In May 1827, the Pickwick Club of London, headed by Samuel Pickwick, decides to establish a traveling society in which four members journey about England and make reports on their travels. The four members are Mr. Pickwick, a kindly retired businessman and philosopher whose thoughts never rise above the commonplace; Tracy Tupman, a ladies' man who never makes a conquest; Augustus Snodgrass, a poet who never writes a poem; and Nathaniel Winkle, a sportsman of tremendous ineptitude.