Phiz (Hablot Knight Browne), a Memoir

Behind the name Phiz stands Hablot Knight Browne, an artist whose drawings helped give familiar fictional characters their faces. Frederic George Kitton gathers details of Browne's career, a selection of his letters and notes on his principal works. The memoir describes his apprenticeship to an engraver, his enthusiasm for watercolour and etching, and the signatures he used as an illustrator. His connections with Dickens, Lever and Ainsworth place the account firmly in the world of illustrated books.

Letters bring the practical work and family humour into focus. Browne writes to Dickens about suitable subjects for plates, deadlines and proposed travel, while affectionate messages to his son turn everyday observations into jokes. Kitton's account offers readers interested in art and literature a closer view of how drawings and written stories came together. The correspondence also preserves the artist's wit alongside the demands of earning a living with his pencil.