Looking to unlock artist’s secrets

4:19pm Tuesday 16th October 2007

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A lost deedbox containing a missing manuscript has become the holy grail' of one historian's research. JON CHEETHAM finds out more.

THE last record of the mysterious deedbox was in 1927 when it belonged to Emily Alice Sarah Morewood, who lived at 2 Westgate Road, Beckenham.

Miss Morewood was the niece of Rowland Dalmer Morewood, who wrote the 350-page manuscript The Life of Robert Seymour, about a little-known Victorian artist.

RD Morewood tried to sell the unpublished biography by auction at Sotherby's in 1919 but was unsuccessful.

When he died, the deedbox containing the manuscript along with letters, notebooks and original acid-etched steel plates was inherited by his niece.

A mention in The Connoisseur magazine in 1927 is the last known reference to the manuscript and Miss Morewood died unmarried and childless without leaving a will.

Historian and author Stephen Jarvis is hunting Beckenham for the deedbox which he hopes will contain the manuscript he believes will shed light on the life of the shadowy Victorian artist.

Mr Jarvis, who lives in Maidenhead, Berkshire, is the editor of The London Particular, the newsletter of the Dickens' Fellowship.

Seymour was one of the most prolific cartoonists and illustrators of his generation and made thousands of images during his short life.

He is best remembered for his association with Charles Dickens and it was Seymour who originated the project which resulted in Dickens' first novel, The Pickwick Papers.

At the time, Dickens was a relatively unknown journalist and was hired to write the text to accompany Seymour's illustrations.

Little is known about the relationship between the illustrator and the author, but shortly after the Pickwick project began, Seymour shot himself.

Morewood was a close friend of Seymour's son and Jarvis believes he would have been privileged to first-hand source material for his biography of the artist, including the original acid-etched steel plates.

Mr Jarvis, the author of three books, said: "I have little doubt this is the most important archive of material relating to Seymour in the world.

"I have been trying to locate it for about two years, in the hope the current owner will allow me to read all the material."

He added: "The deedbox is really the holy grail' of my research, and I cannot overstate its importance to our understanding not only of Seymour, but Charles Dickens as well."

Mr Jarvis became interested in Seymour and Dickens more than five years ago after hearing comedian Griff Rhys-Jones chose The Pickwick Papers as his book on Radio 4's Desert Island Discs.

Mr Jarvis said: "This inspired me to borrow Pickwick from my library."

"I had read very little of Dickens up to that point and in the preface, I found a line referring to Seymour and his suicide. I was instantly fascinated."

If anyone has any information about the deedbox or the manuscript of The Life of Robert Seymour, they can contact Stephen Jarvis on 01628 783310 or email stephenjarvis@ hotmail.com