General English Publications: Punch (1842-1992)


Figure 1.--Germany's invasion of France through Belgium was an act of military expediancy. It brought the Germans very closeto Paris and probaby winning the War in just afew weeks. It proved, however, an action that brought world aprobrium of a brutal agressor on Getmany. It also brought Britain into the War as well as laying the basis for eventual American entry. This cartoon was drawn by F.H. Townsend and published in "Punch Magazine" during August 1914.

Henry Mayhew and engraver Ebenezer Landell founded Punch (1841). It had the alternative title London Charivari. This was a reference to a Paris satirical magagazibne, Le Charivari. But from the behining the simple title "Punch" caught on with the British pulic. This was a reference to the irreverent Punch of Punch and Judy puppet theater fame. Punch was jointly edited by Mayhew and Mark Lemon. Mayhew at an early withdrew from the magazine. Punch began when photography was still at a very early stage--limited to Daguerreotypes. The techology of printing photographs was a half a century in the future. Images by the 1840s could, however, be printed theough engraving. And it was these illustrations that made Punch famous--most notably the political cartoon. In fact, the modern meaning of "cartoon" was coined in Punch. (Previously cartoon had mean a sketch or painting used to produce a tapestry.) Illustrator Archibald Henning designed the first cover. Richard Doyle designed the magazine's masthead (1849). The magazine had a rocky start finacially, but soon developed a British staple. Punch took a conservative editorial position. For two decades it competed with Fun which took a liberal editorial position (1860s-70s). It developed a relationship with the staid Times of London. One of its most important cartoonists was was F.H. Towsend. He was appointed the magazine's first art director (1905). Upon his death while play golf, he was replaced with Frank Reynolds who had worked for the London Illustrated News (1920). The circulation of Punch peaked during the 1940s at 175,000. After that it slowly declined. The famed magazine finally had to close (1992). It left an incredible historical record.








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Created: 3:15 PM 10/23/2007
Last updated: 3:15 PM 10/23/2007