Mr. Pickwick and Sam Weller

Sol Eytinge

Wood engraving, approximately 10 cm high by 7.5 cm wide (framed)

Illustration for Dickens's The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club in the Ticknor and Fields (Boston, 1867) Diamond Edition.

In this second full-page dual character study for the last novel in the compact American publication, Eytinge contrasts the street-smart, wise-cracking Cockney "boots," Sam Weller with his new employer, the retired businessman and amateur antiquarian. Here, at the end of chapter 12, facing Sam Weller's pronouncement upon the prospect of observing Eatanswill election, Eytinge's benevolent Pickwick holds out an open right hand, as if gesturing towards his new employee by way of introducing the cheerful young Londoner to American readers.