More about DICKENS. By the loving hand of PERCY FITZGERALD the
Bookmaker,--not sporting, but literary. Of making books, with PERCY
FITZ there is no end. He is the king of the Bookmakers, _Per se Fitz_.
This time it is the _History of the Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick
Club_, published by CHAPMAN AND HALL, and "inscribed"--why not
"dedicated?"--to HENRY FIELDING DICKENS, son of "The Only One,"
the Master. _Interesting?_ Of course it is, anything about DICKENS,
specially in connection with the immortal _Pickwick_, must be
interesting, and for chatty, gossiping bookmaking we only say, "Give
us Fitz." He is to the manor born. He is neither romancer nor poet:
"_poeta nascitur non_ 'Fitz.'" Occasionally FITZ is aggravatingly
reticent. For instance, at page 16 we read, "_Two or three years
ago_"--which? two or three?--"_a curious and amusing coincidence
brought the author's son, a barrister in good practice_"--Which son?
His name? There were more sons than one: were they all barristers? And
was this one the only one in good practice?--"_into connection with
his father's famous book. It occurred at a trial on the Circuit._"
Which Circuit? Which is "_the_ Circuit"? The Baron, who is now the
Last of the Barons but one, only asks because the phrase "on Circuit"
would not have required his query; but "on the Circuit" is another
pair of shoes. "_A trial_." What trial? When? At p. 17, "_The Judge
entered into the humour of the thing_"--what Judge? The Baron is
of opinion that in the well-known advertisement about the Waverley
Pen, quoted in a note at p. 25, the correct order should be, "_The
Pickwick, the Owl, and the Waverley Pen_"--not Pickwick last. Did
CHARLES DICKENS ever write to FORSTER that he was "_getting on like a
house o' fire"?_ Surely this should be a "house a-fire," or "a house
on fire"; for a "house o' fire" means a "house of fire," which is not
what the expression is intended to convey. At p. 51, in a note, FITZ
says, "'_Phiz, Whizz,' or something of that kind, was_ T. HOOD's
_joke_." Was it? If so, where does the joke come in?
[Illustration]
My friend, the late GEORGE ROSE, better known as "ARTHUR SKETCHLEY,"
used to say that DICKENS took _Sam Weller_ from (as I understood him)
a character in one of O'KEEFE's comedies. This statement was given
on the authority of Mr. BAYLE BERNARD. But I am bound to say I can
find nothing like _Sam_ in O'KEEFE's; but I have found DICKENS there
bodily. It is in Sc. 1, Act I. of _Life's Vagaries; or, The Neglected
Son._ "'Oh!' exclaims FANNY, 'if my papa was to see me--oh!' (_Seeing_
DICKENS, _runs; he stops her._)" And, oddly enough, in this edition of
1798, frequently as the above-mentioned character appears, it is "on
this occasion only" that the name is spelt with an "E."
Mr. FITZGERALD, at p. 136 of this book, says, that an actor named
SAM VALE, appearing as _Simon Splatterdash_, in a piece called _The
Boarding-House_, was in the habit of "interlarding his conversation
with metaphorical illustrations"--and then follow the examples. _The
Boarding-House_, however, is not by O'KEEFE, but, as appears from a
note in _Sketches by Boz_, was being performed when DICKENS's short
tale of _The Boarding-House_ appeared. For my part, I long ago came to
the conclusion that _Sam Weller_ was absolutely an original creation,
as far, that is, as anything outside the immaterial realms of fancy
and fairyland can be an original creation. Our FITZ gives CALVERLEY's
Examination Paper, and also an Oxford imitation of it, which, however,
is not by any means up to the CALVERLEY-BLADES mark. There is also a
preface to _Pickwick_, specially interesting, as not being found in
later editions. Then our Fitz informs us how many dramatic versions of
_Pickwick_ there have been, some with and some without music, bringing
the list down to the latest "Dramatic Cantata" (it oughtn't to have
been so described, as there was dialogue in it), the music of which
will always hold a first place among the compositions of the Musical
Baron's friend claiming to be the gifted descendant of the Wise and
Musical King SOLOMON.
Altogether a vote of thanks should be presented to Mr. PERCY
FITZGERALD for his entertaining, instructive, and most readable book
on the immortal _Pickwick_, says THE BARON DE BOOK-WORMS.
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[Illustration: TELEPHONIC COMMUNICATION.
_Husband_ (_off to Paris_). "DON'T CRY, DARLING. IT'S _TOO_ SAD TO
LEAVE YOU, I _KNOW_! BUT YOU CAN TALK TO ME THERE JUST AS IF WE WERE
TOGETHER--ONLY BE CAREFUL, AS IT'S EXPENSIVE!"
_Wife_. "IS IT, DARLING? HA-HA-HADN'T YOU BETTER LEAVE ME A FEW BLANK
CHEQUES?"]
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