John Leech (1817-1864)
"John Leech", by McLean, Melhuish & Haes, circa 1862, © National Portrait Gallery, London
John Leech was born in London and despite an early talent for drawing was educated in the medical profession, where his skill at anatomical drawing was much admired. He was eighteen when his earliest drawings were published, and in 1836 he unsuccessfully applied several times to Dickens to work on Pickwick Papers after the death of Seymour. In 1841, he joined the staff of Punch, a popular humorous weekly magazine aimed at the middle class. Now an accomplished caricaturist, Leech again offered his services to Dickens and was asked to illustrate A Christmas Carol with four color etchings and four black-and white wood engravings. Leech provided illustrations for each of the subsequent Christmas books.
Illustrations and Artwork
"Mr. Fezziwig's Ball" from "A Christmas Carol", 1843, frontispiece
"Marley's Ghost" from "A Christmas Carol", 1843, page
"Scrooge's third Visitor" from "A Christmas Carol", 1843, page
"The Last of the Spirits" from "A Christmas Carol", 1843, page
From "A Christmas Carol", 1843, page
"Man at a Table Carving a Ham", undated, Gift of Daniel and Alice Ryan, MS112.07.07.03
untitled, n.d., © The Trustees of the British Museum
"Self-portrait", 1862, © The Trustees of the British Museum
Back