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Mr. Pickwick and his Counsel. Mr. Pickwick settled his spectacles, through which he had attentively regarded such demonstrations of the barrister’s feelings ....
Harry Furniss
1910
14.2 cm x 9.7 cm (5 ½ by 3 ¾ inches), framed
Dickens's Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, The Charles Dickens Library Edition, facing II, 448.
[Click on image to enlarge it.]
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
‘Has Mr. Pickwick a strong case?’
The attorney shrugged his shoulders.
‘Do you propose calling witnesses?’
‘No.’
The smile on the Serjeant’s countenance became more defined; he rocked his leg with increased violence; and, throwing himself back in his easy-chair, coughed dubiously.
These tokens of the Serjeant’s presentiments on the subject, slight as they were, were not lost on Mr. Pickwick. He settled the spectacles, through which he had attentively regarded such demonstrations of the barrister’s feelings as he had permitted himself to exhibit, more firmly on his nose; and said with great energy, and in utter disregard of all Mr. Perker’s admonitory winkings and frownings —
‘My wishing to wait upon you, for such a purpose as this, Sir, appears, I have no doubt, to a gentleman who sees so much of these matters as you must necessarily do, a very extraordinary circumstance.’
The Serjeant tried to look gravely at the fire, but the smile came back again. [Chapter XXXI, “Which is all about the Law, and sundry great Authorities learned therein,” 448]
Mr. Pickwick and his Counsel. Mr. Pickwick settled his spectacles, through which he had attentively regarded such demonstrations of the barrister’s feelings as he had permitted himself to exhibit, more firmly on his nose, and said with great energy, and in utter disregard of all Mr. Perker’s admonitory winkings and frownings, made a speech. — Pickwick, page 438.
Furniss has prefaced Phiz's March 1837 steel-engraving The Trial by focussing on the barrister whom Perker as Pickwick's solicitor has chosen to argue the case in court. His model was undoubtedly The First Interview with Mr. Serjeant Snubbin by Phiz for Chapter XXXI (February 1837). Although Serjeant Snubbin has a reputation as a skilled pleader and theatrical barrister, he proves no match for Dodson and Foggs' barrister, the hectoring, intimidating Serjeant Buzfuz. Paul Davis notes that Dickens based both Buzfuz and Snubbin on well-known barristers of that time whom he had watched in court: Sarjeants Bompas and Arabin respectively.
Furniss does not follow Dickens’s description of Snubbins’ dusty, decrepit office — “Books of practice, heaps of papers, and opened letters, were scattered over the table” (437) — and focuses instead on the person of self-centred barrister himself. Everywhere in the illustration is evidence of the lantern-jawed pleader's personality: busts of him survey the office from left and right, a large-scale oil portrait of him in his oversized courtroom wig dominates the space above the bookcases, and the wig itself sits on a form immediately above the tousle-haired lawyer. Perker almost bites his hat in frustration as an indignant Pickwick adjusts his spectacles in preparation for delivering his diatribe about “gentlemen of your profession” (438) who judge the merits of a case solely on the basis of whether it is winnable, and what fees, charges, and fines will accrue to the winning side.
Left: Phiz's original engraving for the thirteenth instalment of the serial novel, Conviviality at Bob Sawyer's (May 1837). Centre: Phiz's Household Edition woodcut reworks his original 1837 steel engraving of the courtroom scene as An admonitory gesture from Perker restrained him, and he listened to the learned gentleman's continuation with a look of indignation (1874). Right: Thomas Onwhyn's "extra" illustration involving Pickwick's legal woes, “I suppose, Sir,” said Mr. Pickwick, “that it is the intention of your employee to seek to criminate me, upon the evidence of my own friends.” for Chapter XXXI (30 November 1837). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]
Davis, Paul. "Snubbin, Serjeant" and Buzfuz, Serjeant." Charles Dickens A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Life and Work. New York: Facts On File, 1998. Pp. 49 & 360.
Dickens, Charles. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Robert Seymour, Robert Buss, and Phiz. London: Chapman and Hall, November 1837. With 32 additional illustrations by Thomas Onwhyn (London: E. Grattan, April-November 1837).
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Jr. The Diamond Edition. 14 vols. Boston: Ticknor & Fields, 1867. Vol. 1.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Thomas Nast. The Household Edition. 16 vols. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1873. Vol. 4.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Hablot Knight Browne ('Phiz'). The Household Edition. 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. 6.
_____. Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. The Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book, 1910. Vol. 2.
Created 8 March 2024