Douglas Jerrold and 'Punch,'
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY GOLDWIN SMITH LIBRARY Cornell University Library PR 4825.J4Z62 Douglas Jerrold and 'Punch, 3 1924 013 489 012 Cornell University Library The original of tiiis bool< is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924013489012 ' DOUGLAS JERROLD AND ' PUNCH »> MACMILLAN AND CO., Limited LONDON BOMBAY • CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO 2lJcxtad.cv6 Jerfvi^L l r-crm an. engrax) L.rta by cJ.cyly.c^fru DOUGLAS JERROLD AND 'PUNCH' BY WALTER JERROLD MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON 1910 TO THEODORE WATTS-DUNTON DISTINGUISHED POET, NOVELIST AND CRITIC WHO KEEPS UNCHANGED HIS EARLY ADMIRATION FOR THE WRITINGS OF DOUGLAS JERROLD THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED BY ONE OF DOUGLAS JERROLd's GRANDSONS THE AUTHOR ' Once upon a time a wind shook an acorn to the ground. The swine were munching their meals thousands of acorns were swallowed. But this one acorn fell into a nice soft piece ofearth; and the dewsfell upon it, and in a brief time it seemed to open its mouth, and then it said—" / am now but an acorn ; but I will grow into a huge oak ; and I will become a part of a ship that shall sail to all corners of the world, bearing about all sorts ofgood things In my hold; and carrying the white flag of peace at my masthead to all nations." Now this acorn was Punch!—Douglas Jerrold. PREFACE Douglas Jerrold was the author of what may be ' regarded as the most popular serial ' that has appeared in Punch during the seventy years in which the jester has sought to delight at once and lash the age ; he was also the contributor of the only story which may be ' described as a full-length ' novel which has appeared in the pages of Punch ; and furthermore he was the writer by whose pen the politics of Punch were most vigorously expressed. Neither originator nor editor of the paper, he yet stood in the popular regard during the 'forties and 'fifties more definitely for Punch than did any of his confreres. This being so, I do not feel that any apology Is necessary for telling the story of his association with the journal, for reproducing some of his hitherto unknown work, and for indicating the nature and extent of his miscellaneous contributions of merely contemporary interest. It is not pretended that all of the contributions were of equal value—though I think that it will be recognised that Our Honeymoon has in it much of that truth to nature which is no small part of the secret of Mrs. Caudle s success ; while in Capsicum House and Miss Robinson Crusoe—neither of which was properly completed ' —the satirist of the sex ' had themes which lent them- selves admirably to that combining of narrative with moralising in which he delighted. When Mr. M. H. Spielmann was engaged upon his ' viii DOUGLAS JERROLD AND • PUNCH History of Punch, and his Hitherto Unidentified Contributions of W. M. Thackeray to Punch, he had the good fortune to secure a detailed account book giving the names of the contributors of every item to a long series of volumes of the periodical, and to his kindness I owe it that I have been able to identify everything that Douglas Jerrold contributed to Punch during the period represented. To Mr. Spielmann, then, I offer grateful thanks for generous assistance. WALTER JERROLD. Hampton-on-Thames, Nimember 19 lo. CONTENTS PART I CHAPTER I PAGE The Founding of ' Punch '....... 3 CHAPTER II Douglas Jerrold and his ' Punch ' Confreres ... 20 CHAPTER III ' ' Douglas Jerrold and the Politics of Punch . -43 CHAPTER IV General Contributions : I. • ^9 CHAPTER V II. General Contributions : .98 CHAPTER VI 'Mrs. Caudle' and the other Serials 124 ' DOUGLAS JERROLD AND « PUNCH PART II PAGE Capsicum House for Young Ladies ..... 141 The Life and Adventures of Miss Robinson Crusoe . 209 Our Honeymoon ......... 269 Exhibition of the English in China ..... 397 Bibliography of Douglas Jerrold's Contributions to 'Punch' 413 Index ........... 445 ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE Douglas Jerrold Frontispiece Caricatures of Punch's Contributors To Face 32 64 Old Mulberry at West Lodge, Putney . „ 126 Capsicum House . -ISS 'Killing a Wasp' 161 The Marriage Class 172 The Frightful Example 190 Douglas Jerrold. (From photographs by Dr. Didmond) To Face 320 Exhibition of the English in China . 401-412 PART I — CHAPTER I ' THE FOUNDING OF ' PUNCH It was fortunate for him that he fell on an age of periodicals, a class of works which just suited his genius. He and the modern development of periodical literature grew up together, and grew prosperous together. He was never completely known in England till after the establishment of Punch. An independent and original organ just suited him above all, for then he had the full play which he required as a humorist ; and as a self-formed man with a peculiar style and experience. Punch was the Argo which conveyed him to the Golden Fleece. James Hannay. The story of the founding of Punch has been told, shortly or at length, in various places : three separate publications have been devoted to it—first a pamphlet by Sydney Blanchard, then a gossipy book by Mr. Athol Mayhew, and lastly the important library volume, the ' official ' biography of the Fleet Street jester, by Mr. M. H. Spielmann. It is not in any way my intention to retell that story except in so far as it concerns one member of the stafF of Punch, the one member who by common consent had the greatest formative influence in the first two decades of the history of a journal which more than any other has been a personality to successive generations of readers. Among the men whose names have been put forward as rival claimants for the honour of being re- ' membered as the only begetter ' of Mr. Punchy Douglas Jerrold has not, fortunately, a place. There is no necessity to claim for him any direct share, leading or subsidiary, in the starting of the journal, for circumstance kindly arranged that he should be having a working holiday in the neighbourhood of Boulogne during those summer weeks of 1841 when his London friends were making their plans for a fresh comic paper. However 3 ' 4 DOUGLAS JERROLD AND ' PUNCH much earlier writers on the fortunes of that journal might differ among themselves, they agreed in recognising that Douglas Jerrold's actual connection with it did not begin until the second number, so that in giving the full story of that connection it is not necessary to take up such a controversial position as that of most writers dealing with the early history of Punch. The third decade of the nineteenth century had been particularly rich in comic and satiric journals, to the production of which many influences probably contributed, the most important being perhaps the quickening and widening of interest in public matters and public men, brought about by the agitation which had preceded the passing of the Reform Bill of 1832, and continued after its enactment, combined with the various circumstances which made the real ' news '-papers expensive luxuries. Periodicals devoted to dealing with affairs in a humorous fashion did not rank with news journals, and so, avoiding taxation, could be published at a price below that which had to be demanded for the taxed papers. It was on December 10, 1831, that Figaro in London was com- menced — a four-page sheet with the happy motto from Lady Mary Wortley Montagu : Satire should, like a polish'd razor keen, Wound with a touch that's scarcely felt or seen. The editor of this little venture was Gilbert Abbott a Beckett, with whom was associated Henry Mayhew \. they had been together at Westminster School, and the one was just under legal age, the other about twenty, when they started Figaro in London. The editor was a Beckett, and his whilom schoolfellow was one of his chief assistants. The journal, rich in ready fun and marked by the daring of youth, seems to have taken the public fancy at once. So much so, that as the months went by the earlier numbers had to be reprinted,^ and numerous rivals,, mostly fugacious, sprang up. From the third number ' No. the set ' The 2 of which I possess has a note saying that the whole of the back numbers of Figaro in London may now be had, No. 2 having this week been a second time reprinted,' and giving notable features of successive numbers up to No. ii. So considerable became the demand for back numbers that when it had been running for a year the old parts were reissued in sixpenny monthly instalments. — THE FOUNDING OF 'PUNCH' 5 satiric drawings formed a feature of the work, each issue of which was headed by a woodcut of Figaro the barber, sharpening his razor, with a number of blocks by him representing political leaders, and a window inscribed ' Whigs dressed here.' The portraits on the blocks varied from time to time. Figaro was an out- spoken satirist, ever ready to cut at politicians and other people who might be regarded as ' fair game,' and with a special liking for dealing with matters theatrical. Whether owing to Figaro's outspokenness or the freshness of the venture, or its drawings by ' the illustrious Seymour, the redoubtable Cruikshank, and the no less celebrated Hornegold,' the paper, as the modern slang has it, * caught on.' Two of these artists were Robert Seymour ' ' and Robert Cruikshank ; the celebrated Hornegold evades identification.