Dickensian illustrator purchasing house in Zurich first of all (4)

I believe the answer is:

phiz

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'dickensian illustrator' is the definition.
'phiz' can be an answer for 'illustrator' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'dickensian' bit.

'purchasing house in zurich first of all' is the wordplay.
'first of all' says to take the initial letters.
The initial letters of 'purchasing house in zurich' is 'PHIZ'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for phiz that I've seen before include "mug" , "Dial" , "Dickens's illustrator" , "former illustrator" , "Face" .)

I've seen this clue in The Times.

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