Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1858-06-05
DICKENS STORY OF THE ORIGIN OF
PICKWICK.

Mr.. Dickens has %latterly been issuing what Is
called q popular edition Of bis works, in which he
treats US to this little account of the origin Of
Pickwick
II was q young man Of three and twenty when
the present publishers, attracted by some pieces |
was at that time writing in the Morning Chr0ni-
Gle newspaper, (of which one series had lately
been collected and published in two volumes, IL
Illustrated by my esteemed friend, Mr.. George
Cruikshank,) waited upon me TO propose some
thing that should be published in shilling mum.
bers-then only known to me, or | believe to
on ybody else, by a dim recollection of certain IN.
terminable novels In that form which used to be
carried about the country by ~peddlars, and over
some of which I remember tu have shed innumer.
able tears before | bad served my apprenticeship
to Life.
when I opened my door in Furnival's Inn to
the managing partner who represented the firm, l
recognised in him the person from whose hands l
had bought, two or three years previously, and
whom | had never seen before or since, my first
copy of the magazine in which my first illusion
dropped s~tealthily one evening at twilight, with
fear and trembling, into q dark Office, up n dark
court in Fleet street-appeardet in ell the glory
Of print on which memorable occasion-how
we'll | recollect it | walked down to Westminis'
ter Hall and turned into it for half an hour, be-
cause my eyes were so dimmed with joy and pride
that they could not bear the street, and were not
fit to be seen there. 1 told my visitor of the coin.
cidence, which We both hailed as o good ONE n
and so fell to business.
1.-THE idea pronounced to me was that the
monthly something should be a vehicle for certain
plates to be executed by Mr.. Seymour; and there
was q notion, either on the part of that admirable
humorous artist or of my visitor, II forget which,
that a 'Nimroi Club the members of which were
to 60 out shooting, fishing, and so forth, and get
ting themselves into difficulties through their wan,
of dexterity, would be the best means of introduo
ing these. l objected, on consideration. that, al
though born and partly bred in the country, | was
no great sportsman, except in regard of all kinds
of locomotion that the idea was not novel, aDt
had been already much used that it would bt
infinitely better for the plates to arise naturally
out of the text and that l should like to take my
own way, with q freer range of English scene:
and people, and was afraid | should ultimately dc
SO in any case, whatever course l might prescribe
to myself at starting. My views being deferred
to, 1 thought of Mr., Pickwick, and wrote the frs
number, from the proof sheets Of which Mr.. SeJ
mour made his drawing of the Club, and thai
happy portrait of its founder by which he ia al
ways recognised, and which may be said to have
made him a reality. l connected Mr.. Pickwicl
with a club because of tn, original suggestion
and l put in Mr.. Wrinkle expressly for the use o
Mr.. Seymour. We started with q number o.
twenty-tour pages instead OF thirty two, and foul
illustrations in lieu of a couple. Mr.. Seymour.
sudden and lamentablo death before the seeonc
number was published, brought about a quick de
cision upon a point already 10 agitation tho NUN
Der became one of thirty Two pages, with two il
Illustrations, and remained so to the end. My
friends told mo it was a low, cheap form of pub
LEGATION, by which 1 should ruin all my rising
hopes; and how right my friends turned out to b.
everybody now knows.
"'Boz,' my signature in the Morning Chronicle
appended to the monthly cover of this book, anc
J retained long Afterwards, was the nickname Of
pet child, a younger broth-g, whom had dubbed
| Moses, in honor Of the Vicar of Wakefield, which
being fscotiously pronounced through the nos
bacans Bosses, and being shortened, became Boz
> Boz was O very familiar household word to m
long before l was an author, and 80 l came t
Q adopt it,"