Since Richmond Unchained was published I've had the good fortune to chat or correspond with many people online who have an interest in either boxing, black history or Georgian history.
Author Stephen Jarvis, whose brilliant novel Death and Mr Pickwick was published earlier this year, is one of the most fascinating people I have had the pleasure to correspond with recently.
To our mutual delight, having both enjoyed each other's books, Stephen and I discovered that there are many parallels between the 'world' of Death and Mr Pickwick and the 'world' of Richmond Unchained.
After he finished reading Richmond Unchained, Stephen kindly invited me to contribute a series of guest posts to the Death and Mr Pickwick Facebook page exploring these connections.
The full series of posts and images I wrote appeared over the past week and I have republished them below.
Click on the links to visit the original posts on the Death and Mr Pickwick page and see the discussions that sprung up around each post.
You can also click here for my review of Death and Mr Pickwick which I advise EVERYONE to read!
Guest post no. 1 - 19 September 2015:
Guest post no. 2 - 20 September 2015:
Guest post no. 3 - 21 September 2015:
Guest post no. 1 - 19 September 2015:
Today, I shall be posting the first in a series of five guest posts by Luke G. Williams, the author of the great new book Richmond Unchained, which I recently reviewed here. So, let me step back and hand over to Luke.
My book Richmond Unchained, which was published in August, is the first ever biography of slave turned bare-knuckle boxer Bill Richmond (1763-1829). Interestingly, many characters and personalities from Richmond’s colourful life also feature in Death and Mr Pickwick, chief among them the writer Pierce Egan and the artist George Cruikshank, who collaborated on the work Life in London.
Before he wrote Life in London, Egan won fame as a boxing writer, with the first volume of his legendary pugilistic journal Boxiana appearing in 1812. In this groundbreaking work Egan featured a lengthy and laudatory profile of Richmond, whose likeness was also captured by Cruikshank.
In what is the first biographical essay ever written about Richmond, Egan introduces him as “a man of colour, and a native of America” and argues that he is entitled to a “niche among the first-rate heroes of the milling art”. Egan concludes his profile by hailing Richmond as “intelligent, communicative, and well-behaved.”
Cruikshank’s original portrait of Bill accompanies this post, as does Richmond Unchained artist Trevor Von Eeden’s re-imagining of Cruikshank’s work. I enlisted Trevor, an accomplished comic book and graphic novel artist, to provide illustrations for Richmond Unchained in a modern-day homage to the illustrated plates and letterpress publication format which is extensively described in Death and Mr Pickwick and was utilised in both Life and London and The Pickwick Papers.
Incidentally, one (of many!) reasons why I loved Death and Mr Pickwick is because of the credit it gives Egan and Cruikshank for the huge influence that Life in London had on the literary scene in the 1820s. Egan is an oft-overlooked figure in literary circles, and Death and Mr Pickwick places him back at the heart of the history of English literature where he belongs!
Here is the second in the series of guest posts by Luke G. Williams, the author of the new book Richmond Unchained. Over to you, Luke:
One of the many things I found fascinating about Death and Mr Pickwick was the revealing insights it offered into the ‘print shop culture’ of 19th century England, both in terms of the establishments themselves and also in terms of illuminating the lives of many of the leading artists of the day as well as the processes used to produce prints and etchings. As one of the leading sporting celebrities of the day, Bill Richmond, the subject of my recent book Richmond Unchained, would certainly have had prints of his likeness in the windows of the many print shops that populated central London.
The most famous print of Richmond is undoubtedly Robert Dighton’s hand coloured etching of the boxer, entitled A Striking View of Richmond, which was published in March 1810, which accompanies this post.
When this print was first published, Richmond’s pugilistic reputation was on a high due to his famous victory against George Maddox a few months earlier, which had secured revenge for a 1804 reverse against the same opponent. It is therefore fitting that within this print, Dighton renders Richmond in a heroic light, and without the absurdly exaggerated physical stereotypes that characterise many Georgian artists’ conceptions of black subjects. In January 1812, Dighton would produce a similarly complimentary portrait of Richmond’s protégé, Tom Molineaux, which is also shown with this post.
Dighton’s portraits of both men are currently on display in Room 27 of the National Portrait Gallery as part of Simon Schama’s Faces of Britain exhibit, which opened on 16 September and runs until 4 January 2016. Staffordshire figures of Molineaux and the man who defeated him twice, English Champion Tom Cribb, are also part of this exhibit. You can view details of the exhibition here: http://billrichmond.blogspot.co.uk/…/richmond-molineaux-and…
It may also be of interest to readers that a pencil and ink version of A Striking View of Richmond is held within the Royal Collection – this is the image which features on the cover of Richmond Unchained and which I believe was the original work which formed the basis for Dighton’s etching. Copyright restrictions prevent the original Royal Collection image from being reproduced here, but you can view it at:https://www.royalcollection.org.uk/…/bill-richmond-a-striki…
Here is the latest in the series of guest posts by Luke G. Williams, author of the fantastic new book Richmond Unchained.
For the third post in this series examining the connections between Death and Mr Pickwick and Richmond Unchained, I have decided to focus on The Sporting Magazine. Established in 1792, this influential publication - widely credited with being the first periodical in English history devoted entirely to sporting pursuits - features in one of the many absorbing sub-plots in Death and Mr Pickwick as the novel explores the contribution of the writer ‘Nimrod’ (aka Charles James Apperley) in driving the magazine’s massive explosion in popularity in the 1820s.
As one of the top pugilists of the era, Bill Richmond – the subject of my book Richmond Unchained - frequently featured in the pages of The Sporting Magazine. His first appearance came in the January 1804 issue, with a report of his bout against George Maddox at Wimbledon Common, his debut contest in the major prize ring. A scan of this report accompanies this post, along with Richmond Unchained artist Trevor Von Eeden’s re-imagining of Richmond ‘throwing his hat into the ring’ to challenge Maddox.
In 1804, Richmond was in the employment of Lord Camelford, and The Sporting Magazine revelled in describing his loss to Maddox, mocking his ethnicity and referring to him by the distasteful appellations ‘Massa’ and ‘Mungo’ rather than by his actual name.
Such racist rhetoric was typical of the time. However, as Richmond’s career advanced, and he became more widely known and admired - both for his boxing skills and abilities as a pugilistic instructor - the language used to describe him in journals such as The Sporting Magazine became far more complimentary.
By the time of Richmond’s famous victory against Tom Shelton in 1815, the magazine was barely referring to his ethnicity at all and was now describing him as “perfect in the art of boxing”. Quite a turnaround from his debut appearance in 1804!
We have now reached #4 in the series of guest posts by Luke G. Williams, author of the new book Richmond Unchained, about the world's first black sporting superstar, Bill Richmond. Here's Luke:
In today’s post about the connections between Death and Mr Pickwick and Richmond Unchained, I’m returning to the subject of writer Pierce Egan and artist George Cruikshank. Both men feature within a prominent sub-plot in Death and Mr Pickwick, connected to their collaboration on Life in London.
Before Life in London’s publication in 1821, Egan had written extensively about Bill Richmond in Boxiana, for which Cruikshank was also the artist. As well as his rendering of Richmond in Boxiana, Cruikshank also featured Richmond in his pair of etchings of the famous rematch between English boxing champion Tom Cribb and Richmond’s protégé Tom Molineaux, one of which, entitled The Close of the Battle, or the Champion Triumphant accompanies this post.
The fact Richmond was spearheading a ‘black challenge’ against the reigning English champion results in Cruikshank’s rendering of him being far more negatively stereotypical than in his Boxiana portrait, which was produced a little later - once the passions engendered by Cribb and Molineaux’s interracial battle for boxing supremacy had abated somewhat.
As you can see, both Richmond and Molineaux’s physical features and facial expressions are comically exaggerated here, making them appear grotesque in comparison to the white champion Cribb and his seconds.
Before Life in London’s publication in 1821, Egan had written extensively about Bill Richmond in Boxiana, for which Cruikshank was also the artist. As well as his rendering of Richmond in Boxiana, Cruikshank also featured Richmond in his pair of etchings of the famous rematch between English boxing champion Tom Cribb and Richmond’s protégé Tom Molineaux, one of which, entitled The Close of the Battle, or the Champion Triumphant accompanies this post.
In today’s post about the connections between Death and Mr Pickwick and Richmond Unchained, I’m returning to the subject of writer Pierce Egan and artist George Cruikshank. Both men feature within a prominent sub-plot in Death and Mr Pickwick, connected to their collaboration on Life in London.
Before Life in London’s publication in 1821, Egan had written extensively about Bill Richmond in Boxiana, for which Cruikshank was also the artist. As well as his rendering of Richmond in Boxiana, Cruikshank also featured Richmond in his pair of etchings of the famous rematch between English boxing champion Tom Cribb and Richmond’s protégé Tom Molineaux, one of which, entitled The Close of the Battle, or the Champion Triumphant accompanies this post.
The fact Richmond was spearheading a ‘black challenge’ against the reigning English champion results in Cruikshank’s rendering of him being far more negatively stereotypical than in his Boxiana portrait, which was produced a little later - once the passions engendered by Cribb and Molineaux’s interracial battle for boxing supremacy had abated somewhat.
As you can see, both Richmond and Molineaux’s physical features and facial expressions are comically exaggerated here, making them appear grotesque in comparison to the white champion Cribb and his seconds.
Before Life in London’s publication in 1821, Egan had written extensively about Bill Richmond in Boxiana, for which Cruikshank was also the artist. As well as his rendering of Richmond in Boxiana, Cruikshank also featured Richmond in his pair of etchings of the famous rematch between English boxing champion Tom Cribb and Richmond’s protégé Tom Molineaux, one of which, entitled The Close of the Battle, or the Champion Triumphant accompanies this post.
The fact Richmond was spearheading a ‘black challenge’ against the reigning English champion results in Cruikshank’s rendering of him being far more negatively stereotypical than in his Boxiana portrait, which was produced a little later - once the passions engendered by Cribb and Molineaux’s interracial battle for boxing supremacy had abated somewhat.
As you can see, both Richmond and Molineaux’s physical features and facial expressions are comically exaggerated here, making them appear grotesque in comparison to the white champion Cribb and his seconds.
And so we come to the fifth and final in the series of guest posts by Luke G. Williams, the author of the fantastic new book "Richmond Unchained." Thank you very much indeed, Luke. I think this series of guest posts, and the previous series by Phiz's descendant Val Lester, shows the success of the format, so if anyone else has an idea for a series of guest posts they would like to do, do get in touch with me. Here is Luke:
One aspect of the Pierce Egan-George Cruikshank Life in London phenomena I haven’t yet mentioned in my guest posts examining the connections between my book Richmond Unchained and Death and Mr Pickwick is the hugely successful theatrical version of this influential 1821 classic. The success of this dramatic interpretation of Life in London is vividly described in Death and Mr Pickwick. At one point it is mentioned that the production was simultaneously being performed at ten London theatres!
Among the characters in both the original text of Life in London and its stage adaptation was boxer Bill Richmond’s great pugilistic rival Tom Cribb, whose ‘parlour’ – namely, the Union Arms pub on Panton Street – Egan’s protagonists Tom and Jerry visit. An illustration of this scene by Cruikshank appears with this post – eagle-eyed observers will note that on the wall there are two portraits of black boxers, doubtless meant to represent Richmond and his protégé Tom Molineaux.
Among the characters in both the original text of Life in London and its stage adaptation was boxer Bill Richmond’s great pugilistic rival Tom Cribb, whose ‘parlour’ – namely, the Union Arms pub on Panton Street – Egan’s protagonists Tom and Jerry visit. An illustration of this scene by Cruikshank appears with this post – eagle-eyed observers will note that on the wall there are two portraits of black boxers, doubtless meant to represent Richmond and his protégé Tom Molineaux.
Richmond himself did not appear as a character in Life in London, but he was mentioned in scene 7 of the three-act musical version based on it, during the lyrics of a song entitled Tom Thumb that focuses on heroes of the prize ring. Firstly referred to by his common, and somewhat demeaning, nickname of “the lilly white”, later in the song he is described more pleasingly as “Mr. Richmond” and as being smartly dressed in a “white smock frock”, a sight that is said to “astonish us”.
Richmond, incidentally, spent many nights at the aforementioned Union Arms pub with Cribb in the 1820s. He even spent the last evening of his life there having dinner with Cribb before passing away at the age of 66.
Today, this site is occupied by Shepherd Neame’s Tom Cribb pub and, since the Richmond Unchained book launch there on 26 August 2015, a memorial to Richmond has resided on the wall of the pub. An image of this memorial also accompanies this post and you can find out more about the Bill Richmond memorial event here: http://billrichmond.blogspot.co.uk/…/earl-george-percy-unve…
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