Person    | Male  Born 1798  Died 20/4/1836

Robert Seymour

Categories: Art, Tragedy

Illustrator. Born Somerset. In November 1835 Seymour, a successful illustrator, aged 38, known for comic sporting prints suggested to the publishers Chapman and Hall a project, a series of illustrations about a Cockney sporting club. For the text they brought in 24 year old Dickens, who took over the whole project, possibly in a rather over-bearing way. 'Pickwick Papers' was the result, his first big success.

Seymour was a long term depressive, with previous suicide attempts. On the day before he died he seems to have had an argument with Dickens concerning an illustration. Seymour shot himself in the summer-house behind his home in Liverpool Road, Islington.

Seymour's widow, and then later his son, ensured that people knew the circumstances of his death and questioned the attribution of the success of Pickwick's Papers to Dickens.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Robert Seymour

Commemorated ati

Robert Seymour

A nearby information board informs: Probably the most prolific illustrator a...

Read More

Other Subjects

Kevin Atherton

Kevin Atherton

Sculptor and artist. Born Douglas, Isle of Man. After twenty years of living and working in Ireland he is now (2023) based in Hastings. His practice includes performance, sculpture, film and video,...

Person, Art, Sculpture, Ireland

1 memorial
Pierre Rouve

Pierre Rouve

Diplomat, art critic, broadcaster, film producer and lecturer. Born Petar Christoff Ouvaliev in Sofia, Bulgaria. He came to Britain in 1947 as a diplomat. His extensive career in the British film i...

Person, Art, Cinema, TV & Radio, Balkans

1 memorial
Anthony Green

Anthony Green

Born Luton. The picture shows a typical self-portrait.

Person, Art

1 memorial
Sir William Orpen

Sir William Orpen

Painter. Born William Newenham Montague Orpen at Oriel, Blackrock, County Dublin. He was an official artist in World War I and attended the Versailles Peace Conference. Deeply affected by the suffe...

Person, Art, Ireland

1 memorial
Sir Godfrey Kneller

Sir Godfrey Kneller

Portrait painter. His set of portraits of Kit-Cat Club members is on display in the National Portrait Gallery.

Person, Art

1 memorial