All this we find very fully set out in Mr. Percy Fitzgerald’s _History of Pickwick_, to which I would refer the reader who is anxious to acquaint himself with details of the transaction. The Buss etchings, which we here reproduce, had for their subjects “The Cricket Match” and “Tupman and Rachel,” and are to be found respectively opposite pp. 69 and 74 of the earliest issues of the first edition of the immortal romance. They were, in the words of the artist himself, “abominably bad,” and he was immediately superseded as illustrator by H. K. Browne, who was destined to be inseparably connected with the novelist’s work for so long a period. {30} This episode has been so often dwelt upon, and so exhaustively dealt with, that I shall not do much more than point out how those who have written on the subject have altogether missed what is perhaps the most important link in the whole chain of circumstances. So put to it, as I have said, were the publishers to get the new number out in time lest an expectant public should be disappointed, that they were forced to fix upon Seymour’s substitute _without consulting Dickens_. This was really the whole _crux_ of the situation. The author only recognised the failure of the plates. He knew nothing of the difficulties under which Buss had laboured, and so naturally made no allowances, and knew of no reason why subsequent ones should be better. The plates unquestionably were poor, but we find from Mr. Buss’s own private MS., to which, by his son’s kindness, I have had access, that this was not by any means mainly the fault of the artist. He had previously had no experience in etching, and only undertook the work after much pressure, to accommodate the publishers. To quote from his own account: {31} [Illustration: The “Pickwick” suppressed plate: “The Cricket Match.” (_By R. W. Buss_)] At Seymour’s death, Hall engaged me to illustrate Charles Dickens’s _Pickwick_. I commenced practice, and worked hard, I may say day and night, for at least a month on etching, and I furnished the illustrations for _Pickwick_. Without any reason assigned, Hall broke his engagement with me, in a manner at once unjust and unhandsome. As a matter of fact, the plates, as they appeared, were not etched by Buss at all, but by a professional etcher after his designs. And it is curious to note that each of the plates is, notwithstanding, inscribed, “Drawn & Etch’d by R. W. Buss.”