Online Exhibition: Character Sketches from the World of Charles Dickens
This exhibition celebrates one of the most enduring legacies of Charles Dickens's genius: the unforgettable characters he brought to life.
Pickwick is the founder of the Pickwick Club. “To those who knew that the gigantic brain of Pickwick was working beneath that forehead, and that the beaming eyes of Pickwick were twinkling behind those glasses, the sight was indeed an interesting one.”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
Sam Weller is the servant of Mr. Pickwick, one of the most popular characters created by Dickens. “I wonder if I’m meant to be a footman, or a groom, or a gamekeeper, or a seedsman. I looks like a sort of compo of every one on ’em.”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
“The goblin looked as if he had sat on the same tombstone very comfortably, for two or three hundred years. He was sitting perfectly still; his tongue was put out, as if in derision; and he was grinnig at Gabriel Grub with such a grin as only a goblin could call up.”
Hablot Knight Browne. Original illustration for the Household Edition of The Works of Charles Dickens, Chapman and Hall, 1873.
Joe, the Fat Boy in the Pickwick Papers, is servant to Mr. Wardle and is known for his ability to fall asleep at any given time. “The leaden eyes, which twinkled behind his mountainous cheeks, leered horribly upon the food.”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
Mrs. Martha Bardell is the landlady of Mr. Pickwick in Goswell Street and his opponent in the breech of contract suit. “…the relict and sole executrix of a deceased custom-house officer – was a comely woman of bustling manners and agreeable appearance, with a natural genius for cooking…”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
Buzfuz is the barrister who represents Mrs. Bardell in her breach of promise suit against Mr. Pickwick. “Chops! Gracious Heavens! And tomato sauce! Gentlemen, is the happiness of a sensitive and confiding female to be trifled away by such shallow artifices as these?”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.
Jingle is a rascally troublemaker who befriends Pickwick. He embarrasses the other club members with his irresponsible behavior. “His face was thin and haggard; but an indescribable air of jaunty impudence and perfect self-possession pervaded the whole man.”
Joseph Clayton Clark,"Kyd." The Characters of Charles Dickens. London: Raphael Tuck, 1890.