Punch, or The London Charivari

Punch, Volume 101, Jubilee Issue,
July 18, 1891

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July 18,
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Title: Punch, Volume 101, Jubilee Issue, July 18, 1891
Author: Various
Release Date: August 30, 2004 [EBook #13327]
Language: English
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PUNCH,
OR THE LONDON CHARIVARI.
VOL. 101.

July 18, 1891.

MR. PUNCH'S JUBILEE NUMBER.
[Illustration]
"My Reminiscences!" said _Mr. Punch_, replying to a question put by
his Interviewer, ANNO DOMINI EIGHTEEN-NINETY-ONE; "They
are already before the World, in exactly One Hundred Volumes! My
first 'Number' bore date 'for the week ending July 17th, 1841. My
memory is indeed stored with recollections, pleasant, picturesque,
pathetic, of the teeming past, memories of my joyous 'Table,' of my
well-beloved 'Young Men,' of Great Names, of Genial Comrades, of
Bright Wits, of Warm Hearts, of Famous Artists, of Clever Writers,
who--in the words of the greatest of them all--
'Perched round the stem Of the jolly old tree.'
"How well the words of the wise wit written in 1847 express our
thoughts to-day, Mr. ANNO DOMINI:--
'Here let us sport Boys, as we sit, Laughter and wit Flashing so free.
Life is but short-- When we are gone, Let them sing on Round the old
tree.
Evenings we knew Happy as this; Faces we miss Pleasant to see. Kind
hearts and true, Gentle and just, Peace to their dust! We sing round the
tree.'
It is one of my proudest memories to recollect that THACKERAY's
'Mahogany Tree,' was my Table."
"To have been Amphitryon to such guests must have been the most
pleasant privilege of hospitality," said ANNO DOMINI.
"Very true," responded _Mr. Punch_, "And of all my
Deputy-Amphitryons--if I may use the term--who more fully, fitly,
justly, and genially filled the post than the earliest of them all, the
kindly and judicious MARK LEMON? Had not he and clever HENRY
MAYHEW, and Mr. Printer LAST, and EBENEZER LANDELLS, my
earliest engraver, foregathered first with me in furtherance of the 'new
work of wit and whim,' embellished with cuts and caricatures, to be
called:--
_PUNCH; OR, THE LONDON CHARIVARI_?
"LEMON, and LAST, and MAYHEW, were they here to-day, would
probably agree to divide between them the early honours, as they
shared the early responsibility. But doubtless MARK LEMON was the
literary shaper of the 'Guffawgraph,' as he jocularly called it in his

'Prospectus,' and, from the first, its guiding spirit. Happily so, for his
was a spirit fitted to rule, both by power, and tact, and taste. With
'Uncle MARK' in the chair, I knew there would be neither austere
autocracy, nor _fainéant_ laxity, neither weakness of stroke nor
foulness of blow, neither Rosa-Matilda-ish, mawkishness, nor
Rabelaisian coarseness.
"How well I remember my first group of 'Young Men,'" pursued _Mr.
Punch_, musingly. "There was swift and scathing DOUGLAS
JERROLD, with his tossed and tangled mane of grey hair. GILBERT
ABBOTT À BECKETT, too, the whimsically witty, the drolly satirical,
the comically caustic. HENRY MAYHEW, of course, and, a little later,
his brother HORACE, the simple, lovable 'PONNY.' HENNING,
NEWMAN and BRINE, were my earliest Artists. HENNING drew the
first Cartoon, whilst NEWMAN and BRINE, and, later, HINE, between
them, were responsible for most of the smaller cuts,
head-and-tail-pieces, pictorial puns, and sketchy silhouettes, wherewith
_Punch's_ early pages abounded.
"In the fourth Number of _Punch_, published on August 7th, 1841, first
appeared the soon-to-be-famous signature of 'JOHN LEECH.'"
"Ah! JOHN LEECH," cried the attentive ANNO DOMINI. "A name to
conjure with! How did that 'Star swim into your ken'?"
"There was a certain clever, scholarly, and genial gentleman,"
responded _Mr. Punch_, "who had lately published, under the
pseudonym of 'PAUL PRENDERGAST,' an extremely funny Comic
Latin Grammar. 'PAUL PRENDERGAST' was, in reality, Mr.
PERCIVAL LEIGH, originally a medical gentleman, the well-beloved
'Professor' of later Punch days. The Comic Latin Grammar had been
admirably illustrated by a personal friend, and fellow-student, of
LEIGH's named LEECH. The services of both of the contributors to the
Comic Latin Grammar were soon enlisted in my interests.
"Another of LEECH's medical student friends was ALBERT SMITH,
and he before long was penning his 'Physiology of London Evening
Parties' (illustrated by PHIZ--HALBOT KNIGHT
BROWNE--NEWMAN, and others) for my pages. KENNY
MEADOWS, WATTS PHILLIPS, ALFRED 'CROW-QUILL'
(FORRESTER), JOHN GILBERT, and others, drew also for the young
Journal, the printing of which had been taken over