Hablot Knight Browne (10 July 1815 – 8 July 1882) was an English artist and illustrator. Well-known by his pen name, Phiz, he illustrated books by
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 ...
,
Charles Lever
Charles James Lever (31 August 1806 – 1 June 1872) was an Irish novelist and raconteur, whose novels, according to Anthony Trollope, were just like his conversation.
Biography Early life
Lever was born in Amiens Street, Dublin, the second s ...
, and
Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 18053 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in ...
.
Early life
Of
Huguenot
The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...
ancestry, Hablot Knight Browne was born in England, in
Lambeth
Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area expe ...
(near London) on Kennington Lane. He was the fourteenth of Catherine and William Loder Browne's fifteen children. According to his biographer Valerie Browne Lester, Phiz was in fact the illegitimate son of his putative eldest sister Kate and Captain Nicholas Hablot of
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
's
Imperial Guard
An imperial guard or palace guard is a special group of troops (or a member thereof) of an empire, typically closely associated directly with the Emperor or Empress. Usually these troops embody a more elite status than other imperial forces, in ...
. There is some uncertainty regarding the exact date of birth. 10 July 1815 is the date given by Valerie Browne Lester, his great-great-granddaughter. John Buchanan-Brown in his book ''Phiz!: Illustrator of Dickens' World'' says 12 July 1815. The date on his Christening record of 21 December 1815 at St Mary's Church, Lambeth, Surrey, England gives 11 June 1815, as does the ''
Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition
The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is a 29-volume reference work, an edition of the ''Encyclopædia Britannica''. It was developed during the encyclopaedia's transition from a British to an American publication. So ...
'' and 15 June 1815 (''
Dictionary of National Biography
The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...
''). A copy of the program from his burial service, which is still owned by the Browne family, says he was born 10 July 1815.
When he was 7 years old, his father William Browne abandoned the family, changed his name to Breton and sailed with embezzled funds to
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
where he became known for his watercolour paintings. William Browne was then declared dead by his wife Catherine.
Thomas Moxon, husband of William's sister Ann Loder Browne, helped to support the family, who were left badly off.
Browne was apprenticed to
William Finden
William Finden (178720 September 1852) was an English engraver.
Life
He served his apprenticeship to James Mitan, but appears to have owed far more to the influence of James Heath, whose works he privately and earnestly studied. His first empl ...
, an
engraver, in whose studio he obtained his only artistic education. However, he was unsuited for engraving, and having during 1833 secured an important prize from the Society of Arts for a drawing of
John Gilpin
John Gilpin (18th century) was featured as the subject in a well-known comic ballad of 1782 by William Cowper, entitled '' The Diverting History of John Gilpin''. Cowper had heard the story from his friend Lady Austen.
Gilpin was said to be ...
, he abandoned engraving in the following year and began other artistic work, with the ultimate object of becoming a painter.
Career
In the spring of 1836, he met Charles Dickens. It was at the time when Dickens was looking for someone to illustrate ''
Pickwick''. Browne became the illustrator of his little pamphlet ''Sunday under Three Heads''. In the original edition of ''Pickwick'', issued in shilling monthly parts from early in 1836 until the end of 1837, the first seven plates were drawn by
Robert Seymour, who committed suicide in April 1836. The next two plates were by
Robert William Buss
Robert William Buss (4 August 1804 – 26 February 1875) was a Victorian artist, etcher and illustrator perhaps best known for his painting ''Dickens' Dream''. He was the father of Frances Buss, a pioneer of girls' education.
Early career
Bo ...
.
![Betsey trotwood by phiz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/81/Betsey_trotwood_by_phiz.jpg)
Browne and
William Makepeace Thackeray
William Makepeace Thackeray (; 18 July 1811 – 24 December 1863) was a British novelist, author and illustrator. He is known for his satirical works, particularly his 1848 novel '' Vanity Fair'', a panoramic portrait of British society, and t ...
visited the publishers' office with specimens of their work for Dickens's inspection. 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".
Phiz developed the character
Sam Weller graphically just as Seymour had developed Pickwick. Dickens and Phiz became good friends and in 1838 travelled together to
Yorkshire
Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...
to see the schools of which
Nicholas Nickleby
''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
became the hero. They later made several other journeys together to facilitate the illustrator's work. Other Dickens characters illustrated by Phiz were Squeers, Micawber, Guppy, Major Bagstock, Mrs Gamp, Tom Pinch and David Copperfield.
Of the ten books by Dickens which Phiz illustrated, he is most known for ''
David Copperfield
''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
'', ''Pickwick'', ''
Dombey and Son
''Dombey and Son'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens. It follows the fortunes of a shipping firm owner, who is frustrated at the lack of a son to follow him in his footsteps; he initially rejects his daughter's love before eventual ...
'', ''
Martin Chuzzlewit
''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between 1842 and 1844. While he was writing it ...
'' and ''
Bleak House
''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...
''. Browne made several drawings for ''
Punch
Punch commonly refers to:
* Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist
* Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice
Punch may also refer to:
Places
* Pun ...
'' in his early days and also towards the end of his life. He designed the wrapper which was used for eighteen months from January 1842. He also contributed to ''Punch's Pocket Books''.
![I am married by Phiz](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/68/I_am_married_by_Phiz.jpg)
In addition to his work for Dickens, Phiz illustrated more than twenty of Lever's novels (among them ''Harry Lorrequer'', ''Charles O'Malley'', ''Jack Hinton'' and the ''Knight of Gwynne''). He also illustrated
Harrison Ainsworth
William Harrison Ainsworth (4 February 18053 January 1882) was an English historical novelist born at King Street in Manchester. He trained as a lawyer, but the legal profession held no attraction for him. While completing his legal studies in ...
's and
Frank Smedley Francis Edward Smedley (4 October 1818 – 1 May 1864) was an England, English novelist. His name appears in print usually as Frank E. Smedley.
Life
He was born with deformed feet, a disability that impaired his mobility and prevented him from atte ...
's novels. ''Mervyn Clitheroe'' by Ainsworth is one of the most accomplished of the artist's works.
Most of Browne's work was etched on steel plates because these yielded a far larger edition than copper. Browne was annoyed at some of his etchings being transferred to stone by the publishers and printed as
lithograph
Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...
ic reproductions. Partly with the view to prevent this treatment of his work, he employed a machine to rule a series of lines over the plate in order to obtain what appeared to be a tint; when manipulated with acid this tint gave an effect somewhat resembling
mezzotint
Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the '' intaglio'' family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzotint achieves tonali ...
, which at that time it was found practically impossible to transfer to stone.
Death
Browne was in continual employment by publishers until 1867, when he suffered an illness that caused a degree of paralysis. After recovering, he produced many woodcuts. In 1878 he was awarded an annuity by the
Royal Academy
The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...
. His health gradually worsened until he died on 8 July 1882.
Legacy
Four of his illustrations were issued as stamps by the
Royal Mail
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, logo = Royal Mail.svg
, logo_size = 250px
, type = Public limited company
, traded_as =
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, founder = Henry VIII
, location = London, England, UK
, key_people = * Keith Williams ...
in 2012 to mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of
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 ...
.
Gallery
File:hablot-browne.jpg, Portrait engraving
Image:Hablot Knight Browne blue plaque.jpg, Blue plaque, Ladbroke Grove, London
File:Phiz Auriol.jpg, Scene from '' Auriol'' by Harrison Ainsworth, 1844
File:Pelham.jpg, Frontispiece to ''Pelham'' by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton, PC (25 May 180318 January 1873) was an English writer and politician. He served as a Whig member of Parliament from 1831 to 1841 and a Conservative from 1851 to 1866. He was Secret ...
, 1849
References
Further reading
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External links
Hablot Knight Browneon The Victorian Web.
"''Phiz, Dickens and London''"€”Valerie Browne Lester's lecture at Gresham College.
"''The man who made Dickens fizz''"*
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Browne, Hablot Knight
1815 births
1882 deaths
Charles Dickens
English illustrators