Comments on: Celebrating Joseph Grimaldi

By: elaine

elaine — Sat, 25 Apr 2015 10:56:40 +0000

I came across your article and thought you might be interested in taking a look at a forthcoming novel, because two clowns – Joseph Grimaldi and his tragic drunken son “JS” – appear as important characters, and a drawing based upon the life of the son is of immense importance in the novel.
Charles Dickens based a story in The Pickwick Papers on the life of Grimaldi’s son — and my husband not only portrays the character who inspired the story, he also shows how the story led to the suicide of the book’s illustrator, Robert Seymour.
The novel is called Death and Mr Pickwick and has been written by my husband Stephen and if you would like to know a bit more about Robert Seymour who was Charles Dickens’s original illustrator for the Pickwick Papers we have set up a website http://www.deathandmrpickwick.com.

The novel will be published in May by Random House (in the UK) and in June by Farrar, Straus and Giroux (in the USA).

By: Shawdiane

Shawdiane — Tue, 03 Feb 2015 05:54:20 +0000

Thank you. Very interesting. How sad that such a funny man was so afraid of being buried
alive that he requested to be decapitated & then the grave yard where he rests was deconsecrated. I too would like to know why his tomb stone is twenty yards from where
Grimaldi is buried. Can any one enlighten us ?

By: Chris F

Chris F — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:03:39 +0000

‘twenty feet from where he is actually buried’! Why? Have they built over his real grave? Is there a marker over the real spot?

By: Ros

Ros — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:39:23 +0000

What a lovely post!

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:54:25 +0000

I especially enjoyed this post — thank you!