First edition of Punch published in London
- When
- 1841
- Where
- London
- Episodes
- 1
Punch, or The London Charivari, was established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and Ebenezer Landells. The magazine's first edition was published on 17 July 1841 in London. It was subtitled in homage to the French magazine Le Charivari. The name was inspired by the puppet Mr Punch and a joke about editor Mark Lemon.
Episodes
Background and detail
Background. Punch was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841. It was founded by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells with an initial investment of £25. The magazine was subtitled The London Charivari in homage to Charles Philipon's French satirical magazine Le Charivari.
Naming. The editors took the anarchic puppet Mr Punch, of Punch and Judy, as their mascot. The character appears in many magazine covers and was an inspiration for the magazine's name. The name also referred to a joke made early on about one of the magazine's first editors, Lemon, that 'punch is nothing without lemon'.
People involved
- Henry Mayhew · Founder
- Ebenezer Landells · Founder
- Mark Lemon · First Editor
Sources
- Punch (magazine) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-15
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.