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The Pick of Punch, selected and introduced by Miles Kington 1998
Punch was a satirical and humous magazine produced in London from 1841 to 2002 (with a break from 1992-1996). It was immensely popular for a century until it started a fatal decline in the 1950s. The editors poked fun at everyone from politicians to actors, and social mores to sport. It was particularly famous for its humorous cartoons, which accompanied many articles.
Miles Kington has gone to a great deal of trouble to pick out what he believes are the 67 best skits, accompanied by 57 black and white cartoons. Many articles in Punch are very specific to the time in which they were published, and a knowledge of current affairs of a century or more ago was necessary to understand them. The selection mainly avoids this trap, and is very readable, usually with a gentle smile upon the lips mixed with the occasional guffaw, by anyone in the 21st. century
The 272 page book is bound in plasticised gold cloth that is blocked with multiple black cartoons. The slipcase (22x15cm.) and endpapers are olive green. The binding in my copy is very tight, which made photography difficult.
I am particularly interested in Punch as I am fortunate to own a leather bound collection of the magazines from 1844 to 1890 that I inherited from my wife’s great grandfather.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
Punch was a satirical and humous magazine produced in London from 1841 to 2002 (with a break from 1992-1996). It was immensely popular for a century until it started a fatal decline in the 1950s. The editors poked fun at everyone from politicians to actors, and social mores to sport. It was particularly famous for its humorous cartoons, which accompanied many articles.
Miles Kington has gone to a great deal of trouble to pick out what he believes are the 67 best skits, accompanied by 57 black and white cartoons. Many articles in Punch are very specific to the time in which they were published, and a knowledge of current affairs of a century or more ago was necessary to understand them. The selection mainly avoids this trap, and is very readable, usually with a gentle smile upon the lips mixed with the occasional guffaw, by anyone in the 21st. century
The 272 page book is bound in plasticised gold cloth that is blocked with multiple black cartoons. The slipcase (22x15cm.) and endpapers are olive green. The binding in my copy is very tight, which made photography difficult.
I am particularly interested in Punch as I am fortunate to own a leather bound collection of the magazines from 1844 to 1890 that I inherited from my wife’s great grandfather.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
