Page:Fitzgerald - Pickwickian manners and customs (1897).djvu/53

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
A MONUMENTAL PICKWICK.
47

innumerable careless sheets, and trifles of all kinds and of every degree. Then we have adapted advertisements. The Proprietors of Beecham's Pills use the scene of Mr. Pickwick's discovery of the Bill Stumps inscription. Some carpet cleaners have Sam and the pretty housemaid folding the carpet. Lastly comes the author, "Boz" himself, with letters, portraits, pictures of his homes, etc., all more or less connected with the period when he was writing this book, a facsimile of his receipt for copy money, a copy of his agreement with Chapman and Hall, and many more items.[1]

I have often wondered how it was that "the inimitable Boz," took so little interest in his great Book. It always seemed to me

  1. Note.—We have even in London the regular Pickwickian publisher, whose work is stimulated by a generous ardour and prepared knowledge of "States," Curios of all kinds associated with Boz in general, and Pickwick in particular. Among these is Mr. Spencer, of High Holborn—"who will get you up a Pickwick" with all the advertisements, wrappers, etc., within a reasonable period—and who will point out to you some mysterious error in the paging, which has escaped previous commentators. There is also Mr. Robson, of Coventry Street, and Mr. Harvey, of St. James' Street.