The Strand Magazine, Vol. 17, February 1899, No. 98.Various
General
The Strand Magazine, Vol. 17, February 1899, No. 98.
Various
English literature -- Periodicals; Short stories, English -- Periodicals
Sir John Tenniel's first cartoon is shown in No. 8. It represents Lord
John Russell as David, backed by Mr. Punch and by John Bull, attacking
Cardinal Wiseman as Goliath, who is at the head of a host of Roman
Catholic archbishops and bishops. A very interesting mention is made by
Mr. Spielmann, in his "History of Punch," of the circumstances which
caused Tenniel to join _Punch_, and to become the greatest cartoonist
the world has produced:--
Had the Pope not "aggressed" by appointing archbishops and bishops
to English sees [This caused all the exaggerated pother and flutter
of 1849.--J. H. S.], and so raised the scare of which Lord John
Russell and Mr. Punch really seem to have been the leaders, Doyle
would not have resigned, and no opening would have been made for
Tenniel.
Sir John, indeed, was by no means enamoured of the prospect of
being a _Punch_ artist, when Mark Lemon [the editor in 1850.--J.
H. S.] made his overtures to him. He was rather indignant than
otherwise, as his line was high art, and his severe drawing above
"fooling." "Do they suppose," he asked a friend, "that there is
anything funny about _me_?" He meant, of course, in his art, for
privately he was well recognised as a humorist; and little did he
know, in the moment of hesitation before he accepted the offer,
that he was struggling against a kindly destiny.
Thus we may say that the "Popish Scare" of fifty years ago was a main
cause of the Tenniel cartoons in the _Punch_ of to-day.
[Illustration: 9.--ILLUSTRATING THE CONNECTION BY ELECTRIC CABLE BETWEEN
ENGLAND AND FRANCE. BY LEECH, 1851.]
The picture in No. 9, "The New Siamese Twins," celebrates the
successful laying of the submarine cable between Dover and Calais,
November 13, 1851: the closing prices of the Paris Bourse were known
within business hours of the same day on the London Stock Exchange. The
use by Leech of the words in the title, "Siamese Twins," refers to the
visit to this country of a Barnum-like natural monstrosity--a pair of
twins whose bodies were joined--a freak that was also the origin of a
toy sold in later years with the same title. In the year 1851 _Punch_
secured another of its most famous artists--Charles Keene--whose first
contribution is shown in No. 10.
[Illustration: 10.--THIS IS CHARLES KEENE'S FIRST "PUNCH" DRAWING;
DECEMBER 20, 1851.]
[Illustration: 11.--BY LEECH. 1851.]
[Illustration: 12.--BY LEECH. 1851.]
[Illustration: 13.--AN INCIDENT OF THE 1851 CENSUS.]
This sketch has little of a joke in it--the shakiness of drawing is
intentional [see the description given in No. 10], and the following
account of this poor little picture, so interesting as the first by
Keene, is given by Mr. G. S. Layard in his "Life and Letters of Charles
Samuel Keene":--
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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