"Dr. Slammer's Defiance" — Seymour's fourth illustration for Dickens's "Pickwick Papers" (May 1836) (original) (raw)

Context of the Illustration: Alfred Jingle arouses Slammer's Wrathful Indignation

The stranger was returning, and Mr. Tupman was beside him. He spoke in a low tone, and laughed. The little doctor thirsted for his life. He was exulting. He had triumphed.

"Sir" said the doctor, in an awful voice, producing a card, and retiring into an angle of the passage, "my name is Slammer, Doctor Slammer, sir — 97th Regiment — Chatham Barracks — my card, Sir, my card." He would have added more, but his indignation choked him.

"Ah!" replied the stranger coolly, "Slammer — much obliged — polite attention — not ill now, Slammer — but when I am — knock you up."

"You—you’re a shuffler, sir," gasped the furious doctor, "a poltroon — a coward — a liar — a — a — will nothing induce you to give me your card, sir!"

"Oh! I see," said the stranger, half aside, "negus too strong here — liberal landlord — very foolish — very — lemonade much better — hot rooms — elderly gentlemen — suffer for it in the morning — cruel — cruel;" and he moved on a step or two.

"You are stopping in this house, Sir," said the indignant little man; "you are intoxicated now, Sir; you shall hear from me in the morning, sir. I shall find you out, sir; I shall find you out."

"Rather you found me out than found me at home," replied the unmoved stranger.

Doctor Slammer looked unutterable ferocity, as he fixed his hat on his head with an indignant knock; and the stranger and Mr. Tupman ascended to the bedroom of the latter to restore the borrowed plumage to the unconscious Winkle. [Chapter II, "The first day's journey, and the first evening's adventures, with their consequences," 17]

Commentary: Seymour and the Stock Figure of the Angry Man

Seymour as an experienced illustrator realised that this moment in the second chapter was rife with comic possibilities as the stock "Angry Man" of Victorian farce calls out the facetious actor Alfred Jingle (disguised in his Pickwickian coat as Nathaniel Winkle). Seymour seizes upon the comic possibilities of mistaken identities arising from Dr. Slammer's challenging Jingle to a duel the following morning. Dickens narrates the scene from the perspective of the indignant Dr. Slammer, surgeon to the Ninety-seventh regiment, but relies heavily for the comic effect on Jingle's distinctive, staccato mode of delivery, by which he is instantly recognizable throughout the episodic novel. Through his graphing of Jingle rapid-fire delivery Dickens shows his mastery of the dash, and creates a distinctive, instantly recognizable voice for his loveable rogue.

In 1837, Phiz re-engraved his own serial illustrations for Pickwick illustrations for the volume edition, and critics have speculated that Phiz's engraver, Robert Young, refreshed the Seymour illustrations by replacing the page number at the bottom with a caption to produce a consistent appearance for the earliest pictures in the book. Phiz's business partner also sharpened the image considerably, particularly inn the upper register. Tackling a wholly new series four decades later, Phiz in his Household Edition composite wood-engraving of an associated moment (Jingle's introducing himself to the wealthy widow in whom Slammer is interested) more effectively than Seymour here establishes the context of the quarrel between the splenetic Slammer and the supercilious Jingle — the charity ball in the garrison town. Seymour has failed to exploit the comic possibilities as his successor, Phiz, might have done, even though his chosen moment possesses considerable dramatic potential. Both artists have endeavoured to make explicit the setting, the ballroom in the Bull Inn, which one may still see at the top of the High Street in Rochester. Seymour shows a waiter carrying a tray with drinks at the top of the staircase to indicate that some sort of social function in progress, whereas Phiz actually shows multiple conversations going on in the background. According to Jane Rabb Cohen, Seymour was put out by Dickens's so swiftly shifting the action from London, a milieu so well known to Seymour, to the Medway's four towns (Strood, Rochester, Chatham, and Brompton), none of which he had ever visited.

Nevertheless, Seymour establishes a sophisticated social context for the quarrel with the modern lighting-fixture (centre), the neoclassical column, and the expensive fur worn by the middle-aged lady, descending the staircase from the ballroom above, as well, of course, with the formal Regency attire of the five male figures, and the brocaded uniform of the waiter. Smirking Jingle's undisciplined tonsorial style implies his unconventional nature, contrasting with the more staid hairstyles of the other males.

Bibliographical Note: Three Versions of This Engraving — Plates A, B, and C

This plate was etched twice by Seymour, and then copied by Phiz. Johnannsen (1956) notes the differences, which, he contends are "distinct enough to make" (9) distunguishing one from the others relatively easy. In the initial version by Seymour, "Dr. Slammer's left foot does not touch the crack in the floor" (9) and his watch-chain is white. In the second version by Seymour, the scene now contains "eleven floor boards, the extra one being at the right" (10). In contrast, Phiz's re-ewngraved version, Plate C, Slammer's watch-chain is black, and the engraving bears the legend Dr. Slammer's defiance of Jingle (11).

Plates by other illustrators for the Quarrel between Jingle and Slammer, 1836 and 1910

Left: The 1910 edition of novel depicts the same comic scene, Harry Furniss's Jingle and the Widow at the Ball. Centre: Phiz's Household Edition Edition illustration which sets the scene for the quarrel and challenge, "What! Introducing his friend?", which presents the suave, self-confident Jingle at the ball. Right: Clayton J. Clarke's Player's Cigarette card shows the spry confidence-man in a Pickwickian green tailcoat: Mr. Jingle (1910). [Click on the images to enlarge them.]

Other artists who illustrated this work, 1836-1910

Bibliography

Cohen, Jane Rabb. Charles Dickens and His Original Illustrators. Columbus: Ohio State U. P., 1980.

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).

Hammerton, J. A. The Dickens Picture-Book. London: Educational Book Co., 1910.

Johnannsen, Albert. "The Posthumous Papers of The Pickwick Club." Phiz Illustrations from the Novels of Charles Dickens. Chicago: University of Chicago Press; Toronto: The University of Toronto Press, 1956. Pp. 1-74.

Lester Valerie Browne. Phiz: The Man Who Drew Dickens. London: Chatto and Windus, 2004.

Steig, Michael. Chapter 2. "The Beginnings of 'Phiz': Pickwick, Nickleby, and the Emergence from Caricature." Dickens and Phiz. Bloomington & London: Indiana U. P., 1978. Pp. 24-50.

Vann, J. Don. "The Pickwick Papers, twenty parts in nineteen monthly instalments, April 1836-November 1837." Victorian Novels in Serial. New York: The Modern Language Association, 1985. P. 61.

Created 28 December 2019

Last modified 18 March 2024