From the first Volume of _Punch_ I have chosen the five pictures here
numbered 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. No. 2 is the first picture in _Punch_, a
distinction that gives importance to this little sketch [the same size
as the original] of a broken-down man at work on the tread-mill. By
the first picture, I mean the first that was printed on the numbered
pages of _Punch_--this is on page 2 of Vol. I.--for the _Introduction_
contained three wood-cuts, and there was the outside wrapper--of which
I shall speak later. But this little cut in No. 2 is really the first
of Mr. Punch's famous gallery of black-and-white art. It was drawn by
William Newman, and this is one of his so-called "blackies"--little
_silhouettes_ that were paid for at the rate of eighteen shillings per
dozen.
No. 3 is the first of Mr. Punch's long series of cartoons. This was
done by A. S. Henning, and it makes a much nicer picture in its present
reduced size than in its original large size, where the work is too
coarse in texture. In the forties, there were no ingenious photographic
processes for reproducing an artist's work to any scale; the work had
to be cut on the wood-block and shown the same size as the original
drawing. Hence, in a weekly paper such as _Punch_, there was often not
much time to spend on the wood-engraving, and so many of the drawings,
especially the early ones, are wanting in finish.
[Illustration: THE FIRST TOOTH.