Charles Dickens the house. The success of "Sketches by Boz" led to a proposal from publishers Chapman and Hall for Dickens to supply text to match Robert Seymour's engraved illustrations in a monthly letterpress. Seymour committed suicide after the second instalment, and Dickens, who wanted to write a connected series of sketches, hired "Phiz" to provide the engravings (which were reduced from four to two per instalment) for the story. The resulting story became "The Pickwick Papers", and though the first few episodes were not successful, the introduction of the Cockney character Sam Weller in the fourth episode (the first to be
Smith and Weller Building Smith and Weller Building The Smith and Weller Building is an historic structure located in New London, Iowa, United States. Charles W. Smith and C.B. Weller bought the lot on which the building sits for $300 in 1872. The building itself was built sometime before 1879 when Smith and Weller sold the lot to Sam Keiser and W.S. Workman for $2,500. The structure was designed in the Italianate style and features simple brick patterned arches. Keiser and his wife owned the building until 1907 when they sold it to the Knights of Pythias for their lodge. A hardware store occupied