Mr. Micawber, from 'David Copperfield', by Charles Dickens, 1923 (colour litho)

Wilkins Micawber; gentle man who befriends David as a young boy; suffers from financial difficulty and has to spend time in a debtor's prison before moving to Plymouth; as an adult, Copperfield meets him again in London; Micawber eventually emigrates to Australia, where he enjoys a successful career as a sheep farmer; character based on Dickens' father, John Dickens; Micawber is known for asserting his faith that "something will turn up". His name has become synonymous with someone who lives in hopeful expectation. This has formed the basis for the Micawber Principle, based upon his observation: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery."; illustration from the series of 'Character Sketches from Charles Dickens', produced as cigarette cards by John Player & Sons;