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"Mr. Punch's" Book of Arms cover

"Mr. Punch's" Book of Arms

Chapter 17: Hall Caine, first Lord Manxman.
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About This Book

A sequence of humorous mock coats of arms presents parody blazons, crests, supporters, and mottos that lampoon prominent public figures, institutions, and current events of the author's day. Each entry mimics heraldic language while twisting symbols into absurd, ironic descriptions that expose political foibles, journalistic excesses, and imperial pretensions. The work alternates detailed visual description with sharp, often bawdy wordplay, arranging entries like an illustrated armorial interspersed with brief epigrams. Through exaggerated symbolism and mock-formality, it satirizes power, public personalities, and civic ceremonial, inviting readers to view familiar characters and controversies through a comic, barbed heraldic lens.

Hall Caine, first Lord Manxman.

Arms / quarterly / i three human legs conjoined at the thigh and flexed in a triangle garnished and hygienically knickered proper running galy through several editions / ij under a flourish proper of trumpets a christian in broadcloth issuant pele-mele from a printing-press / iij sable a scapegoat preceded in triumph by a bondsman more or less accurately portrayed / iiij two Manx cats passant with sensational tales sported and displayed specially contributed by the present holder of the title. Crest / an author of distinction aesthetically habited proper, charged in outrecuidance with a sprig of the Ma+n+x Beerbohm effrontee for reclame. Supporters / dexter, an ancient statesman void of guile inveigled drawn and exploited to the full / sinister, a dignitary of the church radiant in approbation scenting purple patches for delivery in a rural diocese arrayed proper to the nines. Second Motto / 'And the harvest shall be mine.'