As in the case of "The Stroller's Tale," there are noticeable differences between the drawing and the etching of the last of Seymour's published designs, depicting Mr. Winkle and the Refractory Steed. In this plate it will be observed that, although the general composition is identical with that in the drawing, the positions of the horse's forelegs are reversed, and trees have been introduced on the left of the picture. PLATE XX "THE RUNAWAY CHAISE" _Facsimile_ of an Unused Design for "The Pickwick Papers" by R. SEYMOUR This Drawing illustrates an incident in the fifth chapter. _Lent by Mr. Augustin Daly._ [Illustration] An examination of Seymour's etchings for "Pickwick" shows that, in the application of the dilute nitric acid to corrode the lines produced by the etching-point, the artist was greatly troubled, and, in order to save his designs and keep faith with the publishers and the public, he was probably compelled to apply for help in his need to one of the artist-engravers residing in his neighbourhood. It has been suggested that certain faults in his plates caused by defective "biting" were remedied by means of the engraving tool; but, so far as I have been able to discover, there is no evidence of this. His plates possess the quality of pure etching; indeed, in that respect they are superior to those by "Phiz" in the same work. It should, however, be noted that there are extant very few copies of "Pickwick" containing impressions from Seymour's own plates; perhaps in not more than one copy out of a hundred will they be found, and this scarcity is explained by the fact that when the plates suffered deterioration through printing, the artist's death prevented him from duplicating them, so that the subjects had to be copied and re-etched by "Phiz." Seymour reversed his designs upon the steel plates, so that when printed they appear exactly as originally drawn. There is reason to infer, from an entry in the artist's memorandum-book, that the first four subjects were etched before he showed them to Dickens, and that they were afterwards re-etched and modified in some degree to suit the author's views. Besides these illustrations, Seymour is responsible for the design appearing on the green wrapper of the monthly parts, which was engraved on wood by John Jackson. A glance at this at once convinces us how strongly the "sporting" element was at first intended to predominate, for here are displayed trophies of guns, fishing-rods, and other sporting implements; at the top of the page is seen the veritable Winkle aiming at a sparrow, while below, seated on a chair in a punt, peacefully reposes Mr. Pickwick with his rod, watching for a "bite"; in the background of the picture may be recognised Putney Church, as well as the old wooden bridge which once spanned the Thames at this point. PLATE XXI "THE PICKWICKIANS IN MR. WARDLE'S KITCHEN" _Facsimile_ of an Unused Design for "The Pickwick Papers" by R. SEYMOUR