense humour in the illustration facetiously styled, "In re Guppy, extraordinary proceeding." The love-sick Guppy is seen in a kneeling posture, while declaring to Miss Summerson the burning passion that consumes him. The expression on the face of the young lady shows that she is more amused than flattered by his preference.

In _Little Dorrit_ (1855-7) the experience gained by both Author and Artist during their tour of the London prisons, stood them in good stead, for here the Marshalsea is fully described, the type of a debtor's jail. The first illustration represents the interior of a French prison, in which are incarcerated Monsieur Rigaud and Signor John Baptist. The effect of deep gloom in the cell is produced by the "ruled-plate" method, and is quite Rembrandt-like. In contrast with this, the illustration of "The Ferry," is a delightful country aspect, with trees and winding river; and another plate entitled "Floating away," an evening scene, the moon rising behind the trees, is quite romantic. The old house in the last picture but one--"Damocles,"--again shows Browne's appreciation of the picturesque architecture of bygone times, in the effect of light from the setting sun as it falls upon the house front, throwing into relief the quaint old carvings of door and window.

The last work illustrated by "Phiz" for Dickens was _The Tale of Two Cities_ (1859), containing sixteen etchings full of vigour, as the character of the story justifies.

For some reason, at this time, a rupture was caused between author and artist,[O] which resulted in the engagement of Mr. Marcus Stone and Mr. Luke Fildes as illustrators of _Our Mutual Friend_ and _Edwin Drood_. These accomplished painters avoided the old system of caricature, the old, forced humour; but it is certain that their designs are less intimately associated with the persons in the stories they illustrated than those of "Phiz" with the earlier and more popular works of Dickens.

Having devoted the larger portion of the space at our disposal to a description of the most famous productions of Browne's pencil, which are prominent in the original editions of the Novels of Charles Dickens, we can but briefly enumerate the plates he etched for Lever, Ainsworth, and others.

In Charles Lever's _Harry Lorrequer_ (1839) and _Charles O'Malley_ (1841), the uproarious mirth and jollity of Irish military life is well portrayed by the needle of the artist. "The last night in Trinity" in the latter work, is an example of this, wherein is seen the worthy Doctor perched on a table, surrounded by a batch of Irish dragoons, and being elevated by an explosion of combustibles. The horses in the illustrations are admirably drawn.

In _Jack Hinton_ (1842) the artist shows remarkable force in depicting the death of Shaun, and has well realized the humour of "Corney's Combat with the Cossack."

_Tom Burke of Ours_ (1844) contains forty-four illustrations by "Phiz," many of which represent the scenes connected with the battles of Austerlitz, &c., during the reign of the great Napoleon. Most especially noticeable is the scene in a court of justice, with "Darby in the Chair;" the face of that hero with an expression apparently abashed, but really full of roguishness, as he gazes at the counsel, is one of the most successful of Browne's efforts.

_The O'Donoghue_ (1845), has twenty-six illustrations, most of which are well conceived. The falling body of a man in the frontispiece is a remarkable drawing. The girlish figure of Kate O'Donoghue, as she bends over the form of her heart-broken brother Herbert, is well depicted.

_St. Patrick's Eve_ (1845), with four etchings and several woodcuts. The most remarkable of the former is "The Cholera Hut."

_The Knight of Gwynne_ (1847), with forty illustrations.

_Roland Cashel_ (1850), with forty illustrations.

_The Daltons_ (1852), with forty-eight illustrations.

_The Dodd Family Abroad_ (1854), with forty illustrations. The shrewd simplicity of Kenny Dodd is well delineated.

_The Martins of Cro' Martin_ (1856), with forty illustrations.

_Davenport Dunn_ (1859), with forty-four illustrations.

_One of Them_ (1861), with thirty illustrations.

_Barrington_ (1863), with twenty-six illustrations.

_Luttrell of Arran_ (1865), with thirty-two illustrations.

The following works of W. Harrison Ainsworth contain etchings and woodcuts by "Phiz:"--

_Revelations of London_, published about 1845, but never completed, has an illustration which represents a tumble-down house in Vauxhall Road, which is almost Rembrandt-like in its power. The artist was about thirty years of age when he executed this.

_Old St. Paul's_ (1847), contains only two plates by "Phiz," but _The Spendthrift_ (1857), _Mervyn Clitheroe_, and _Crichton_ were wholly illustrated by him.

FOOTNOTES:

[L] The _Pickwick Papers_ were issued in one volume, and with _one_ frontispiece.

[M] _The Daily Telegraph_, July 11th, 1882.

[N] See illustration facing page 11.

[O] If the following statement, made in the _Frankfurt Zeitung_, can be credited, any feeling of enmity that existed between them had long since died out:--"Just after the death of Charles Dickens, 'Phiz' was considerably affected by the mere mention of the name of that illustrious novelist, which seemed to stir up in his breast feelings of regret at losing such a friend."

SOME MISCELLANEOUS WORKS ILLUSTRATED BY "PHIZ."

_A Paper: of Tobacco, &c., by Joseph Fume_ (1839). With six plates by "Phiz." _Fiddle Faddle's Sentimental Tour, in search of the Amusing, Picturesque, and Agreeable_ (1845). _The Union Magazine._ Vol. I (1846). Containing three plates by "Phiz." _The Illuminated Magazine._ Conducted by Douglas Jerrold (1843-5), with woodcut illustrations by Leech, "Phiz" (H. K. Browne), and others. _Fanny, the little Milliner, or the Rich and the Poor_ (1846), illustrated by "Phiz" and Onwhyn. _Wits and Beaux of Society. Sketches of Cantabs, by John Smith (of Smith Hall), Gent._ (1850). _The Cambridge Freshman._ With woodcut illustrations. _Paved with Gold, or Romance and Reality of the London Streets_, by Augustus Mayhew (1858). _A Medical, Moral, and Christian Dissection of Teetotalism by Democritus_ (1846). _New Sporting Magazine_ (1839). _The Pottleton Legacy_, by Albert Smith. _Christmas Day, and how it was spent by four persons in the house of Fograss, Fograss, Mowton, and Snorton, bankers_, by C. Le Ros (1854). _Home Pictures_ (Durtin & Co., 1856). A series of seven charming and characteristic plates. _Dame Perkins and her Grey Mare, or the Mount for Market_, by L. Meadows (1866). With coloured illustrations. _H. B.'s Schoolboy Days._ _Illustrations of the Five Senses._ _Adventures of Sir Guy de Guy_, by George Halse. _The Baddington Peerage_, by G. A. Sala (published in _The Illustrated Times_). In addition to these may be added an illustrated edition of Byron's works, the "Abbotsford" edition of Sir Walter Scott's Novels, besides numerous cuts in _The Sporting Gazette_, _The Illustrated Times_, the early volumes of _Once a Week_, and the Comic Papers.

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