Augustus Snodgrass is a fictional character in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's first novel, ''

The Pickwick Papers ''The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club'' (also known as ''The Pickwick Papers'') was Charles Dickens's first novel. Because of his success with ''Sketches by Boz'' published in 1836, Dickens was asked by the publisher Chapman & Hall to s ...

'' (1836). He considers himself a Romantic poet, though there is no mention of any of his own poetry in the novel. A founder and younger member of the Pickwick Club created by the retired businessman

Samuel Pickwick Samuel Pickwick is a fictional character and the main protagonist in ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836), the first novel by author Charles Dickens. One of the author's most famous and loved creations, Pickwick is a retired successful businessman an ...

, he is one of Pickwick's travelling companions along with

Nathaniel Winkle Nathaniel Winkle is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836). A founder and younger member of the Pickwick Club created by the retired businessman Samuel Pickwick, Winkle is a young friend of Pickwi ...

and

Tracy Tupman Tracy Tupman is a fictional character in Charles Dickens's first novel, ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836). Although fat and middle-aged he considers himself a young lover and has an unfortunate amorous entanglement with the spinster Rachael Wardle. ...

who extend their scientific researches into the quaint and curious phenomena of British rural life by travelling to locations far distant from London to report on their findings to the other "Pickwickians" remaining at home. Introduced by Dickens in Chapter One of ''The Pickwick Papers'', Dickens does little to develop the character of Snodgrass in the novel. While described as a poet, and keeping extensive notes of his ideas for poems, he writes none throughout the story, at least, none that are mentioned or that he reads to his fellow travellers. In this way Snodgrass is depicted as an artistic poser, taking on the airs of artistry but with nothing achieved. At the inaugural meeting of the Pickwick Society Snodgrass is appointed the group's official poet and deputy-leader: "On the left of his great leader sat the poetic Snodgrass" (I, 10). While visiting Manor Farm in Dingley Dell in

Kent Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...

Snodgrass falls in love with and eventually marries Emily Wardle.The Illustrators of Augustus Snodgrass
''The Victorian Web'' database By the end of the novel: Snodgrass Wardle Hablot K

Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass settled at Dingley Dell, where they purchased and cultivated a small farm, more for occupation than profit. Mr. Snodgrass, being occasionally abstracted and melancholy, is to this day reputed a great poet among his friends and acquaintance, although we do not find that he has ever written anything to encourage the belief. There are many celebrated characters, literary, philosophical, and otherwise, who hold a high reputation on a similar tenure.

Legacy

Snodgrass Island, lying northeast of Pickwick Island,

Pitt Islands The Pitt Islands are a group of small islands lying immediately off the north extremity of Renaud Island, at the north end of the Biscoe Islands. The name "Pitt's Island," after William Pitt the Younger, the British Prime Minister, was applied by ...

, in the

Biscoe Islands Biscoe Islands is a series of islands, of which the principal ones are Renaud, Lavoisier (named ''Serrano'' by Chile and ''Mitre'' by Argentina), Watkins, Krogh, Pickwick and Rabot, lying parallel to the west coast of Graham Land and extending ...

, was named by the

United Kingdom Antarctic Place-Names Committee The UK Antarctic Place-Names Committee (or UK-APC) is a United Kingdom government committee, part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, responsible for recommending names of geographical locations within the British Antarctic Territory (BAT) and ...

(UK-APC) in 1959 after Augustus Snodgrass.

Notable portrayals

*George Chapman in ''Mr. Pickwick'' (1903) at the

Herald Square Theatre The Herald Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1883 and closed in 1914. The site is now a highrise designed by H. Craig Severance. History The Park Theatre opened in 1883 (also known as the New Park The ...

and later the Grand Opera House. *Sidney Hunt in ''

'' (1913) *John Kelt in ''

The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick ''The Adventures of Mr. Pickwick'' is a 1921 British silent film, silent comedy film directed by Thomas Bentley based on the 1837 novel ''The Pickwick Papers'' by Charles Dickens. As of August 2010, the film is missing from the BFI National Arch ...

'' (1921) *

Lionel Murton William Lionel Murton (2 June 1915 – 26 September 2006) was an English character actor. Born in Wandsworth, London, he was resident at Little Orchard, Weston Road, Upton Grey, Basingstoke, Hampshire, England, before his death at age 91. He was cr ...

in ''

'' (1952) *

Robert Lankesheer Robert Lankesheer (1914–1993) was a British stage, radio and television actor, best known for playing the character Leamington Sparr in the radio soap ''The Dales'' between 1963 and 1966 and Chamberlain in the television series '' Doctor Who'' i ...

- ''Bardell V. Pickwick'' (1955)''Bardell V. Pickwick'' (1955)

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Database *

Julian Orchard Julian Dean Chavasse Orchard (3 March 1930, in Wheatley, Oxfordshire – 21 June 1979, in Westminster, London)GRO Register of Deaths: JUN 1979 15 1935 WESTMINSTER – Julian Dean C. Orchard, DoB = 3 March 1930 was an English comedy actor. He ap ...

in '' Pickwick'' (1969) * Alan Parnaby in ''

'' (1985)

References

External links

Original illustration of Augustus Snodgrass

Joseph Clayton Clark Joseph Clayton Clark (1857— 8 August 1937), who worked under the pseudonym "Kyd", was a British artist best known for his illustrations of characters from the novels of Charles Dickens. The artwork was published in magazines or sold as watercolo ...

(1856-1937):

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

Libraries Collection {{DEFAULTSORT:Snodgrass, Augustus Charles Dickens characters The Pickwick Papers Fictional British people Literary characters introduced in 1836 Male characters in film Male characters in literature Male characters in television Comedy literature characters