Samuel Pickwick,WackfordSqueers,Uriah Heep are so well known as to be partand parcel of British culture,and in some cases have passed into ordinary language:a scrooge,for example,is a miser The author worked closely with his illustrators supplying them with a summary ofthe work at the outset and thus ensuring that his characters and settings were exactly how he envisioned them.[45]He would brief the illustrator on plans for each month's instalment so that work could begin before he wrote them.Marcus Stone,illustrator ofOur Mutual Friend,recalled that the author was always"ready to describe downto the minutest details thepersonal characteristics,and.life-history of the creations ofhis fancy."[30]This close working relationship is important to readersofDickens today.The illustrations give us a glimpse ofthe charactersas Dickens described them.Film makers still use the illustrationsas a basis for characterisation,costume,and set design Often these characters were based on people he knew.In a few instances Dickens based the character too closely on the original,as in the case of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House, based on James Henry Leigh Hunt,and Miss Mowcher inSamuel Pickwick, Wackford Squeers, Uriah Heep are so well known as to be part and parcel of British culture, and in some cases have passed into ordinary language: a scrooge, for example, is a miser. The author worked closely with his illustrators supplying them with a summary of the work at the outset and thus ensuring that his characters and settings were exactly how he envisioned them.[45] He would brief the illustrator on plans for each month's instalment so that work could begin before he wrote them. Marcus Stone, illustrator of Our Mutual Friend, recalled that the author was always "ready to describe down to the minutest details the personal characteristics, and . life-history of the creations of his fancy."[30]This close working relationship is important to readers of Dickens today. The illustrations give us a glimpse of the characters as Dickens described them. Film makers still use the illustrations as a basis for characterisation, costume, and set design. Often these characters were based on people he knew. In a few instances Dickens based the character too closely on the original, as in the case of Harold Skimpole in Bleak House, based on James Henry Leigh Hunt, and Miss Mowcher in