PUNCH.--It is impossible to overlook the famous weekly that from its
own pages could offer a fairly representative group of the work of any
decade since it was established; a paper which, if it has not attracted
every great illustrator, could nevertheless select a hundred drawings
from its pages that might be fairly entered in competition with any
other hundred outside them. But, at the same time, to give a summary
of its record during the sixties, even as compressed as those of _The
Cornhill Magazine_, _Once a Week_, etc., would occupy more pages than
all the rest put together. Fortunately the labour has been accomplished
quite recently. Mr. M. H. Spielmann's _History of Punch_ supplies a
full and admirably digested chronicle of its artistic achievements.
So that here (excluding the staff-artists, Sir John Tenniel, Mr. Du
Maurier, Mr. Linley Sambourne, and the rest, and the greatest _Punch_
artist, Charles Keene, who was never actually upon its staff) it will
be sufficient to indicate where admirers of the men of the sixties
may find examples of their work for _Punch_; Sir John Millais appears
twice upon p. 115 of vol. xliv. (1863) with a design to _Mokeanna_, Mr.
F. C. Burnand's laughable parody, and again with _Mr. Vandyke Brown's
sons thrashing the lay figure_, in the _Almanac_ for 1865, a drawing
that faces, oddly enough, one of Fred Walker's two contributions, _The
New Bathing Company, Limited, Specimens of Costumes to be worn by the
Shareholders_. The other Fred Walker, _Captain Jinks of the 'Selfish,'_
is on p. 74 of vol. lvii. 1869; George J. Pinwell is an infrequent
contributor from 1863 to 1869; Walter Crane appears but once, p. 33
(vol. li. 1866); Frederick Shields's three initials, which appeared in
1870, were drawn in 1867; M. J. Lawless is represented by six drawings,
which appeared between May 1860 and January 1861; F. W. Lawson has some
initials and one vignette in the volume for 1867; Ernest Griset appears
in the _Almanac_ for 1867; J. G. Thomson, for twenty years cartoonist
of _Fun_, is an occasional contributor between 1861 and 1864; H. S.
Marks appears in 1861, and Paul Gray, also with a few initials and
'socials,' up to 1865; Charles Keene's first drawing for
_Punch_ is in 1852, he was 'called to the table' in 1860, and on a few
occasions supplied the political cartoon. The mass of his work within
the classic pages is too familiar to need more than passing reference.
The first drawing by 'George Louis Palmella Busson Du Maurier' appears
in 1860, the _Legend of Camelot_, with five drawings, which are already
historic, in 1866. These delicious parodies (here reproduced) of the
pre-Raphaelite manner are as fascinating to-day as when they first
appeared.
FUN
This popular humorous penny weekly, which is still running, would be
forever memorable as the birthplace of the famous _Bab_ ballads, with
W. S. Gilbert's own thumb-nail sketches: yet it would be foolish to
rank him as an illustrator, despite the grotesque humour of these
inimitable little figures. The periodical, not (I believe) at first
under the editorship of Tom Hood, the younger, began in September 21,
1861. The mass of illustrations must be the only excuse for failing to
include an orderly summary; yet there is not, and there is certainly
no necessity for, an elaborate chronicle of the paper, like Mr.
Spielmann's admirable monograph in _Punch_. But those who are curious
to discover the work of less-known men of the sixties will find plenty
to reward their search. A clever parody of Millais' pre-Raphaelite
manner is given as a tail-piece to the preface of vol. i. A. Boyd
Houghton supplied the cartoons for a short period, November 1866 to
April 6, 1867. At least those signed A. H. are attributed to him, and
the first would almost suffice by itself to decide it, did any doubt
exist. Another cartoonist, who signed his work with the device of a
hen, is very freely represented. F. Barnard was also cartoonist for a
long time--1869 onwards--and J. G. Thomson, for a score of years, did
excellent work in the same department. The authorship of many of the
drawings scattered through its pages is easily recognised by their
style--others, as for instance one on page five of the _Almanac_ for
1866, puzzle the student. It looks like a Paul Gray, but the monogram
with which it is signed, although it is indecipherable, is certainly
not 'P. G.' W. J. Wiegand, W. Brunton, H. Sanderson, Matt Stretch,
Lieut. Seccombe, L. C. Henley, F. S. Walker, and F. W. Lawson (see for
instance, _Almanac_ for 1865, p. 11) contributed a great many of the
'socials' to the early volumes.
Then, as now, you find unconscious or deliberate imitations of other
artists' mannerisms. A rash observer might attribute drawings here
to C. Keene (_Almanac_ for 1865, vi.), and credit Tenniel with the
title-page to vol. iv. N.S.
Still, as a field to discover the work of young artists who afterwards
become approximately great, _Fun_ is not a very happy hunting-ground.
Despite some notable exceptions, its illustrators cannot be placed
even upon the average of the period that concerns us; the presence of
a half a dozen or so of first-rate men hardly makes a set of the comic
paper essential to a representative collection. After renewed intimacy
with its pages there is a distinct feeling of disappointment. That its
drawings pleased you mightily, and seemed fine stuff at the time, may
be true; but it only proves that the enjoyment of a schoolboy cannot be
recaptured in after-life if the quality of the drawing be too poor to
sustain the weight of old-fashioned dress and jokes whose first sparkle
has dimmed beyond restoration.
JUDY,
The twopenny rival to _Punch_, began life on May 1, 1867. Although Matt
Morgan supplied many of the early cartoons and 'socials,' the really
admirable level it reached in the eighties is not foreshadowed even
dimly by its first volumes. With vol. ii. J. Proctor, an admirable
draughtsman, despite his fondness for the decisive, unsympathetic line
which Sir John Tenniel has accustomed us to consider part and parcel of
a political cartoon, is distinctly one of the best men who have worked
this particular form of satire. Afterwards 'W. B.' contributed many.
The mass of work, in the volumes which can be considered as belonging
to the period covered by this book, contains hardly a single drawing
to repay the weary hunt through their pages. Yet the issues of a later
decade are as certain to be prized by students of the 'eighties' as the
best periodicals of the sixties are by devotees of that period.
PUNCH AND JUDY,
Beginning in October 1869, yet another paper on similar lines, ran
a short but interesting career of twelve weeks, and continued, in
a commonplace way, for a year or two longer. The reason the first
dozen issues are worth notice here is that the illustrations are all
by 'graphotype process' (which must not be confused with the far
earlier 'glyptography'), and so appeal to students of the technique
of illustration. The principle of the graphotype process, it is said,
was discovered accidentally. The inventor was removing, with a wet
camel-hair brush, the white enamel from the face of a visiting-card,
when he noticed that the printing on it was left in distinct relief.
After many experiments the idea was developed, and a surface of metal
was covered with a powdered chalky substance, upon which the drawing
was made with a silicate ink which hardened the substance wherever it
was applied. The chalk was then brushed away and the drawing left in
low but distinct relief on the metal-plate, from which electrotypes
could be taken in the usual way. The experiment gained some commercial
success, and quite a notable group of artists experimented with it for
designs to an edition of Dr. Isaac Watts's _Divine and Moral Songs_,
a most curious libretto for an artistic venture. In _Punch and Judy_
the blocks are by no means bad as regards their reproduction. Despite
the very mediocre drawing of the originals, they are nevertheless
preferable to the cheap wood-engravings of their contemporaries. After
its change, 'G. O. M.' (if one reads the initials aright), or 'C. O.
M.,'contributes some average cartoons. When it first appeared, at least
one schoolboy was struck with the curious difference of technique that
the illustrations showed, and from that time onwards had his curiosity
aroused towards process-work. Therefore, this lapse into anecdotage,
in the short record of a venture otherwise artistically unworthy to be
noticed here, may be pardoned.
WILL O' THE WISP
This, another periodical of the same class, started on September 12,
1868, but unlike its fellows relied at first solely upon a double-page
political cartoon. From the second number these were contributed
by J. Proctor until and after April 17, 1869, when other pictures
were admitted. With the 31st of July another hand replaces Proctor's
vigorous work. The volume for 1870 contains many woodcuts (I use the
word advisedly), unintentionally primitive, that should please a
certain school to-day. Whether the journal ceased with its fourth
volume, or lasted into the seventies, the British Museum catalogue does
not record, nor is it worth while to pursue the inquiry further.
THE ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS
To notice this important paper in a paragraph is little better than an
insult, and yet between a full monograph (already anticipated partially
in Mr. Mason Jackson's _The Pictorial Press_) and a bare mention there
is no middle course. As a rule the drawings are unsigned, and not
attributed to the artists in the index.
The Christmas numbers, however, often adopt a different method, and
print the draughtsman's name below each engraving, which is almost
always a full page. In that for 1865 we find Alfred Hunt, George
Thomas, S. Read, and John Gilbert, all regular contributors, well
represented. In the Christmas number of 1866 there is Boyd Houghton's
_Child's Christmas Carol_, and other drawings by Corbould, S. Read, J.
A. Pasquier, Charles Green, Matt Morgan, and C. H. Bennett.
OTHER ILLUSTRATED WEEKLIES
_The Illustrated Times_, first issued in October 1855, maintained a
long and honourable effort to achieve popularity. A new series was
started in 1867, but apparently also failed to gain a footing. The
artists included many men mentioned frequently in this volume. The
non-topical illustrations occasionally introduced were supplied chiefly
by M. E. Edwards, Adelaide and Florence Claxton, Lieut. Seccombe, P.
Skelton, and T. Sulman. Yet a search through its pages revealed nothing
sufficiently important to notice in detail.
_The Illustrated Weekly News_ and _The Penny Illustrated Weekly News_
are other lost causes, but the _Penny Illustrated Paper_, which started
in 1861, is still a flourishing concern; yet it would be superfluous
to give a detailed notice of its work. _Pan_ (date uncertain[5]), a
short-lived sixpenny weekly. Its cover was from a design by Jules
Chéret. Facsimiles of _A Head_ by Lord Leighton, and _Proud Maisie_ by
Frederick Sandys, appeared among its supplements.
THE GRAPHIC
That this admirably conducted illustrated weekly revolutionised
English illustration is granted on all sides. Its influence for good
or ill was enormous. With its first number, published on December 4,
1869, we find a definite, official date to close the record of the
'sixties'; one by mere chance, chronologically as well as technically,
appropriate. Of course the break was not so sudden as this arbitrary
limit might suggest. The style which distinguished the _Graphic_
had been gradually prepared before, and if Mr. William Small is
credited with the greatest share in its development, such a statement,
incomplete as most generalities must needs be, holds a good part of
the truth, if not the whole. The work of Mr. Small introduced new
qualities into wood-engraving; which, in his hands and those of the
best of his followers, grew to be meritorious, and must needs place him
with those who legitimately extended the domain of the art of drawing
for the engraver. But to discuss the style which succeeded that of the
sixties would be to trespass on new ground, and that while the field
itself is all too scantily searched. Mr. Ruskin dubbed the new style
'blottesque,' but, as we have seen, he was hardly more enamoured of the
manner that immediately preceded it.
Many of the surviving heroes of the sixties contributed to the
_Graphic_. Charles Green appears in vol. i. with _Irish Emigrants_, G.
J. Pinwell with _The Lost Child_ (January 8, 1870), A. Boyd Houghton
has a powerful drawing, _Night Charges_, and later, the marvellous
series of pictures recording his very personal visit to America.
William Small, R. W. Macbeth, S. L. Fildes, Hubert Herkomer, and
a crowd of names, some already mentioned frequently in this book,
bore the weight of the new enterprise. But a cursory sketch of the
famous periodical would do injustice to it. The historian of the
seventies will find it takes the place of _Once a Week_ as the happy
hunting-ground for the earliest work of many a popular draughtsman
and painter--that is to say, the earliest work after his student and
experimental efforts. To declare that it still flourishes, and with
the _Daily Graphic_, its offspring, keeps still ahead of the popular
average, is at once bare truth and the highest compliment which need be
paid.
The illustrated weeklies in the sixties were almost as unimportant,
relatively speaking, as are the illustrated dailies to-day. Yet to say
that the weeklies did fair to monopolise illustration at the present
time is a common truth, and, remembering what the _Daily Graphic_ and
the _Daily Chronicle_ have already accomplished, to infer that the
dailies will do likewise before 1900 has attained its majority is a
prophecy that is based upon a study of the past.