channels, and to organise its output. He had noted the popularity of
such connected series of comic designs as Woodward's _Eccentric
Excursion_ and Bunbury's _Academy for Grown Horsemen_, and it occurred
to him that humorous works illustrated with coloured etchings by
Rowlandson, and issued in monthly parts, or in volume form at a moderate
price, would have more chance of success than a multitude of detached
plates. _The Loyal Volunteers_, published in 1799, seems to have been
the earliest result of the connection between artist and publisher, and
this was followed by a series of popular productions, including the
well-known _Miseries of Human Life_. But the most sensational success
was made with _The Tour of Dr. Syntax in Search of the Picturesque_,
which appeared in the _Poetical Magazine_ in 1810 and in book-form in
1812. The idea of a series of designs representing the adventures and
misadventure of a ridiculous old pedagogue during a tour among the
Lakes, appears to have been suggested to Rowlandson by his friend John
Bannister, the comedian, but the subject was versified by William Combe,
then an inmate of the King's Bench. Combe has described how every month
"an etching or drawing was sent to me, and I composed a certain
proportion of pages in verse, in which, of course, the subject of the
design was included; the rest depended on what would be the subject of
the second, and in this manner the artist continued designing, and I
continued writing, till a volume containing nearly ten thousand words
was produced." A contemporary states that Combe used to pin up the
sketch against the screen of his room, and reel off his verses as the
printer wanted them; but, owing to his dilatory habits, only one etching
was sent to him at a time.

The success of this not very promising system of collaboration
astonished the authors and delighted the publisher. The fortune of the
_Poetical Magazine_ was made, new editions being called for so rapidly
that the old plates were worn out and new ones had to be etched. Dr.
Syntax hats, coats, and wigs became fashionable, while the old
schoolmaster, his scolding wife and his ancient steed, were among the
most popular of public characters. The many inferior imitations to which
this success gave rise induced Ackermann to commission sequels from the
same collaborators, and these appeared under the titles of _Dr. Syntax
in Search of Consolation_ (the hero having lost his wife), _Dr. Syntax
in