The Mind Creative
James Gillray’s Plumb-Pudding In Danger
The usage of the modern cartoon, which always leans towards
humour, cynicism and satire dates back to 1843,
when Punch magazine applied the term to satirical drawings in its
pages, particularly sketches by John Leech. Punch was established
in 1841 by the journalist Henry Mayhew and the printer-engraver,
Ebenezer Landells. It was to be a weekly comic paper 'without
grossness, partisanship, profanity, indelicacy, or malice' and in its
long life it cultivated the talents of more comic artists than any
other British magazine.
The first of these cartoons by Leech was a parody of the grand
historical frescoes in the then the new Palace of Westminster. The
intention was to be cynical and caustic about the self-glorifying
postures of Westminster politicians. In 1868, Vanity Fair