Robert Seymour

Born in Somerset in 1798, Robert Seymour built a career as a British illustrator, engraver, and caricaturist during the early 19th century. He became known for humorous scenes, especially sporting subjects and social satire, and his work appeared widely enough to make him a familiar name in London print culture.

He is now remembered most often as the original illustrator of Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers. Seymour's images helped define the project at its beginning and played an important part in its early appeal, even though his involvement was cut tragically short.

His life ended in 1836, when he died at just thirty-eight. Even with that brief career, his sharp, animated style left a clear mark on British comic illustration and on the visual history surrounding Dickens's first great success.