Seymour provided the illustrations for the first two instalments before his suicide. The story thus became the prime source of interest and the illustrations merely of secondary importance. Typically, he led the way with an instalment of his story, and the artist was compelled to illustrate what Dickens had already written. Only in a few instances did Dickens adjust his narrative to plates that had been prepared for him. He protested that he knew nothing of sport, but still accepted the commission.

They asked Dickens to supply the description necessary to explain the plates and to connect them into a sort of picture novel that was fashionable at the time. Their guns were to go off by accident, and fishhooks were to get caught in their hats and trousers, and these and other misadventures were to be depicted in Seymour's comic plates. There was to be a club, the members of which were to be sent on hunting and fishing expeditions into the country. Publisher Chapman & Hall was projecting a series of 'cockney sporting plates' by illustrator Robert Seymour. Seymour's widow claimed that the idea for the novel was originally her husband's, but Dickens strenuously denied any specific input in his preface to the 1867 edition: 'Mr Seymour never originated or suggested an incident, a phrase, or a word, to be found in the book.' Background ĭickens was working as a Parliamentary reporter and a roving journalist at the age of 24, and he had published a collection of sketches on London life as Sketches by Boz. It defined its own, a new one that we have learned to call 'entertainment.' Published in 19 issues over 20 months, the success of The Pickwick Papers popularised serialised fiction and cliffhanger endings. On its cultural impact, Nicholas Dames in The Atlantic writes, ''Literature' is not a big enough category for Pickwick. The book became a publishing phenomenon, with bootleg copies, theatrical performances, Sam Weller joke books, and other merchandise. Because of his success with Sketches by Boz published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to supply descriptions to explain a series of comic 'cockney sporting plates' by illustrator Robert Seymour, and to connect them into a novel. The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (also known as The Pickwick Papers) was Charles Dickens's first novel. Serialised March 1836 – November 1837 book format 1837

The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club, Containing a Faithful Record of the Perambulations, Perils, Travels, Adventures and Sporting Transactions of the Corresponding Members

The pickwick papers