Cartoons by Sir John Tenniel, Selected from the Pages of "Punch"

Chapter 2: Prefatory Note.

Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

About This Book

The volume gathers a chronological selection of satirical cartoons spanning five decades by a prominent Victorian illustrator, offering visual commentary on mid-19th to early-20th-century politics, international conflicts, and social debates. Rendered in caricature and allegory, the plates portray national personifications, public figures, and recurring motifs to lampoon imperial policy, parliamentary controversies, diplomatic incidents, and cultural trends. Short explanatory notes and a contents grouping accompany the images, clarifying historical references and dates. The collection emphasizes memorable single-image satires that balance humor with pointed critique, charting shifts in public concerns and the artist’s evolving style across the period.

Prefatory Note.

THE present collection of Sir John Tenniel’s Cartoons is intended to be a selection comprising the more memorable of those which have appeared in “Punch” during the last 50 years. The first in the collection bears the date of 1851, and the last is Sir John Tenniel’s final Cartoon in January, 1901. Short explanatory notes have been provided, but as most of them will, perhaps, be unnecessary to those to whom the Cartoons themselves are familiar, they have been grouped together and combined with the Table of Contents at the commencement of the volume, where they can readily be referred to.

March, 1901.