David Croal Thomson

“ COROT, JEAN-BAPTISTE CAMILLE (1796–1875) , French landscape painter, was born in Paris, in a house on the Quai by the rue du Bac, now demolished, on the 26th of July 1796. His family were well-to-do bourgeois people, and whatever may have been the experience of some of his artistic colleagues, he never, throughout his life, felt the want of money. ”

“ The novelist preferred Browne. Browne’s first two etched plates for Pickwick were signed “Nemo,” but the third was signed “Phiz,” a pseudonym which was retained in future. When asked to explain why he chose this name he answered that the change from “Nemo” to “Phiz” was made “to harmonize better with Dickens’s Boz.” Possibly Browne adopted it to conceal his identity, hoping one day to become famous as a painter. It is to be noted, however, that “Phiz” is usually attached to his better work and H. K. B. to his less successful drawings. ”

“ Dickens and “Phiz” were personally good friends in early days, and in 1838 travelled together to Yorkshire to see the schools of which Nicholas Nickleby became the hero; afterwards they made several journeys of this nature in company to facilitate the illustrator’s work. ”

“ In addition to his work for Dickens, “Phiz” illustrated over twenty of Lever’s novels (the most successful being Harry Lorrequer, Charles O’Malley, Jack Hinton and the Knight of Gwynne) . He also illustrated Harrison Ainsworth’s and Frank Smedley’s novels. Mervyn Clitheroe by Ainsworth is one of the most admirable of the artist’s works. ”

“ He was promoted to be officer in 1867. His many friends considered nevertheless that he was officially neglected, and in 1874, only a short time before his death, they presented him with a gold medal. ”